Both Uses of
martial
in
Leaves of Grass
- Why I was not singing erewhile for you to follow, to understand—nor am I now; (I have been born of the same as the war was born, The drum-corps' rattle is ever to me sweet music, I love well the martial dirge, With slow wail and convulsive throb leading the officer's funeral;) What to such as you anyhow such a poet as I? therefore leave my works, And go lull yourself with what you can understand, and with piano-tunes, For I lull nobody, and you will never understand me.†
Chpt 21 *
- I see religious dances old and new, I hear the sound of the Hebrew lyre, I see the crusaders marching bearing the cross on high, to the martial clang of cymbals, I hear dervishes monotonously chanting, interspers'd with frantic shouts, as they spin around turning always towards Mecca, I see the rapt religious dances of the Persians and the Arabs, Again, at Eleusis, home of Ceres, I see the modern Greeks dancing, I hear them clapping their hands as they bend their bodies, I hear the…†
Chpt 25
Definition:
-
(martial) relating to war or soldiersmost commonly seen in these expressions:
- "court martial" -- a military court that tries military personnel using military law (which is different than civilian law)
- "martial law" -- the body of law imposed by the military over civilian affairs which can be declared to replace ordinary civilian law in a time of crisis