From Far Dakota’s Canyons
From far Dakota’s canyons,Lands of the wild ravine, the dusky Sioux, the lonesome stretch, thesilence,Haply to-day a mournful wall, haply a trumpet-note for heroes.
The battle-bulletin,The Indian ambuscade, the craft, the fatal environment,The cavalry companies fighting to the last in sternest heroism,In the midst of their little circle, with their slaughter’d horsesfor breastworks,The fall of Custer and all his officers and men.
Continues yet the old, old legend of our race,The loftiest of life upheld by death,The ancient banner perfectly maintain’d,O lesson opportune, O how I welcome thee!
As sitting in dark days,Lone, sulky, through the time’s thick murk looking in vain forlight, for hope,From unsuspected parts a fierce and momentary proof,(The sun there at the centre though conceal’d,Electric life forever at the centre,)Breaks forth a lightning flash.
Thou of the tawny flowing hair in battle,I erewhile saw, with erect head, pressing ever in front, bearing abright sword in thy hand,Now ending well in death the splendid fever of thy deeds,(I bring no dirge for it or thee, I bring a glad triumphal sonnet,)Desperate and glorious, aye in defeat most desperate, most glorious,After thy many battles in which never yielding up a gun or a color,Leaving behind thee a memory sweet to soldiers,Thou yieldest up thyself.
Words in this poem 16
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- ambuscade n.
- A lying in a wood, concealed, for the purpose of attacking an enemy by surprise. Hence: A lying in wait, and concealed in any situation, for a like purpose; a snare laid for an enemy; an ambush. [F. embuscade, fr. It. imboscata, or Sp. emboscada, fr. emboscar to ambush, fr. LL. imboscare. See Ambush, v. t.]
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- heroism n.
- The qualities characteristic of a hero, as courage, bravery, fortitude, unselfishness, etc.; the display of such qualities. [F. héroïsme.]
- opportune v. t.
- To suit. Dr. Clerke(1637).
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- murk n.
- Darkness; mirk.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
- erewhile adv.
- Some time ago; a little while before; heretofore.
- dirge n.
- A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn. [Contraction of Lat. dirige, direct thou (imperative of dirigere), the first word of a funeral hymn (Lat. transl. of Psalm v. 8) beginning, "Dirige, Domine, in c]
- triumphal n.
- A token of victory.
- sonnet n.
- A short poem, -- usually amatory. [F., fr. It. sonetto, fr. suono a sound, a song, fr. L. sonus a sound. See Sound noise.]
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From Far Dakota’s Canyons 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, From Far Dakota’s Canyons, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/from-far-dakota-s-canyons.html, id L04052.
Form and metre
From Far Dakota’s Canyons is 30 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.4 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From far Dakota’s canyons, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Lands of the wild ravine, the dusky Sioux, the lonesome stretch, the | 15 | ····˘/·/˘··/˘·· |
| silence, | 2 | /˘ |
| Haply to-day a mournful wall, haply a trumpet-note for heroes. | 17 | /˘···/˘·/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| The battle-bulletin, | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| The Indian ambuscade, the craft, the fatal environment, | 16 | ·/˘˘······/˘˘/˘˘ |
| The cavalry companies fighting to the last in sternest heroism, | 19 | ·/˘˘/˘˘/˘····/˘/˘·˘ |
| In the midst of their little circle, with their slaughter’d horses | 15 | ·····/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| for breastworks, | 3 | ··· |
| The fall of Custer and all his officers and men. | 13 | ···/˘···/˘˘·· |
| Continues yet the old, old legend of our race, | 13 | ˘/˘····/˘·/˘· |
| The loftiest of life upheld by death, | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| The ancient banner perfectly maintain’d, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| O lesson opportune, O how I welcome thee! | 12 | ·/˘·˘/···/˘· |
| As sitting in dark days, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Lone, sulky, through the time’s thick murk looking in vain for | 13 | ·/˘·····/˘··· |
| light, for hope, | 3 | ··· |
| From unsuspected parts a fierce and momentary proof, | 14 | ··˘/˘····/˘·˘· |
| (The sun there at the centre though conceal’d, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Electric life forever at the centre,) | 11 | ˘/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Breaks forth a lightning flash. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou of the tawny flowing hair in battle, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| I erewhile saw, with erect head, pressing ever in front, bearing a | 19 | ·······˘/·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| bright sword in thy hand, | 5 | ····· |
| Now ending well in death the splendid fever of thy deeds, | 14 | ·/˘····/˘/˘··· |
| (I bring no dirge for it or thee, I bring a glad triumphal sonnet,) | 17 | ············˘/˘/˘ |
| Desperate and glorious, aye in defeat most desperate, most glorious, | 17 | /˘·/˘˘··˘/·/˘·/˘˘ |
| After thy many battles in which never yielding up a gun or a color, | 20 | ···/˘/˘··/˘/˘·····/˘ |
| Leaving behind thee a memory sweet to soldiers, | 13 | /˘····/˘˘··/˘ |
| Thou yieldest up thyself. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
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