Britain, France, America
The rough expanse of democratic seaWhich parts the lands that live by libertyIs no division; for their hearts are one.To fight together till their cause is won.
For land and water let us make our pact,And seal the solemn word with valiant act:No continent is firm, no ocean pure,Until on both the rights of man are sure.
Words in this poem
- pact n.
- An agreement; a league; a compact; a covenant. [L. pactum, fr. paciscere to make a bargain or contract, fr. pacere to settle, or agree upon; cf. pangere to fasten, Gr. paca bond, and E. fang: cf. F. pacie. Cf]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Britain, France, America 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, Britain, France, America, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/britain-france-america.html, id L22946.
Form and metre
Britain, France, America is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 --AA sea · liberty · oneA · wonA
- 2 AABB pactA · actA · pureB · sureB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The rough expanse of democratic sea | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Which parts the lands that live by liberty | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Is no division; for their hearts are one. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| To fight together till their cause is won. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| For land and water let us make our pact, | 10 | ···/˘···/· |
| And seal the solemn word with valiant act: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| No continent is firm, no ocean pure, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Until on both the rights of man are sure. | 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.