The Night March

Herman Melville 1819 – 1891



With banners furled and clarions mute,
An army passes in the night;
And beaming spears and helms salute
The dark with bright.

In silence deep the legions stream,
With open ranks, in order true;
Over boundless plains they stream and
gleam--
No chief in view!

Afar, in twinkling distance lost,
(So legends tell) he lonely wends
And back through all that shining host
His mandate sends.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 16, 2023

20 sec read
461

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDXCD XEXE
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 379
Words 68
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 5, 4

Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American writer best known for the novel Moby-Dick. more…

All Herman Melville poems | Herman Melville Books

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