Stand Fast
Stand fast, Great Britain!Together England, Scotland, Ireland standOne in the faith that makes a mighty land,--True to the bond you gave and will not breakAnd fearless in the fight for conscience' sake!Against the Giant Robber clad in steel,With blood of trampled Belgium on his heel,Striding through France to strike you down at last,Britain, stand fast!
Stand fast, brave land!The Huns are thundering toward the citadel;They prate of Culture but their path is Hell;Their light is darkness, and the bloody swordThey wield and worship is their only Lord.O land where reason stands secure on right,O land where freedom is the source of light,Against the mailed Barbarians' deadly blast,Britain, stand fast!
Stand fast, dear land!Thou island mother of a world-wide race,Whose children speak thy tongue and love thy face,Their hearts and hopes are with thee in the strife,Their hands will break the sword that seeks thy life;Fight on until the Teuton madness cease;Fight bravely on, until the word of peaceIs spoken in the English tongue at last,--Britain, stand fast!
Words in this poem
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- thundering a.
- Emitting thunder.
- 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]
- mailed a.
- Protected by an external coat, or covering, of scales or plates.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stand Fast 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, Stand Fast, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/stand-fast.html, id L22927.
Form and metre
Stand Fast is 27 lines in 3 stanzas of 9 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 89% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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.
- 1 -AABBCCDD britain · standA · landA · breakB · sakeB · steelC · heelC · lastD · fastD
- 2 -AABBCCDD land · citadelA · hellA · swordB · lordB · rightC · lightC · blastD · fastD
- 3 -AABBCCDD land · raceA · faceA · strifeB · lifeB · ceaseC · peaceC · lastD · fastD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stand fast, Great Britain! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Together England, Scotland, Ireland stand | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| One in the faith that makes a mighty land,-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| True to the bond you gave and will not break | 10 | ·········· |
| And fearless in the fight for conscience' sake! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Against the Giant Robber clad in steel, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| With blood of trampled Belgium on his heel, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Striding through France to strike you down at last, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Britain, stand fast! | 4 | /˘·· |
| Stand fast, brave land! | 4 | ···· |
| The Huns are thundering toward the citadel; | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| They prate of Culture but their path is Hell; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Their light is darkness, and the bloody sword | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| They wield and worship is their only Lord. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| O land where reason stands secure on right, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| O land where freedom is the source of light, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Against the mailed Barbarians' deadly blast, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Britain, stand fast! | 4 | /˘·· |
| Stand fast, dear land! | 4 | ···· |
| Thou island mother of a world-wide race, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Whose children speak thy tongue and love thy face, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Their hearts and hopes are with thee in the strife, | 10 | ·········· |
| Their hands will break the sword that seeks thy life; | 10 | ·········· |
| Fight on until the Teuton madness cease; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Fight bravely on, until the word of peace | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Is spoken in the English tongue at last,-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Britain, stand fast! | 4 | /˘·· |
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.