The Dead Emperor
To-day, with bending head and eyes, thou, too, Columbia,Less for the mighty crown laid low in sorrow--less for the Emperor,Thy true condolence breathest, sendest out o’er many a salt sea mile,Mourning a good old man--a faithful shepherd, patriot.
Words in this poem
- columbia n.
- America; the United States; -- a poetical appellation given in honor of Columbus, the discoverer. Dr. T. Dwight.
- condolence n.
- Expression of sympathy with another in sorrow or grief. [Cf. F. condoléance.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Dead Emperor 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, The Dead Emperor, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/the-dead-emperor.html, id L04114.
Form and metre
The Dead Emperor is 4 lines in a single stanza. The lines average 15.5 syllables. 3 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To-day, with bending head and eyes, thou, too, Columbia, | 14 | ···/˘·····˘/˘˘ |
| Less for the mighty crown laid low in sorrow--less for the Emperor, | 17 | ···/˘····/˘···/˘˘ |
| Thy true condolence breathest, sendest out o’er many a salt sea mile, | 17 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘··/˘···· |
| Mourning a good old man--a faithful shepherd, patriot. | 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.