A Scrap of Paper
"Will you go to war just for a scrap of paper?"--Question of theGerman Chancellor to the British Ambassador, August 5, 1914.
A mocking question! Britain's answer cameSwift as the light and searching as the flame.
"Yes, for a scrap of paper we will fightTill our last breath, and God defend the right!
"A scrap of paper where a name is setIs strong as duty's pledge and honor's debt.
"A scrap of paper holds for man and wifeThe sacrament of love, the bond of life.
"A scrap of paper may be Holy WritWith God's eternal word to hallow it.
"A scrap of paper binds us both to standDefenders of a neutral neighbor land.
"By God, by faith, by honor, yes! We fightTo keep our name upon that paper white."
Words in this poem
- scrap n.
- Something scraped off; hence, a small piece; a bit; a fragment; a detached, incomplete portion. [OE. scrappe, fr. Icel. skrap trifle, cracking. See Scrape, v. t.]
- sacrament n.
- The oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers; hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. [L. sacramentum an oath, a sacred thing, a mystery, a sacrament, fr. sacrare to declare as sacred, sacer sacred: cf. F. sacrament. See Sacred.]
- hallow v. t.
- To make holy; to set apart for holy or religious use; to consecrate; to treat or keep as sacred; to reverence. [OE. halowen, halwien, halgien, AS. halgian, fr. halig holy. See Holy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Scrap of Paper is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; 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 Van Dyke, A Scrap of Paper, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/a-scrap-of-paper.html, id L22926.
Form and metre
A Scrap of Paper is 16 lines in 8 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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.
- 2 AA cameA · flameA
- 3 AA fightA · rightA
- 4 AA setA · debtA
- 5 AA wifeA · lifeA
- 6 AA writA · itA
- 7 AA standA · landA
- 8 AA fightA · whiteA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Will you go to war just for a scrap of paper?"--Question of the | 16 | ··········/˘/˘·· |
| German Chancellor to the British Ambassador, August 5, 1914. | 13 | /˘/˘··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| A mocking question! Britain's answer came | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Swift as the light and searching as the flame. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| "Yes, for a scrap of paper we will fight | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Till our last breath, and God defend the right! | 10 | ·/····˘/·· |
| "A scrap of paper where a name is set | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Is strong as duty's pledge and honor's debt. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| "A scrap of paper holds for man and wife | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The sacrament of love, the bond of life. | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| "A scrap of paper may be Holy Writ | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| With God's eternal word to hallow it. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| "A scrap of paper binds us both to stand | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Defenders of a neutral neighbor land. | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| "By God, by faith, by honor, yes! We fight | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To keep our name upon that paper white." | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
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.