Turn o Libertad
Turn O Libertad, for the war is over,From it and all henceforth expanding, doubting no more, resolute,sweeping the world,Turn from lands retrospective recording proofs of the past,From the singers that sing the trailing glories of the past,From the chants of the feudal world, the triumphs of kings, slavery, caste,Turn to the world, the triumphs reserv’d and to come--give up thatbackward world,Leave to the singers of hitherto, give them the trailing past,But what remains remains for singers for you--wars to come are for you,(Lo, how the wars of the past have duly inured to you, and the warsof the present also inure;)Then turn, and be not alarm’d O Libertad--turn your undying face,To where the future, greater than all the past,Is swiftly, surely preparing for you.
Words in this poem
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- hitherto adv.
- To this place; to a prescribed limit.
- inure v. t.
- To apply in use; to train; to discipline; to use or accustom till use gives little or no pain or inconvenience; to harden; to habituate; to practice habitually. [From pref. in- in + ure use, work. See Ure use, practice, Opera, and cf. Manure.]
- undying a.
- Not dying; imperishable; unending; immortal; as, the undying souls of men.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Turn o Libertad 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, Turn o Libertad, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/turn-o-libertad.html, id L03974.
Form and metre
Turn o Libertad is 15 lines in a single stanza. 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.6 syllables. 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.
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 --ABBB-ABC---BC over · resolute · worldA · pastB · pastB · casteB · that · worldA · pastB · youC · wars · inure · face · pastB · youC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Turn O Libertad, for the war is over, | 11 | ··········· |
| From it and all henceforth expanding, doubting no more, resolute, | 16 | ····//˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| sweeping the world, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Turn from lands retrospective recording proofs of the past, | 14 | ····˘/˘˘/˘···· |
| From the singers that sing the trailing glories of the past, | 14 | ··/˘···/˘/˘··· |
| From the chants of the feudal world, the triumphs of kings, slavery, caste, | 17 | ·····/˘··/˘··/˘˘· |
| Turn to the world, the triumphs reserv’d and to come--give up that | 15 | ·····/˘˘/······ |
| backward world, | 3 | /˘· |
| Leave to the singers of hitherto, give them the trailing past, | 15 | ···/˘·/·/···/˘· |
| But what remains remains for singers for you--wars to come are for you, | 17 | ··˘/˘/·/˘········ |
| (Lo, how the wars of the past have duly inured to you, and the wars | 17 | ········/˘˘/····· |
| of the present also inure;) | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘/ |
| Then turn, and be not alarm’d O Libertad--turn your undying face, | 17 | ·····˘/······˘/˘· |
| To where the future, greater than all the past, | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| Is swiftly, surely preparing for you. | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘·· |
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.