The Lone Star
Behold a star appearing in the South,A star that shines apart from other stars,Ruddy and fierce like Mars!Out of the reeking smoke of cannon's mouthThat veils the slaughter of the Alamo,Where heroes face the foe,One man against a score, with blood-choked breathShouting the watchword, "Victory or Death--"Out of the dreadful cloud that settles lowOn Goliad's plain,Where thrice a hundred prisoners lie slainBeneath the broken word of Mexico--Out of the fog of factions and of feudsThat ever drifts and broodsAbove the bloody path of border war,Leaps the Lone Star!
What light is this that does not dread the dark?What star is this that fights a stormy wayTo San Jacinto's field of victory?It is the fiery sparkThat burns within the breastOf Anglo-Saxon men, who can not restUnder a tyrant's sway;The upward-leading rayThat guides the brave who give their lives awayRather than not be free!O question not, but honour every name,Travis and Crockett, Bowie, Bonham, Ward,Fannin and King, and all who drew the swordAnd dared to die for Texan liberty!Yea, write them all upon the roll of fame,But no less love and equal honour giveTo those who paid the longer sacrifice--Austin and Houston, Burnet, Rusk, LamarAnd all the stalwart men who dared to liveLong years of service to the lonely star.
Great is the worth of such heroic souls:Amid the strenuous turmoil of their deeds,They clearly speak of something that controlsThe higher breeds of men by higher needsThan bees, content with honey in their hives!Ah, not enough the narrow livesOn profitable toil intent!And not enough the guerdons of successGarnered in homes of affluent selfishness!A noble discontentCries for a wider scopeTo use the wider wings of human hope;A vision of the common goodOpens the prison-door of solitude;And, once beyond the wall,Breathing the ampler air,The heart becomes awareThat life without a country is not life at all.A country worthy of a freeman's love;A country worthy of a good man's prayer;A country strong, and just, and brave, and fair,--A woman's form of beauty throned aboveThe shrine where noble aspirations meet--To live for her is great, to die is sweet!
Heirs of the rugged pioneersWho dreamed this dream and made it true,Remember that they dreamed for you.They did not fear their fateIn those tempestuous years,But put their trust in God, and with keen eyes,Trained in the open air for looking far,They saw the many-million-acred landWon from the desert by their hand,Swiftly among the nations rise,--Texas a sovereign State,And on her brow a star!
Words in this poem
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- 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.]
- crockett n.
- An ornament often resembling curved and bent foliage, projecting from the sloping edge of a gable, spire, etc. [OF. croquet, F. crochet, dim. of croc hook. See Crook, and cf. Crotchet.]
- austin a.
- Augustinian; as, Austin friars.
- rusk n.
- A kind of light, soft bread made with yeast and eggs, often toasted or crisped in an oven; or a kind of sweetened biscuit. [Sp. rosca de mar sea rusks, a kind of biscuit, rosca properly meaning, a screw, spiral.]
- stalwart a.
- Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring; vehement; violent. [OE. stalworth, AS. stælwyrth serviceable, probably originally, good at stealing, or worth stealing or taking, and afterwards extended to other causes of estimat]
- 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]
- strenuous a.
- Eagerly pressing or urgent; zealous; ardent; earnest; bold; valiant; intrepid; as, a strenuous advocate for national rights; a strenuous reformer; a strenuous defender of his country.
- turmoil v. t.
- To harass with commotion; to disquiet; to worry.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- affluent a.
- Flowing to; flowing abundantly. [Cf. F. affluent, L. affluens, -entis, p. pr. See Affluence.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lone Star 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, The Lone Star, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-lone-star.html, id L22919.
