The Unsainting of Kavin
Saint Kavin was a gentleman,He came from Tipperary;And woman was the only thingThat ever made him scary.
For Kavin was a tender youth,And he was very simple;He feared the wiles of maiden smiles,And fainted at a dimple.
But when Kathleen at seventeenCame down the street one morning,The luck of man came over himAnd took him without warning.
Afraid to meet a foolish fateBy green sea or by dry land,He fled away without delayAnd sought a desert island.
But even there he felt despair;For happiness is onlyThe hope of doing something else;And he was very lonely.
He vowed to lead a life of prayerBecause that he had lost her;And every time he thought of herHe said a Pater noster.
Yet hard it is for man to changeThe less love for the greater;And every time he reached Amen,He must go back to Pater.
And so he grew a year or twoDisconsolate and holy,While friends he'd known long since had grownPapas and roly-poly.
Until one day, one blessed day,A-moping like a Hindoo,He saw Kathleen in mournful mienA-passing by his window.
He threw away his rosary,His Paters and his Aves;For love is stronger than the windThat wafts a thousand navies.
The holy man went forth to war,But not against the devil.He led the maid within for shade,And treated her most civil.
He gave her cakes, he gave her wine,He set his best before her;And then invited her to dine--Thenceforth--with her adorer.
Her little head went round for joy;She tried to kick the rafter:So Kavin was a saint no more,And happy ever after.
Words in this poem
- scary n.
- Barren land having only a thin coat of grass. [Prov. E. scare scraggy.]
- dimple n.
- A slight natural depression or indentation on the surface of some part of the body, esp. on the cheek or chin. [Prob. a nasalized dim. of dip. See Dip, and cf. Dimble.]
- seventeen a.
- One more than sixteen; ten and seven added; as, seventeen years. [OE. seventene, AS. seofontyne, i. e., seven- ten. Cf. Seventy.]
- amen interj.
- An expression used at the end of prayers, and meaning, So be it. At the end of a creed, it is a solemn asseveration of belief. [L. amen, Gr. am certainly, truly.]
- disconsolate n.
- Disconsolateness. Barrow.
- rosary n.
- A bed of roses, or place where roses grow. [LL. rosarium a string of beads, L. rosarium a place planted with roses, rosa a rose: cf. F. rosaire. See Rose.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- dine v. i.
- To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. [F. dîner, OF. disner, LL. disnare, contr. fr. an assumed disjunare; dis- + an assumed junare (OF. juner) to fast, for L. jejunare, fr. jejunus fasting. See Jeju]
- adorer n.
- One who adores; a worshiper; one who admires or loves greatly; an ardent admirer.
- rafter n.
- Originally, any rough and somewhat heavy piece of timber. Now, commonly, one of the timbers of a roof which are put on sloping, according to the inclination of the roof. See Illust. of Queen-post. [AS. ræfter; akin to E. raft, n. See Raft.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Unsainting of Kavin 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 Unsainting of Kavin, in More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18007, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-vagabondia/the-unsainting-of-kavin.html, id L24703.
Form and metre
The Unsainting of Kavin is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 -A-A gentleman · tipperaryA · thing · scaryA
- 2 -A-A youth · simpleA · smiles · dimpleA
- 3 -A-A seventeen · morningA · him · warningA
- 4 -A-A fate · landA · delay · islandA
- 5 -A-A despair · onlyA · else · lonelyA
- 6 -AA- prayer · herA · herA · noster
- 7 -A-A change · greaterA · amen · paterA
- 12 A-A- wineA · her · dineA · adorer
- 13 -A-A joy · rafterA · more · afterA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Saint Kavin was a gentleman, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| He came from Tipperary; | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| And woman was the only thing | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That ever made him scary. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| For Kavin was a tender youth, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And he was very simple; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| He feared the wiles of maiden smiles, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And fainted at a dimple. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| But when Kathleen at seventeen | 8 | ··˘/·/˘/ |
| Came down the street one morning, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The luck of man came over him | 8 | ········ |
| And took him without warning. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Afraid to meet a foolish fate | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| By green sea or by dry land, | 7 | ······· |
| He fled away without delay | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| And sought a desert island. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| But even there he felt despair; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| For happiness is only | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| The hope of doing something else; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And he was very lonely. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| He vowed to lead a life of prayer | 8 | ········ |
| Because that he had lost her; | 7 | ······· |
| And every time he thought of her | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He said a Pater noster. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Yet hard it is for man to change | 8 | ········ |
| The less love for the greater; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And every time he reached Amen, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| He must go back to Pater. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And so he grew a year or two | 8 | ········ |
| Disconsolate and holy, | 7 | ˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| While friends he'd known long since had grown | 8 | ········ |
| Papas and roly-poly. | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Until one day, one blessed day, | 8 | ······˘· |
| A-moping like a Hindoo, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| He saw Kathleen in mournful mien | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| A-passing by his window. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| He threw away his rosary, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| His Paters and his Aves; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| For love is stronger than the wind | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That wafts a thousand navies. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The holy man went forth to war, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But not against the devil. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He led the maid within for shade, | 8 | ········ |
| And treated her most civil. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| He gave her cakes, he gave her wine, | 8 | ········ |
| He set his best before her; | 7 | ······· |
| And then invited her to dine-- | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Thenceforth--with her adorer. | 7 | ·/··˘/˘ |
| Her little head went round for joy; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| She tried to kick the rafter: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| So Kavin was a saint no more, | 8 | ········ |
| And happy ever after. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
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