I Saw Old General At Bay

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)




   I SAW old General at bay;
   (Old as he was, his grey eyes yet shone out in battle like stars;)
   His small force was now completely hemm'd in, in his works;
   He call'd for volunteers to run the enemy's lines--a desperate
         emergency;
   I saw a hundred and more step forth from the ranks--but two or three
         were selected;
   I saw them receive their orders aside--they listen'd with care--the
         adjutant was very grave;
   I saw them depart with cheerfulness, freely risking their lives.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

26 sec read
210

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEEFGHI
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 515
Words 85
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 10

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

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