A Stein Song
Give a rouse, then, in the MaytimeFor a life that knows no fear!Turn night-time into daytimeWith the sunlight of good cheer!For it's always fair weatherWhen good fellows get together,With a stein on the table and a good song ringing clear.
When the wind comes up from CubaAnd the birds are on the wing,And our hearts are patting jubaTo the banjo of the spring,Then it's no wonder whetherThe boys will get together,With a stein on the table and a cheer for everything.
For we're all frank-and-twentyWhen the spring is in the air;And we've faith and hope a-plenty,And we've life and love to spare;And it's birds of a featherWhen we all get together,With a stein on the table and a heart without a care.
For we know the world is glorious,And the goal a golden thing,And that God is not censoriousWhen his children have their fling;And life slips its tetherWhen the boys get together,With a stein on the table in the fellowship of spring.
Words in this poem
- juba n.
- The mane of an animal. [L., a mane.]
- banjo n.
- A stringed musical instrument having a head and neck like the guitar, and its body like a tambourine. It has five strings, and is played with the fingers and hands.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- tether n.
- A long rope or chain by which an animal is fastened, as to a stake, so that it can range or feed only within certain limits. [Formerly tedder, OE. tedir; akin to LG. tider, tier, Icel. tjo, Dan. töir. *64.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Stein Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from More Songs From Vagabondia, Project Gutenberg ebook #18007; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bliss Carman, A Stein Song, in More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18007, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-vagabondia/a-stein-song.html, id L24702.
Form and metre
A Stein Song is 28 lines in 4 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
See other poems in iambic 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 ABABCCB maytimeA · fearB · daytimeA · cheerB · weatherC · togetherC · clearB
- 2 ABABCCB cubaA · wingB · jubaA · springB · whetherC · togetherC · everythingB
- 3 ABABCCB twentyA · airB · plentyA · spareB · featherC · togetherC · careB
- 4 ABABCCB gloriousA · thingB · censoriousA · flingB · tetherC · togetherC · springB
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Give a rouse, then, in the Maytime | 8 | ········ |
| For a life that knows no fear! | 7 | ······· |
| Turn night-time into daytime | 7 | ·····/· |
| With the sunlight of good cheer! | 7 | ··/···· |
| For it's always fair weather | 7 | ··/··/˘ |
| When good fellows get together, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| With a stein on the table and a good song ringing clear. | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| When the wind comes up from Cuba | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And the birds are on the wing, | 7 | ······· |
| And our hearts are patting juba | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| To the banjo of the spring, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Then it's no wonder whether | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| The boys will get together, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| With a stein on the table and a cheer for everything. | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| For we're all frank-and-twenty | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| When the spring is in the air; | 7 | ······· |
| And we've faith and hope a-plenty, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And we've life and love to spare; | 7 | ······· |
| And it's birds of a feather | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| When we all get together, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| With a stein on the table and a heart without a care. | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| For we know the world is glorious, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| And the goal a golden thing, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And that God is not censorious | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| When his children have their fling; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And life slips its tether | 6 | ····/˘ |
| When the boys get together, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| With a stein on the table in the fellowship of spring. | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
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.