The Battle Autumn of 1862
THE flags of war like storm-birds fly,The charging trumpets blow;Yet rolls no thunder in the sky,No earthquake strives below.
And, calm and patient, Nature keepsHer ancient promise well,Though o'er her bloom and greenness sweepsThe battle's breath of hell.
And still she walks in golden hoursThrough harvest-happy farms,And still she wears her fruits and flowersLike jewels on her arms.
What mean the gladness of the plain,This joy of eve and morn,The mirth that shakes the beard of grainAnd yellow locks of corn?
Ah! eyes may well be full of tears,And hearts with hate are hot;But even-paced come round the years,And Nature changes not.
She meets with smiles our bitter grief,With songs our groans of pain;She mocks with tint of flower and leafThe war-field's crimson stain.
Still, in the cannon's pause, we hearHer sweet thanksgiving-psalm;Too near to God for doubt or fear,She shares the eternal calm.
She knows the seed lies safe belowThe fires that blast and burn;For all the tears of blood we sowShe waits the rich return.
She sees with clearer eve than oursThe good of suffering born,--The hearts that blossom like her flowers,And ripen like her corn.
Oh, give to us, in times like these,The vision of her eyes;And make her fields and fruited treesOur golden prophecies
Oh, give to us her finer earAbove this stormy din,We too would hear the bells of cheerRing peace and freedom in.
Words in this poem
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- thanksgiving n.
- The act of rending thanks, or expressing gratitude for favors or mercies.
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Battle Autumn of 1862 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, The Battle Autumn of 1862, 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/the-battle-autumn-of-1862.html, id L24918.
Form and metre
The Battle Autumn of 1862 is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB flyA · blowB · skyA · belowB
- 2 ABAB keepsA · wellB · sweepsA · hellB
- 3 ABAB hoursA · farmsB · flowersA · armsB
- 4 ABAB plainA · mornB · grainA · cornB
- 5 ABAB tearsA · hotB · yearsA · notB
- 6 ABAB griefA · painB · leafA · stainB
- 7 ABAB hearA · psalmB · fearA · calmB
- 8 ABAB belowA · burnB · sowA · returnB
- 9 ABAB oursA · bornB · flowersA · cornB
- 10 A-AA theseA · eyes · treesA · propheciesA
- 11 ABAB earA · dinB · cheerA · inB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THE flags of war like storm-birds fly, | 8 | ········ |
| The charging trumpets blow; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Yet rolls no thunder in the sky, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No earthquake strives below. | 6 | ·/···· |
| And, calm and patient, Nature keeps | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Her ancient promise well, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Though o'er her bloom and greenness sweeps | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The battle's breath of hell. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And still she walks in golden hours | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Through harvest-happy farms, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And still she wears her fruits and flowers | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Like jewels on her arms. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| What mean the gladness of the plain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| This joy of eve and morn, | 6 | ······ |
| The mirth that shakes the beard of grain | 8 | ········ |
| And yellow locks of corn? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Ah! eyes may well be full of tears, | 8 | ········ |
| And hearts with hate are hot; | 6 | ······ |
| But even-paced come round the years, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And Nature changes not. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| She meets with smiles our bitter grief, | 8 | ····//˘· |
| With songs our groans of pain; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| She mocks with tint of flower and leaf | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The war-field's crimson stain. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Still, in the cannon's pause, we hear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her sweet thanksgiving-psalm; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Too near to God for doubt or fear, | 8 | ········ |
| She shares the eternal calm. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| She knows the seed lies safe below | 8 | ········ |
| The fires that blast and burn; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| For all the tears of blood we sow | 8 | ········ |
| She waits the rich return. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| She sees with clearer eve than ours | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| The good of suffering born,-- | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The hearts that blossom like her flowers, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And ripen like her corn. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Oh, give to us, in times like these, | 8 | ········ |
| The vision of her eyes; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And make her fields and fruited trees | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Our golden prophecies | 7 | /˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Oh, give to us her finer ear | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above this stormy din, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We too would hear the bells of cheer | 8 | ········ |
| Ring peace and freedom in. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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