Europe
Suddenly out of its stale and drowsy lair, the lair of slaves,Like lightning it le’pt forth half startled at itself,Its feet upon the ashes and the rags, its hands tight to the throatsof kings.
O hope and faith!O aching close of exiled patriots’ lives!O many a sicken’d heart!Turn back unto this day and make yourselves afresh.
And you, paid to defile the People--you liars, mark!Not for numberless agonies, murders, lusts,For court thieving in its manifold mean forms, worming from hissimplicity the poor man’s wages,For many a promise sworn by royal lips and broken and laugh’d at inthe breaking,
Then in their power not for all these did the blows strike revenge,or the heads of the nobles fall;The People scorn’d the ferocity of kings.
But the sweetness of mercy brew’d bitter destruction, and thefrighten’d monarchs come back,Each comes in state with his train, hangman, priest, tax-gatherer,Soldier, lawyer, lord, jailer, and sycophant.
Yet behind all lowering stealing, lo, a shape,Vague as the night, draped interminably, head, front and form, inscarlet folds,Whose face and eyes none may see,Out of its robes only this, the red robes lifted by the arm,One finger crook’d pointed high over the top, like the head of asnake appears.
Meanwhile corpses lie in new-made graves, bloody corpses of young men,The rope of the gibbet hangs heavily, the bullets of princes areflying, the creatures of power laugh aloud,And all these things bear fruits, and they are good.
Those corpses of young men,Those martyrs that hang from the gibbets, those hearts pierc’d bythe gray lead,Cold and motionless as they seem live elsewhere with unslaughter’d vitality.
They live in other young men O kings!They live in brothers again ready to defy you,They were purified by death, they were taught and exalted.
Not a grave of the murder’d for freedom but grows seed for freedom,in its turn to bear seed,Which the winds carry afar and re-sow, and the rains and the snows nourish.
Not a disembodied spirit can the weapons of tyrants let loose,But it stalks invisibly over the earth, whispering, counseling, cautioning.Liberty, let others despair of you--I never despair of you.
Is the house shut? is the master away?Nevertheless, be ready, be not weary of watching,He will soon return, his messengers come anon.
Words in this poem 15
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- sicken v. t.
- To make sick; to disease.
- afresh adv.
- Anew; again; once more; newly. [Pref. a- + fresh.]
- numberless a.
- Innumerable; countless.
- ferocity n.
- Savage wildness or fierceness; fury; cruelty; as, ferocity of countenance. [L. ferocitas, fr. ferox, -ocis, fierce, kin to ferus wild: cf. F. ferocité. See Fierce.]
- jailer n.
- The keeper of a jail or prison. [OE. jailer, gailer, OF. geolier, F. geôlier. See Jail.]
- interminably adv.
- Without end or limit.
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- gibbet n.
- A kind of gallows; an upright post with an arm projecting from the top, on which, formerly, malefactors were hanged in chains, and their bodies allowed to remain asa warning. [OE. gibet, F. gibet, in OF. also club, fr. LL. gibetum;; cf. OF. gibe sort of sickle or hook, It. giubbetto gibbet, and giubbetta, dim. of giubba mane, also, an]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- defy v. t.
- To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [F. défier, OF. deffier, desfier, LL. disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to ch]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- invisibly adv.
- In an invisible manner, Denham.
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Europe 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, Europe, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/europe.html, id L03922.
Form and metre
Europe is 48 lines in 12 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.7 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% 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.
- 3 --AA-- mark · lusts · hisA · wagesA · in · breaking
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Suddenly out of its stale and drowsy lair, the lair of slaves, | 15 | /˘˘·····/˘····· |
| Like lightning it le’pt forth half startled at itself, | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·˘/ |
| Its feet upon the ashes and the rags, its hands tight to the throats | 16 | ·····/˘········· |
| of kings. | 2 | ·· |
| O hope and faith! | 4 | ···· |
| O aching close of exiled patriots’ lives! | 11 | ·/˘··/·/˘˘· |
| O many a sicken’d heart! | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Turn back unto this day and make yourselves afresh. | 12 | ········˘/˘/ |
| And you, paid to defile the People--you liars, mark! | 13 | ····˘/·/˘·/˘· |
| Not for numberless agonies, murders, lusts, | 11 | ··/˘˘/˘˘/˘· |
| For court thieving in its manifold mean forms, worming from his | 15 | ··/˘··/˘···/˘·· |
| simplicity the poor man’s wages, | 9 | ˘/˘˘···/˘ |
| For many a promise sworn by royal lips and broken and laugh’d at in | 18 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘··/˘···· |
| the breaking, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Then in their power not for all these did the blows strike revenge, | 15 | ···/˘········˘/ |
| or the heads of the nobles fall; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The People scorn’d the ferocity of kings. | 11 | ·/˘··˘/˘˘·· |
| But the sweetness of mercy brew’d bitter destruction, and the | 15 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| frighten’d monarchs come back, | 6 | /˘/··· |
| Each comes in state with his train, hangman, priest, tax-gatherer, | 14 | ·······/˘··/˘˘ |
| Soldier, lawyer, lord, jailer, and sycophant. | 11 | /˘/˘·/˘·/˘˘ |
| Yet behind all lowering stealing, lo, a shape, | 12 | ····/˘˘/˘··· |
| Vague as the night, draped interminably, head, front and form, in | 15 | ·····/˘˘·˘····· |
| scarlet folds, | 3 | /˘· |
| Whose face and eyes none may see, | 7 | ······· |
| Out of its robes only this, the red robes lifted by the arm, | 15 | ····/˘····/˘··· |
| One finger crook’d pointed high over the top, like the head of a | 17 | ·/˘/˘/˘·········· |
| snake appears. | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Meanwhile corpses lie in new-made graves, bloody corpses of young men, | 16 | /·/˘·····/˘/˘··· |
| The rope of the gibbet hangs heavily, the bullets of princes are | 17 | ····/˘·/˘˘·/˘·/˘· |
| flying, the creatures of power laugh aloud, | 11 | /˘·/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| And all these things bear fruits, and they are good. | 10 | ·········· |
| Those corpses of young men, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Those martyrs that hang from the gibbets, those hearts pierc’d by | 13 | ·/˘·········· |
| the gray lead, | 3 | ··· |
| Cold and motionless as they seem live elsewhere with unslaughter’d vitality. | 19 | ··/˘˘····/·····˘/˘˘ |
| They live in other young men O kings! | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| They live in brothers again ready to defy you, | 13 | ···/˘˘//˘·˘/· |
| They were purified by death, they were taught and exalted. | 14 | ··/˘·······˘/˘ |
| Not a grave of the murder’d for freedom but grows seed for freedom, | 16 | ·····/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| in its turn to bear seed, | 6 | ······ |
| Which the winds carry afar and re-sow, and the rains and the snows nourish. | 18 | ···/˘˘/·········/˘ |
| Not a disembodied spirit can the weapons of tyrants let loose, | 17 | ··˘˘/˘/˘··/˘·/˘·· |
| But it stalks invisibly over the earth, whispering, counseling, cautioning. | 20 | ···˘/˘˘····/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Liberty, let others despair of you--I never despair of you. | 17 | /˘˘·/˘˘/···/˘˘/·· |
| Is the house shut? is the master away? | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| Nevertheless, be ready, be not weary of watching, | 14 | ·˘˘/·/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| He will soon return, his messengers come anon. | 12 | ···˘/·/˘˘·˘/ |
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