Ripley
Rich in red honors, that upon him lieAs lightly as the Summer dewsFall where he won his fame beneath the skyOf tropic Vera Cruz;
Bold scorner of the cant that has its birthIn feeble or in failing powers;A lover of all frank and genial mirthThat wreathes the sword with flowers;
He moves amid the warriors of the day,Just such a soldier as the artThat builds its trophies upon human clayMoulds of a cheerful heart.
I see him in the battle that shall shake,Ere long, old Sumter's haughty crown,And from their dreams of peaceful traffic wakeThe wharves of yonder town;
As calm as one would greet a pleasant guest,And quaff a cup to love and life,He hurls his deadliest thunders with a jest,And laughs amid the strife.
Yet not the gravest soldier of them allSurveys a field with broader scope;And who behind that sea-encircled wallFights with a loftier hope?
Gay Chieftain! on the crimson rolls of FameThy deeds are written with the sword;But there are gentler thoughts which, with thy name,Thy country's page shall hoard.
A nature of that rare and happy castWhich looks, unsteeled, on murder's face;Through what dark scenes of bloodshed hast thou passed,Yet lost no social grace?
So, when the bard depicts thee, thou shalt wieldThe weapon of a tyrant's doom,Round which, inscribed with many a well-fought field,The rose of joy shall bloom.
Words in this poem
- scorner n.
- One who scorns; a despiser; a contemner; specifically, a scoffer at religion.
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- amid 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,]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- quaff v. t.
- To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. [For quach, fr. Gael. & Ir. cuach a drinking cup; cf. L. caucus a drinking vessel. Cf. Quaigh.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- wield v. t.
- To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess. [OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan, gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten, OHG. waltan, Icel. val]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ripley is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Henry Timrod; with Memoir, Project Gutenberg ebook #845; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Timrod, Ripley, in Poems (1860–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #845, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/timrod-poems/ripley.html, id L10513.
Form and metre
Ripley is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABAB lieA · dewsB · skyA · cruzB
- 2 ABAB birthA · powersB · mirthA · flowersB
- 3 ABAB dayA · artB · clayA · heartB
- 4 ABAB shakeA · crownB · wakeA · townB
- 5 ABAB guestA · lifeB · jestA · strifeB
- 6 ABAB allA · scopeB · wallA · hopeB
- 7 ABAB fameA · swordB · nameA · hoardB
- 8 ABAB castA · faceB · passedA · graceB
- 9 ABAB wieldA · doomB · fieldA · bloomB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Rich in red honors, that upon him lie | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As lightly as the Summer dews | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Fall where he won his fame beneath the sky | 10 | ·········· |
| Of tropic Vera Cruz; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Bold scorner of the cant that has its birth | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In feeble or in failing powers; | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| A lover of all frank and genial mirth | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| That wreathes the sword with flowers; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He moves amid the warriors of the day, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Just such a soldier as the art | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That builds its trophies upon human clay | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Moulds of a cheerful heart. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I see him in the battle that shall shake, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Ere long, old Sumter's haughty crown, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And from their dreams of peaceful traffic wake | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The wharves of yonder town; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As calm as one would greet a pleasant guest, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And quaff a cup to love and life, | 8 | ········ |
| He hurls his deadliest thunders with a jest, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And laughs amid the strife. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Yet not the gravest soldier of them all | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Surveys a field with broader scope; | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And who behind that sea-encircled wall | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Fights with a loftier hope? | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Gay Chieftain! on the crimson rolls of Fame | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Thy deeds are written with the sword; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But there are gentler thoughts which, with thy name, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thy country's page shall hoard. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A nature of that rare and happy cast | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Which looks, unsteeled, on murder's face; | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| Through what dark scenes of bloodshed hast thou passed, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Yet lost no social grace? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So, when the bard depicts thee, thou shalt wield | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| The weapon of a tyrant's doom, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Round which, inscribed with many a well-fought field, | 10 | ··˘/·/···· |
| The rose of joy shall bloom. | 6 | ······ |
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.