Le Marais Du Cygne
A BLUSH as of rosesWhere rose never grew!Great drops on the bunch-grass,But not of the dew!A taint in the sweet airFor wild bees to shun!A stain that shall neverBleach out in the sun.
Back, steed of the prairiesSweet song-bird, fly back!Wheel hither, bald vulture!Gray wolf, call thy pack!The foul human vulturesHave feasted and fled;The wolves of the BorderHave crept from the dead.
From the hearths of their cabins,The fields of their corn,Unwarned and unweaponed,The victims were torn,--By the whirlwind of murderSwooped up and swept onTo the low, reedy fen-lands,The Marsh of the Swan.
With a vain plea for mercyNo stout knee was crooked;In the mouths of the riflesRight manly they looked.How paled the May sunshine,O Marais du Cygne!On death for the strong life,On red grass for green!
In the homes of their rearing,Yet warm with their lives,Ye wait the dead only,Poor children and wives!Put out the red forge-fire,The smith shall not come;Unyoke the brown oxen,The ploughman lies dumb.
Wind slow from the Swan's Marsh,O dreary death-train,With pressed lips as bloodlessAs lips of the slain!Kiss down the young eyelids,Smooth down the gray hairs;Let tears quench the cursesThat burn through your prayers.
Strong man of the prairies,Mourn bitter and wild!Wail, desolate woman!Weep, fatherless child!But the grain of God springs upFrom ashes beneath,And the crown of his harvestIs life out of death.
Not in vain on the dialThe shade moves along,To point the great contrastsOf right and of wrong:Free homes and free altars,Free prairie and flood,--The reeds of the Swan's Marsh,Whose bloom is of blood!
On the lintels of KansasThat blood shall not dry;Henceforth the Bad AngelShall harmless go by;Henceforth to the sunset,Unchecked on her way,Shall Liberty followThe march of the day.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- unyoke v. t.
- To loose or free from a yoke. [1st pref. un- + yoke.]
- ploughman n.
- One who plows, or who holds and guides a plow; hence, a husbandman. Chaucer.
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- fatherless a.
- Destitute of a living father; as, a fatherless child.
- kansas n.
- A tribe of Indians allied to the Winnebagoes and Osages. They formerly inhabited the region which is now the State of Kansas, but were removed to the Indian Territory.
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Le Marais Du Cygne is in the public domain. This text is taken from Anti-Slavery Poems and Songs of Labor and Reform, Complete Volume III of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, Project Gutenberg ebook #9580; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Greenleaf Whittier, Le Marais Du Cygne, in Anti-Slavery Poems and Songs of Labor and Reform (1865), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9580, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whittier-anti-slavery/le-marais-du-cygne.html, id L24899.
Form and metre
Le Marais Du Cygne is 72 lines in 9 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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-B-B roses · grewA · grass · dewA · air · shunB · never · sunB
- 2 -A-A-B-B prairies · backA · vulture · packA · vultures · fledB · border · deadB
- 3 -A-A-B-B cabins · cornA · unweaponed · tornA · murder · onB · lands · swanB
- 5 -A-A-B-B rearing · livesA · only · wivesA · fire · comeB · oxen · dumbB
- 6 -A-A-B-B marsh · trainA · bloodless · slainA · eyelids · hairsB · curses · prayersB
- 7 -A-A---- prairies · wildA · woman · childA · up · beneath · harvest · death
- 8 -A-A-B-B dial · alongA · contrasts · wrongA · altars · floodB · marsh · bloodB
- 9 -A-A-B-B kansas · dryA · angel · byA · sunset · wayB · follow · dayB
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. Read against anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A BLUSH as of roses | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Where rose never grew! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Great drops on the bunch-grass, | 6 | ······ |
| But not of the dew! | 5 | ····· |
| A taint in the sweet air | 6 | ······ |
| For wild bees to shun! | 5 | ····· |
| A stain that shall never | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Bleach out in the sun. | 5 | ····· |
| Back, steed of the prairies | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Sweet song-bird, fly back! | 5 | ····· |
| Wheel hither, bald vulture! | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Gray wolf, call thy pack! | 5 | ····· |
| The foul human vultures | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Have feasted and fled; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| The wolves of the Border | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Have crept from the dead. | 5 | ····· |
| From the hearths of their cabins, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The fields of their corn, | 5 | ····· |
| Unwarned and unweaponed, | 6 | ······ |
| The victims were torn,-- | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| By the whirlwind of murder | 7 | ··/··/˘ |
| Swooped up and swept on | 5 | ····· |
| To the low, reedy fen-lands, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| The Marsh of the Swan. | 5 | ····· |
| With a vain plea for mercy | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| No stout knee was crooked; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| In the mouths of the rifles | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Right manly they looked. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| How paled the May sunshine, | 6 | ····/· |
| O Marais du Cygne! | 6 | ··/·/˘ |
| On death for the strong life, | 6 | ······ |
| On red grass for green! | 5 | ····· |
| In the homes of their rearing, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Yet warm with their lives, | 5 | ····· |
| Ye wait the dead only, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Poor children and wives! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Put out the red forge-fire, | 6 | ·····/ |
| The smith shall not come; | 5 | ····· |
| Unyoke the brown oxen, | 6 | ˘/··/˘ |
| The ploughman lies dumb. | 5 | ····· |
| Wind slow from the Swan's Marsh, | 6 | ······ |
| O dreary death-train, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| With pressed lips as bloodless | 6 | ····/˘ |
| As lips of the slain! | 5 | ····· |
| Kiss down the young eyelids, | 6 | ····/· |
| Smooth down the gray hairs; | 5 | ····· |
| Let tears quench the curses | 6 | ····/˘ |
| That burn through your prayers. | 5 | ····· |
| Strong man of the prairies, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Mourn bitter and wild! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Wail, desolate woman! | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| Weep, fatherless child! | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| But the grain of God springs up | 7 | ······· |
| From ashes beneath, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And the crown of his harvest | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Is life out of death. | 5 | ····· |
| Not in vain on the dial | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The shade moves along, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| To point the great contrasts | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Of right and of wrong: | 5 | ····· |
| Free homes and free altars, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Free prairie and flood,-- | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| The reeds of the Swan's Marsh, | 6 | ······ |
| Whose bloom is of blood! | 5 | ····· |
| On the lintels of Kansas | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| That blood shall not dry; | 5 | ····· |
| Henceforth the Bad Angel | 6 | //··/˘ |
| Shall harmless go by; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Henceforth to the sunset, | 6 | //··/· |
| Unchecked on her way, | 5 | ˘/··· |
| Shall Liberty follow | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| The march of the day. | 5 | ····· |
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.