Beat! Beat! Drums!
Beat! beat! drums!--blow! bugles! blow!Through the windows--through doors--burst like a ruthless force,Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,Into the school where the scholar is studying;Leave not the bridegroom quiet--no happiness must he have now withhis bride,Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gatheringhis grain,So fierce you whirr and pound you drums--so shrill you bugles blow.
Beat! beat! drums!--blow! bugles! blow!Over the traffic of cities--over the rumble of wheels in the streets;Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepersmust sleep in those beds,No bargainers’ bargains by day--no brokers or speculators--wouldthey continue?Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing?Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge?Then rattle quicker, heavier drums--you bugles wilder blow.
Beat! beat! drums!--blow! bugles! blow!Make no parley--stop for no expostulation,Mind not the timid--mind not the weeper or prayer,Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties,Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting thehearses,So strong you thump O terrible drums--so loud you bugles blow.
Words in this poem
- ruthless a.
- Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- whirr v. i.
- To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz.
- expostulation n.
- The act of expostulating or reasoning with a person in opposition to some impropriety of conduct; remonstrance; earnest and kindly protest; dissuasion. [L. expostulatio.]
- weeper n.
- One who weeps; esp., one who sheds tears.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Beat! Beat! Drums! is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, Beat! Beat! Drums!, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/beat-beat-drums.html, id L03938.
Form and metre
Beat! Beat! Drums! is 26 lines in 3 stanzas. 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.4 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 A-------A blowA · force · congregation · studying · with · bride · gathering · grain · blowA
- 2 A-------A blowA · streets · sleepers · beds · would · continue · sing · judge · blowA
- 3 A------A blowA · expostulation · prayer · man · entreaties · the · hearses · blowA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Beat! beat! drums!--blow! bugles! blow! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Through the windows--through doors--burst like a ruthless force, | 12 | ··/˘·····/˘· |
| Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation, | 14 | ···/˘··/˘··˘/˘ |
| Into the school where the scholar is studying; | 12 | ······/˘·/˘˘ |
| Leave not the bridegroom quiet--no happiness must he have now with | 16 | ···/·/˘·/˘˘····· |
| his bride, | 2 | ·· |
| Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering | 17 | ··/˘/˘/˘·/˘···/˘˘ |
| his grain, | 2 | ·· |
| So fierce you whirr and pound you drums--so shrill you bugles blow. | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| Beat! beat! drums!--blow! bugles! blow! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Over the traffic of cities--over the rumble of wheels in the streets; | 18 | ···/˘·/˘···/˘····· |
| Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepers | 16 | ··˘/·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| must sleep in those beds, | 5 | ····· |
| No bargainers’ bargains by day--no brokers or speculators--would | 17 | ·/˘˘/˘···/˘·/˘·˘· |
| they continue? | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing? | 15 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘˘/·· |
| Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge? | 16 | ··/˘············ |
| Then rattle quicker, heavier drums--you bugles wilder blow. | 15 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘··/˘/˘· |
| Beat! beat! drums!--blow! bugles! blow! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Make no parley--stop for no expostulation, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Mind not the timid--mind not the weeper or prayer, | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| Mind not the old man beseeching the young man, | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
| Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties, | 14 | ·········/˘˘/˘ |
| Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the | 17 | ·/˘·/˘·······˘/˘· |
| hearses, | 2 | /˘ |
| So strong you thump O terrible drums--so loud you bugles blow. | 15 | ·····/˘˘····/˘· |
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.