How Solemn as One by One
How solemn as one by one,As the ranks returning worn and sweaty, as the men file by where stand,As the faces the masks appear, as I glance at the faces studying the masks,(As I glance upward out of this page studying you, dear friend,whoever you are,)How solemn the thought of my whispering soul to each in the ranks,and to you,I see behind each mask that wonder a kindred soul,O the bullet could never kill what you really are, dear friend,Nor the bayonet stab what you really are;The soul! yourself I see, great as any, good as the best,Waiting secure and content, which the bullet could never kill,Nor the bayonet stab O friend.
As I lay with my head in your lap camerado,The confession I made I resume, what I said to you and the open airI resume,I know I am restless and make others so,I know my words are weapons full of danger, full of death,For I confront peace, security, and all the settled laws, tounsettle them,I am more resolute because all have denied me than I could ever havebeen had all accepted me,I heed not and have never heeded either experience, cautions,majorities, nor ridicule,And the threat of what is call’d hell is little or nothing to me,And the lure of what is call’d heaven is little or nothing to me;Dear camerado! I confess I have urged you onward with me, and stillurge you, without the least idea what is our destination,Or whether we shall be victorious, or utterly quell’d and defeated.
Words in this poem
- sweaty a.
- Moist with sweat; as, a sweaty skin; a sweaty garment.
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
- resume n.
- A summing up; a condensed statement; an abridgment or brief recapitulation. [F. See Resume.]
- confront v. t.
- To stand facing or in front of; to face; esp. to face hostilely; to oppose with firmness.
- destination n.
- The act of destining or appointing. [L. destinatio determination: cf. F. destination destination.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How Solemn as One by One 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, How Solemn as One by One, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/how-solemn-as-one-by-one.html, id L03968.
Form and metre
How Solemn as One by One is 29 lines in 2 stanzas. 82% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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 ---AB---AB--A one · stand · masks · friendA · areB · ranks · you · soul · friendA · areB · best · kill · friendA
- 2 --------A--AA--- camerado · air · resume · so · death · to · them · have · meA · cautions · ridicule · meA · meA · still · destination · defeated
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How solemn as one by one, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| As the ranks returning worn and sweaty, as the men file by where stand, | 17 | ···˘/˘··/˘······· |
| As the faces the masks appear, as I glance at the faces studying the masks, | 20 | ··/˘··˘/·····/˘/˘˘·· |
| (As I glance upward out of this page studying you, dear friend, | 15 | ···/˘····/˘˘··· |
| whoever you are,) | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| How solemn the thought of my whispering soul to each in the ranks, | 16 | ·/˘····/˘˘······ |
| and to you, | 3 | ··· |
| I see behind each mask that wonder a kindred soul, | 13 | ·······/˘·/˘· |
| O the bullet could never kill what you really are, dear friend, | 15 | ··/˘·/˘···/˘··· |
| Nor the bayonet stab what you really are; | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| The soul! yourself I see, great as any, good as the best, | 14 | ··˘/····/˘···· |
| Waiting secure and content, which the bullet could never kill, | 15 | /˘˘/·/˘··/˘·/˘· |
| Nor the bayonet stab O friend. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| As I lay with my head in your lap camerado, | 13 | ············· |
| The confession I made I resume, what I said to you and the open air | 19 | ·˘/˘···˘/·······/˘· |
| I resume, | 3 | ·˘/ |
| I know I am restless and make others so, | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| I know my words are weapons full of danger, full of death, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| For I confront peace, security, and all the settled laws, to | 16 | ··˘/·˘/˘˘···/˘·· |
| unsettle them, | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| I am more resolute because all have denied me than I could ever have | 19 | ···/˘·····˘/····/˘· |
| been had all accepted me, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| I heed not and have never heeded either experience, cautions, | 17 | ·····/˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| majorities, nor ridicule, | 8 | ˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| And the threat of what is call’d hell is little or nothing to me, | 16 | ·········/˘·/˘·· |
| And the lure of what is call’d heaven is little or nothing to me; | 17 | ·······/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Dear camerado! I confess I have urged you onward with me, and still | 18 | ······˘/····/˘···· |
| urge you, without the least idea what is our destination, | 17 | ······˘/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Or whether we shall be victorious, or utterly quell’d and defeated. | 19 | ······˘/˘˘·/˘˘··˘/˘ |
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.