Laurel · Bliss Carman · More Songs from Vagabondia

The Night-Washers

Bliss Carman (1861–1929) · 1896

iambic tetrameter · octosyllabic couplets · 45 lines · from More Songs from Vagabondia

Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!We are the brothers of ghouls, and whoIn the name of the Crooked Saints are you?

We are the washers of shrouds whereinThe lovers of beauty who sainted sinSleep till the Judgment Day begin.

When the moon is drifting overhead,We wash the linen of the dead,Stained with yellow and stiff with red.

Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!We are the foul night-washers, and who,By the Seven Lovely sins are you?

Here we sit by the river reeds,Rinsing the linen that reeks and bleeds,And craving the help our labor needs.

Come, Sir Fop, fall to, fall to!Show us for once what you can do!One day there'll be washing enough for you.

Wade in, wade in, where the river runsClear in the moonlight over the stones!It'll wash the ache from your scrofulous bones.

Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!We are the gossips of fame, and whoBy the Sinners' Litany are you?

Wade in, wade in! The water is cold,The stains are deep, and the linen is old;But surely the sons of the town are bold!

Work for us here till the break of dayAt washing the stains of the dead away,And you shall be merry, come what may!

From now till your ninetieth year begins,You shall sin the Seven Lovely sins,While wearing the virtue a cardinal wins.

Refuse, and your arms shall be broken and wried,To dangle like fenders over the sideOf an empty ship on the harbor tide!

They shall gather a waist in their grip no more,As you wander the wide world over and o'er,With the curs at your heels from door to door.

With only a stranger to cover your face,You shall die in the streets of an outcast race,And your linen be washed in the market-place!

Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!We are the Scavenger Saints, but whoIn the name of the Shadowy Kin are you?

Words in this poem

sainted a.: Consecrated; sacred; holy; pious.
needs adv.: Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
wade n.: Woad. Mortimer.
ache n.: A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
shall v. i.: To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
ninetieth a.: Next in order after the eighty-ninth.
dangle v. i.: To hang loosely, or with a swinging or jerking motion. [Akin to Dan. dangle, dial. Sw. dangla, Dan. dingle, Sw. dingla, Icel. dingla; perh. from E. ding.]
outcast a.: Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Night-Washers 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, The Night-Washers, in More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18007, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-vagabondia/the-night-washers.html, id L24731.

Form and metre

The Night-Washers is 45 lines in 15 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.

See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AAA ooh^A · who^A · you^A
2 AAA wherein^A · sin^A · begin^A
3 AAA overhead^A · dead^A · red^A
4 AAA ooh^A · who^A · you^A
5 AAA reeds^A · bleeds^A · needs^A
6 AAA to^A · do^A · you^A
7 -AA runs · stones^A · bones^A
8 AAA ooh^A · who^A · you^A
9 AAA cold^A · old^A · bold^A
10 AAA day^A · away^A · may^A
11 AAA begins^A · sins^A · wins^A
12 AAA wried^A · side^A · tide^A
13 A-A more^A · o'er · door^A
14 AAA face^A · race^A · place^A
15 AAA ooh^A · who^A · you^A

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
Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!	6	······
We are the brothers of ghouls, and who	9	···/˘····
In the name of the Crooked Saints are you?	10	·····/˘···
We are the washers of shrouds wherein	9	···/˘····
The lovers of beauty who sainted sin	10	·/˘·/˘·/˘·
Sleep till the Judgment Day begin.	8	···/˘·˘/
When the moon is drifting overhead,	9	····/˘/˘/
We wash the linen of the dead,	8	···/˘···
Stained with yellow and stiff with red.	8	··/˘····
Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!	6	······
We are the foul night-washers, and who,	9	·····/˘··
By the Seven Lovely sins are you?	8	··//˘···
Here we sit by the river reeds,	8	·····/˘·
Rinsing the linen that reeks and bleeds,	9	/˘·/˘····
And craving the help our labor needs.	9	·/˘··//˘·
Come, Sir Fop, fall to, fall to!	7	·······
Show us for once what you can do!	8	········
One day there'll be washing enough for you.	11	··/˘·/˘˘/··
Wade in, wade in, where the river runs	9	······/˘·
Clear in the moonlight over the stones!	8	···/····
It'll wash the ache from your scrofulous bones.	11	/˘·····/˘˘·
Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!	6	······
We are the gossips of fame, and who	9	···/˘····
By the Sinners' Litany are you?	8	··/˘/˘··
Wade in, wade in! The water is cold,	9	·····/˘··
The stains are deep, and the linen is old;	10	······/˘··
But surely the sons of the town are bold!	10	·/˘·······
Work for us here till the break of day	9	·········
At washing the stains of the dead away,	10	·/˘·····˘/
And you shall be merry, come what may!	9	····/˘···
From now till your ninetieth year begins,	9	····/˘·˘/
You shall sin the Seven Lovely sins,	8	····//˘·
While wearing the virtue a cardinal wins.	10	·/˘·/˘·/˘·
Refuse, and your arms shall be broken and wried,	11	˘/·····/˘··
To dangle like fenders over the side	9	·/˘·/˘···
Of an empty ship on the harbor tide!	10	··/˘···/˘·
They shall gather a waist in their grip no more,	11	··/˘·······
As you wander the wide world over and o'er,	10	··/˘······
With the curs at your heels from door to door.	10	··········
With only a stranger to cover your face,	11	·/˘·/˘·/˘··
You shall die in the streets of an outcast race,	11	········/··
And your linen be washed in the market-place!	11	··/˘····/˘·
Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!	6	······
We are the Scavenger Saints, but who	8	···/˘···
In the name of the Shadowy Kin are you?	10	·····/˘···

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.

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