Romance

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



'Talk of pluck!' pursued the Sailor,
Set at euchre on his elbow,
'I was on the wharf at Charleston,
Just ashore from off the runner.

'It was grey and dirty weather,
And I heard a drum go rolling,
Rub-a-dubbing in the distance,
Awful dour-like and defiant.

'In and out among the cotton,
Mud, and chains, and stores, and anchors,
Tramped a squad of battered scarecrows -
Poor old Dixie's bottom dollar!

'Some had shoes, but all had rifles,
Them that wasn't bald was beardless,
And the drum was rolling Dixie,
And they stepped to it like men, sir!

'Rags and tatters, belts and bayonets,
On they swung, the drum a-rolling,
Mum and sour. It looked like fighting,
And they meant it too, by thunder!'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
137

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXBA ACDX BXDA XDXA XCCA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 682
Words 128
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

All William Ernest Henley poems | William Ernest Henley Books

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    "Romance" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40537/romance>.

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    Who wrote the poem ״Invictus״?
    A Thomas Hardy
    B Sylvia Plath
    C Oscar Wilde
    D William Ernest Henley