Over the Carnage Rose Prophetic a Voice
Over the carnage rose prophetic a voice,Be not dishearten’d, affection shall solve the problems of freedom yet,Those who love each other shall become invincible,They shall yet make Columbia victorious.
Sons of the Mother of All, you shall yet be victorious,You shall yet laugh to scorn the attacks of all the remainder of the earth.
No danger shall balk Columbia’s lovers,If need be a thousand shall sternly immolate themselves for one.
One from Massachusetts shall be a Missourian’s comrade,From Maine and from hot Carolina, and another an Oregonese, shallbe friends triune,More precious to each other than all the riches of the earth.
To Michigan, Florida perfumes shall tenderly come,Not the perfumes of flowers, but sweeter, and wafted beyond death.
It shall be customary in the houses and streets to see manly affection,The most dauntless and rude shall touch face to face lightly,The dependence of Liberty shall be lovers,The continuance of Equality shall be comrades.
These shall tie you and band you stronger than hoops of iron,I, ecstatic, O partners! O lands! with the love of lovers tie you.
(Were you looking to be held together by lawyers?Or by an agreement on a paper? or by arms?Nay, nor the world, nor any living thing, will so cohere.)
Words in this poem
- carnage n.
- Flesh of slain animals or men. [F. carnage, LL. carnaticum tribute of animals, flesh of animals, fr. L. caro, carnis, flesh. See Carnal.]
- 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,]
- columbia n.
- America; the United States; -- a poetical appellation given in honor of Columbus, the discoverer. Dr. T. Dwight.
- sternly adv.
- In a stern manner.
- immolate v. t.
- To sacrifice; to offer in sacrifice; to kill, as a sacrificial victim. [L. immolatus, p. p. of immolare to sacrifice, orig., to sprinkle a victim with sacrifical meal; pref. im- in + mola grits or grains of spelt coarsely ground and]
- triune a.
- Being three in one; -- an epithet used to express the unity of a trinity of persons in the Godhead. [Pref. tri- + L. unus one. See One.]
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- dauntless a.
- Incapable of being daunted; undaunted; bold; fearless; intrepid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Over the Carnage Rose Prophetic a Voice 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, Over the Carnage Rose Prophetic a Voice, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/over-the-carnage-rose-prophetic-a-voice.html, id L03958.
Form and metre
Over the Carnage Rose Prophetic a Voice is 23 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 73% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 14.2 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 voiceA · yet · invincible · victoriousA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Over the carnage rose prophetic a voice, | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘·· |
| Be not dishearten’d, affection shall solve the problems of freedom yet, | 17 | ··˘/˘˘/˘···/˘·/˘· |
| Those who love each other shall become invincible, | 13 | ····/˘·˘/˘/˘˘ |
| They shall yet make Columbia victorious. | 12 | ····˘/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| Sons of the Mother of All, you shall yet be victorious, | 15 | ···/˘······˘/˘˘ |
| You shall yet laugh to scorn the attacks of all the remainder of the earth. | 18 | ·······˘/···˘/˘··· |
| No danger shall balk Columbia’s lovers, | 11 | ·/˘··˘/˘˘/˘ |
| If need be a thousand shall sternly immolate themselves for one. | 16 | ····/˘·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| One from Massachusetts shall be a Missourian’s comrade, | 15 | ···˘/˘···˘/˘˘/· |
| From Maine and from hot Carolina, and another an Oregonese, shall | 19 | ······˘/˘·˘/˘······ |
| be friends triune, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| More precious to each other than all the riches of the earth. | 15 | ·/˘··/˘···/˘··· |
| To Michigan, Florida perfumes shall tenderly come, | 14 | ·/˘˘/˘˘˘/·/˘˘· |
| Not the perfumes of flowers, but sweeter, and wafted beyond death. | 16 | ··˘/·/˘·/˘·/˘··· |
| It shall be customary in the houses and streets to see manly affection, | 20 | ···/˘·˘··/˘····/˘˘/˘ |
| The most dauntless and rude shall touch face to face lightly, | 13 | ··/˘·······/˘ |
| The dependence of Liberty shall be lovers, | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘··/˘ |
| The continuance of Equality shall be comrades. | 14 | ·˘/˘˘·˘/˘˘··/· |
| These shall tie you and band you stronger than hoops of iron, | 14 | ·······/˘···/˘ |
| I, ecstatic, O partners! O lands! with the love of lovers tie you. | 17 | ·˘/˘·/˘······/˘·· |
| (Were you looking to be held together by lawyers? | 13 | ··/˘···˘/˘·/˘ |
| Or by an agreement on a paper? or by arms? | 13 | ···˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Nay, nor the world, nor any living thing, will so cohere.) | 14 | ·····/˘/˘···˘/ |
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.