National Monuments
Count not the cost of honour to the dead!The tribute that a mighty nation paysTo those who loved her well in former daysMeans more than gratitude for glories fled;For every noble man that she hath bred,Lives in the bronze and marble that we raise,Immortalised by art's immortal praise,To lead our sons as he our fathers led.
These monuments of manhood strong and highDo more than forts or battle-ships to keepOur dear-bought liberty. They fortifyThe heart of youth with valour wise and deep;They build eternal bulwarks, and commandImmortal hosts to guard our native land.
Words in this poem
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
National Monuments 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, National Monuments, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/national-monuments.html, id L22912.
Form and metre
National Monuments is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABBAABBA deadA · paysB · daysB · fledA · bredA · raiseB · praiseB · ledA
- 2 ABABCC highA · keepB · fortifyA · deepB · commandC · landC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Count not the cost of honour to the dead! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The tribute that a mighty nation pays | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| To those who loved her well in former days | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Means more than gratitude for glories fled; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For every noble man that she hath bred, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Lives in the bronze and marble that we raise, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Immortalised by art's immortal praise, | 10 | ˘/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| To lead our sons as he our fathers led. | 10 | ··/···//˘· |
| These monuments of manhood strong and high | 10 | ·/˘˘·/···· |
| Do more than forts or battle-ships to keep | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Our dear-bought liberty. They fortify | 10 | /··/˘˘·/˘· |
| The heart of youth with valour wise and deep; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| They build eternal bulwarks, and command | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Immortal hosts to guard our native land. | 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.