The Red Flag
Where the quivering lightning flingsHis arrows from out the clouds,And the howling tempest singsAnd whistles among the shrouds,'Tis pleasant, 'tis pleasant to rideAlong the foaming brine--Wilt be the Rover's bride?Wilt follow him, lady mine?Hurrah!For the bonny, bonny brine.
Amidst the storm and rack,You shall see our galley pass,As a serpent, lithe and black,Glides through the waving grass.As the vulture swift and dark,Down on the ring-dove flies,You shall see the Rovers barkSwoop down upon his prize.Hurrah!For the bonny, bonny prize.
Over her sides we dash,We gallop across her deck--Ha! there's a ghastly gashOn the merchant-captain's neck--Well shot, well shot, old Ned!Well struck, well struck, black James!Our arms are red, and our foes are dead,And we leave a ship in flames!Hurrah!For the bonny, bonny flames!
Words in this poem
- hurrah interj.
- A word used as a shout of joy, triumph, applause, encouragement, or welcome. [Cf. G., Dan., & Sw. hurra. Cf. Huzza.]
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- lithe v. i.
- To listen or listen to; to hearken to. P. Plowman. [Icel Listen.]
- swoop v. t.
- To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing; as, a hawk swoops a chicken. [OE. swopen, usually, to sweep, As. swapan to sweep, to rush; akin to G. schweifen to rove, to ramble, to curve, OHG. sweifan to whirl, Icel. sveipa to sweep; al]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Red Flag is in the public domain. This text is taken from Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #2732; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Makepeace Thackeray, The Red Flag, in Ballads (1849–1855), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thackeray-ballads/the-red-flag.html, id L10381.
Form and metre
The Red Flag is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.3 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCD-D flingsA · cloudsB · singsA · shroudsB · rideC · brineD · brideC · mineD · hurrah · brineD
- 2 ABABCDCD-D rackA · passB · blackA · grassB · darkC · fliesD · barkC · prizeD · hurrah · prizeD
- 3 ABABCDCD-D dashA · deckB · gashA · neckB · nedC · jamesD · deadC · flamesD · hurrah · flamesD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Where the quivering lightning flings | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| His arrows from out the clouds, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And the howling tempest sings | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And whistles among the shrouds, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| 'Tis pleasant, 'tis pleasant to ride | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Along the foaming brine-- | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Wilt be the Rover's bride? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wilt follow him, lady mine? | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Hurrah! | 2 | ˘/ |
| For the bonny, bonny brine. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Amidst the storm and rack, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| You shall see our galley pass, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| As a serpent, lithe and black, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Glides through the waving grass. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As the vulture swift and dark, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Down on the ring-dove flies, | 6 | ······ |
| You shall see the Rovers bark | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Swoop down upon his prize. | 6 | ······ |
| Hurrah! | 2 | ˘/ |
| For the bonny, bonny prize. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Over her sides we dash, | 6 | ······ |
| We gallop across her deck-- | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| Ha! there's a ghastly gash | 6 | ···/˘· |
| On the merchant-captain's neck-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Well shot, well shot, old Ned! | 6 | ······ |
| Well struck, well struck, black James! | 6 | ······ |
| Our arms are red, and our foes are dead, | 9 | /····/··· |
| And we leave a ship in flames! | 7 | ······· |
| Hurrah! | 2 | ˘/ |
| For the bonny, bonny flames! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.