The Old Oaken Bucket
How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,When fond recollection presents them to view!The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,And every loved spot which my infancy knew!The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it,The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell,The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well--The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.
That moss-covered vessel I hailed as a treasure,For often at noon, when returned from the field,I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing,And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell;Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing,And dripping with coolness, it rose from the wellThe old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.
How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it,As poised on the curb it inclined to my lips!Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,The brightest that beauty or revelry sips.And now, far removed from the loved habitation,The tear of regret will intrusively swell,As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,And sighs for the bucket that hangs in the wellThe old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,The moss-covered bucket that hangs in the well!
Words in this poem
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- oaken a.
- Made or consisting of oaks or of the wood of oaks. [AS. acen.]
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Old Oaken Bucket is in the public domain. This text is taken from Selections from American Poetry, with Special Reference to Poe, Longfellow, Lowell and Whittier, edited by Margaret Sprague Carhart, Project Gutenberg ebook #3650; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Woodworth, The Old Oaken Bucket, (1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carhart-samuel-woodworth/the-old-oaken-bucket.html, id L25952.
Form and metre
The Old Oaken Bucket is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in anapaestic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCDCD childhoodA · viewB · woodA · knewB · itC · fellD · itC · wellD · bucketC · wellD
- 2 ABABCDCD-D treasureA · fieldB · pleasureA · yieldB · glowingC · fellD · overflowingC · wellD · bucket · wellD
- 3 ABABCDCD-D itA · lipsB · itA · sipsB · habitationC · swellD · plantationC · wellD · bucket · wellD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, | 12 | ··········/· |
| When fond recollection presents them to view! | 11 | ···˘/˘/˘··· |
| The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood, | 12 | ·/˘·/···/˘·· |
| And every loved spot which my infancy knew! | 12 | ·/˘˘····/˘˘· |
| The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell, | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it, | 12 | ····/˘·/˘··· |
| And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well-- | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, | 12 | ··/˘/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘····· |
| That moss-covered vessel I hailed as a treasure, | 12 | ··/˘/˘····/˘ |
| For often at noon, when returned from the field, | 12 | ·/˘···˘/˘··· |
| I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure, | 12 | ·······/˘˘/˘ |
| The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing, | 12 | ·/˘·······/˘ |
| And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell; | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘·· |
| Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing, | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·˘ |
| And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, | 12 | ··/˘/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| The moss-covered bucket arose from the well. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘˘/··· |
| How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it, | 12 | ·····/˘··˘/· |
| As poised on the curb it inclined to my lips! | 12 | ··˘····˘/··· |
| Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it, | 13 | ···/˘/˘······ |
| The brightest that beauty or revelry sips. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘· |
| And now, far removed from the loved habitation, | 12 | ···˘/····˘/˘ |
| The tear of regret will intrusively swell, | 12 | ···˘/······· |
| As fancy reverts to my father's plantation, | 12 | ·/˘˘/··/˘·/˘ |
| And sighs for the bucket that hangs in the well | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, | 12 | ··/˘/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| The moss-covered bucket that hangs in the well! | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘····· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.