Form and metre
The Lone Star is 72 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABBA-CDDCEECFF-- southA · starsB · marsB · mouthA · alamo · foeC · breathD · deathD · lowC · plainE · slainE · mexicoC · feudsF · broodsF · war · star
- 2 AB-ACCBBB-DEE-DF-GFG darkA · wayB · victory · sparkA · breastC · restC · swayB · rayB · awayB · free · nameD · wardE · swordE · liberty · fameD · giveF · sacrifice · lamarG · liveF · starG
- 3 ABABCCDEEDFF--GHHGIHHIJJ soulsA · deedsB · controlsA · needsB · hivesC · livesC · intentD · successE · selfishnessE · discontentD · scopeF · hopeF · good · solitude · wallG · airH · awareH · allG · loveI · prayerH · fairH · aboveI · meetJ · sweetJ
- 4 ABBCADEFFDCE pioneersA · trueB · youB · fateC · yearsA · eyesD · farE · landF · handF · riseD · stateC · starE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Behold a star appearing in the South, | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| A star that shines apart from other stars, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Ruddy and fierce like Mars! | 6 | /˘···· |
| Out of the reeking smoke of cannon's mouth | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That veils the slaughter of the Alamo, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Where heroes face the foe, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| One man against a score, with blood-choked breath | 10 | ·········· |
| Shouting the watchword, "Victory or Death--" | 10 | /˘·/·/˘˘·· |
| Out of the dreadful cloud that settles low | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| On Goliad's plain, | 4 | ···· |
| Where thrice a hundred prisoners lie slain | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Beneath the broken word of Mexico-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Out of the fog of factions and of feuds | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That ever drifts and broods | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Above the bloody path of border war, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Leaps the Lone Star! | 4 | ···· |
| What light is this that does not dread the dark? | 10 | ·········· |
| What star is this that fights a stormy way | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To San Jacinto's field of victory? | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| It is the fiery spark | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| That burns within the breast | 6 | ······ |
| Of Anglo-Saxon men, who can not rest | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Under a tyrant's sway; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The upward-leading ray | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| That guides the brave who give their lives away | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Rather than not be free! | 6 | /˘···· |
| O question not, but honour every name, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Travis and Crockett, Bowie, Bonham, Ward, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Fannin and King, and all who drew the sword | 10 | /˘········ |
| And dared to die for Texan liberty! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Yea, write them all upon the roll of fame, | 10 | ·········· |
| But no less love and equal honour give | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To those who paid the longer sacrifice-- | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Austin and Houston, Burnet, Rusk, Lamar | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| And all the stalwart men who dared to live | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Long years of service to the lonely star. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Great is the worth of such heroic souls: | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Amid the strenuous turmoil of their deeds, | 10 | ˘/·/˘/···· |
| They clearly speak of something that controls | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| The higher breeds of men by higher needs | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Than bees, content with honey in their hives! | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Ah, not enough the narrow lives | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| On profitable toil intent! | 8 | ·/˘˘˘·˘/ |
| And not enough the guerdons of success | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Garnered in homes of affluent selfishness! | 11 | /˘···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| A noble discontent | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| Cries for a wider scope | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To use the wider wings of human hope; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| A vision of the common good | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Opens the prison-door of solitude; | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| And, once beyond the wall, | 6 | ······ |
| Breathing the ampler air, | 6 | /˘···· |
| The heart becomes aware | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| That life without a country is not life at all. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| A country worthy of a freeman's love; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| A country worthy of a good man's prayer; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| A country strong, and just, and brave, and fair,-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A woman's form of beauty throned above | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The shrine where noble aspirations meet-- | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| To live for her is great, to die is sweet! | 10 | ·········· |
| Heirs of the rugged pioneers | 9 | ···/˘˘·˘/ |
| Who dreamed this dream and made it true, | 9 | ··˘······ |
| Remember that they dreamed for you. | 9 | ˘/˘···˘·· |
| They did not fear their fate | 6 | ······ |
| In those tempestuous years, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| But put their trust in God, and with keen eyes, | 10 | ·········· |
| Trained in the open air for looking far, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| They saw the many-million-acred land | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Won from the desert by their hand, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Swiftly among the nations rise,-- | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Texas a sovereign State, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| And on her brow a star! | 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.