Character of the Happy Warrior
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"Character of the Happy Warrior" is a poem by the English Romantic poet
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...
. Composed in 1806, after the death of
Lord Nelson Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British people, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strate ...
, hero of the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, and first published in 1807, the poem purports to describe the ideal "man in arms" and has, through ages since, been the source of much metaphor in political and military life.


Summary

Wordsworth begins by asking us "Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he / What every man in arms should wish to be?". He then proceeds to answer his own query: The Happy Warrior is a ''generous'' spirit, who, amidst, or, in spite of, the tasks of real life, hath done what pleased his innocent, "childish thought". His noble ideas and deeds are "an inward light" (not unlike the
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
belief in an
inner light The inward light, Light of God, Light of Christ, Christ within, That of God, Spirit of God within us, Light within, and inner light are related phrases commonly used within the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) as metaphors for Christ's li ...
) that, despite their inwardness, make the path before the warrior "always bright." The Happy Warrior is a diligent student, eager to amass whatever knowledge comes his way; furthermore, and as a result, his principal concern must be his own moral being. All fearsome challenges he transmutes, subduing what negative qualities they may have, and learning from what good they have to offer. The warrior is "skilful in self-knowledge" (like the philosophers of
ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
, living by the famous injunction to " know one's self") and understands that the true purpose of "suffering and distress" is to grow in compassion and "tenderness". His law and dearest friend is
Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
; he owes all of his triumphs to
Virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standard ...
. If he achieves high station, he does so honestly; if he can not act honestly whilst in office, he would sooner quit. Because he is single-mindedly faithful, he does not ''seek'' his own advancement. He has a "peculiar grace" that shows itself in any action that he takes, no matter how great or humble. Our Warrior is "happy as a Lover" in the face of the greatest strife; he keeps the law, no matter how severe any conflict may be; when called upon for any task, the Happy Warrior is always equal to it. Though he deals well with all things perilous and turbulent, he aspires to "homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes" (like
Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus ( – ) was a Roman patrician, statesman, and military leader of the early Roman Republic who became a legendary figure of Roman virtue—particularly civic virtue—by the time of the late Republic. Cincinnatus was ...
or
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
). He is not content with any one good or great deed, but always seeks to top himself; and furthermore, for all the worldly esteem he may attain, he, in all his greatness, knows that not even the esteem of history is the most important a man can attain, but that of God: indeed, so long as the Happy Warrior "finds comfort in himself and in his cause", he will have the approval of Heaven, and that, he finally knows, is the only mark of greatness. The poet concludes with a statement echoing his initial question: "This is the happy Warrior; this is he / Whom every Man in arms should wish to be".


Meter and rhyme

The poem is in
iambic pentameter Iambic pentameter () is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in that line; rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called "feet". "Iambi ...
, and is composed mostly in rhyming
couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...
s: thus is the poem written in ''
heroic couplets A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic and narrative poetry, and consisting of a rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter. Use of the heroic couplet was pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the ''Legend of ...
'', fitting for a composition extolling those virtues most apparent in "men in arms," and found often in epic works such as
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
's ''
Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...
''. As in much other heroic verse, the poet here seems to object nothing to the occasional poetic triplet.


Historical basis

Wordsworth modelled his Happy Warrior on Lord Nelson, who, though his fleet was victorious, had been killed at the
Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
by a French sniper. Nelson had been famous for his loving, inspirational leadership, and had, in previous battles, lost an arm and the sight in one eye, yet persisted in his pursuit of greatness.


Other uses in history

In nominating
Alfred E. Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a Civ ...
for the
presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...
at the
1924 Democratic National Convention The 1924 Democratic National Convention, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, 1924, was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history. It took a record 103 ballots to nominate ...
,
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
notably referred to Smith as "the happy warrior", apparently at the behest of
Joseph M. Proskauer Joseph Meyer Proskauer (6 August 1877 – 10 September 1971) was an American lawyer, judge, philanthropist, and political activist and is the name partner of Proskauer Rose. Biography Proskauer was born in Mobile, Alabama, to a Jewish family in 18 ...
, Smith's close friend, campaign advisor and speech writer.
Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...
was also frequently referred to as "the Happy Warrior".
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, after winning a second term as President, referred to Vice-President Joe Biden as "America's Happy Warrior" in his acceptance speech. The words "happy warrior", an apparent reference to Wordsworth's poem, were famously found written in the personal notes which then- Labour Party leader
Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...
accidentally left behind after one of the leaders' debates prior to the 2015 general election.


References


External links


Character of the Happy Warrior on Bartleby
{{William Wordsworth Poetry by William Wordsworth British poetry 1807 poems