Last Word: To the Colonies
Brothers beyond the Atlantic's loud expanse;And you that rear the innumerable fleeceFar southward 'mid the ocean named of peace;Britons that past the Indian wave advanceOur name and spirit and world-predominance;And you our kin that reap the earth's increaseWhere crawls that long-backed mountain till it ceaseCrown'd with the headland of bright esperance:--Remote compatriots wheresoe'er ye dwell,By your prompt voices ringing clear and trueWe know that with our England all is well:Young is she yet, her world-task but begun!By you we know her safe, and know by youHer veins are million but her heart is one.
Words in this poem
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Last Word: To the Colonies is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of William Watson, Project Gutenberg ebook #13179; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Watson, Last Word: To the Colonies, in The Poems of William Watson (1892–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13179, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/watson-poems/last-word-to-the-colonies.html, id L11299.
Form and metre
Last Word: To the Colonies is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCEDE. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBAABBACDCEDE expanseA · fleeceB · peaceB · advanceA · predominanceA · increaseB · ceaseB · esperanceA · dwellC · trueD · wellC · begunE · youD · oneE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Brothers beyond the Atlantic's loud expanse; | 11 | /˘···˘/˘·˘/ |
| And you that rear the innumerable fleece | 10 | ·····˘/˘˘· |
| Far southward 'mid the ocean named of peace; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Britons that past the Indian wave advance | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Our name and spirit and world-predominance; | 11 | /··/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| And you our kin that reap the earth's increase | 10 | ··/·····/· |
| Where crawls that long-backed mountain till it cease | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Crown'd with the headland of bright esperance:-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Remote compatriots wheresoe'er ye dwell, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| By your prompt voices ringing clear and true | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| We know that with our England all is well: | 10 | ····//˘··· |
| Young is she yet, her world-task but begun! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| By you we know her safe, and know by you | 10 | ·········· |
| Her veins are million but her heart is one. | 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.