Three of a Kind
Three of us without a careIn the red SeptemberTramping down the roads of Maine,Making merry with the rain,With the fellow winds a-fareWhere the winds remember.
Three of us with shocking hats,Tattered and unbarbered,Happy with the splash of mud,With the highways in our blood,Bearing down on Deacon Platt'sWhere last year we harbored.
We've come down from Kennebec,Tramping since last Sunday,Loping down the coast of Maine,With the sea for a refrain,And the maples neck and neckAll the way to Fundy.
Sometimes lodging in an inn,Cosey as a dormouse--Sometimes sleeping on a knollWith no rooftree but the Pole--Sometimes halely welcomed inAt an old-time farmhouse.
Loafing under ledge and tree,Leaping over boulders,Sitting on the pasture bars,Hail-fellow with storm or stars--Three of us alive and free,With unburdened shoulders!
Three of us with hearts like pineThat the lightnings splinter,Clean of cleave and white of grain--Three of us afoot again,With a rapture fresh and fineAs a spring in winter!
All the hills are red and gold;And the horns of visionCall across the crackling airTill we shout back to them there,Taken captive in the holdOf their bluff derision.
Spray-salt gusts of ocean blowFrom the rocky headlands;Overhead the wild geese fly,Honking in the autumn sky;Black sinister flocks of crowSettle on the dead lands.
Three of us in love with life,Roaming like wild cattle,With the stinging air a-reelAs a warrior might feelThe swift orgasm of the knifeSlay him in mid-battle.
Three of us to march abreastDown the hills of morrow!With a clean heart and a fewFriends to clench the spirit to!--Leave the gods to rule the rest,And good-by, sorrow!
Words in this poem
- shocking a.
- Causing to shake or tremble, as by a blow; especially, causing to recoil with horror or disgust; extremely offensive or disgusting.
- dormouse n.
- A small European rodent of the genus Myoxus, of several species. They live in trees and feed on nuts, acorns, etc.; -- so called because they are usually torpid in winter. [Perh. fr. F. dormir to sleep (Prov. E. dorm to doze) + E. mouse; or perh. changed fr. F. dormeuse, fem., a sleeper, though not found in the sense of a dormouse.]
- rooftree n.
- The beam in the angle of a roof; hence, the roof itself.
- farmhouse n.
- A dwelling house on a farm; a farmer's residence.
- bluff a.
- Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship. [Cf. OD. blaf flat, broad, blaffaert one with a broad face, also, a boaster; or G. verblüffen to confuse, LG. bluffen to frighten; to unknown origin.]
- orgasm n.
- Eager or immoderate excitement or action; the state of turgescence of any organ; erethism; esp., the height of venereal excitement in sexual intercourse.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Three of a Kind 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, Three of a Kind, in More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18007, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-vagabondia/three-of-a-kind.html, id L24715.
Form and metre
Three of a Kind is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABCCAB, complete in 8 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABCCAB careA · septemberB · maineC · rainC · fareA · rememberB
- 2 A-BBAB hatsA · unbarbered · mudB · bloodB · platt'sA · harboredB
- 3 A-BBA- kennebecA · sunday · maineB · refrainB · neckA · fundy
- 4 ABCCAB innA · dormouseB · knollC · poleC · inA · farmhouseB
- 5 ABCCAB treeA · bouldersB · barsC · starsC · freeA · shouldersB
- 6 ABCCAB pineA · splinterB · grainC · againC · fineA · winterB
- 7 ABCCAB goldA · visionB · airC · thereC · holdA · derisionB
- 8 ABCCAB blowA · headlandsB · flyC · skyC · crowA · landsB
- 9 ABCCAB lifeA · cattleB · reelC · feelC · knifeA · battleB
- 10 ABCCAB abreastA · morrowB · fewC · toC · restA · sorrowB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Three of us without a care | 7 | ······· |
| In the red September | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Tramping down the roads of Maine, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Making merry with the rain, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| With the fellow winds a-fare | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where the winds remember. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Three of us with shocking hats, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Tattered and unbarbered, | 8 | /˘˘····˘ |
| Happy with the splash of mud, | 7 | /˘····· |
| With the highways in our blood, | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| Bearing down on Deacon Platt's | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Where last year we harbored. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| We've come down from Kennebec, | 7 | ······· |
| Tramping since last Sunday, | 6 | /˘··/· |
| Loping down the coast of Maine, | 7 | ······· |
| With the sea for a refrain, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And the maples neck and neck | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| All the way to Fundy. | 6 | ······ |
| Sometimes lodging in an inn, | 7 | /·/˘··· |
| Cosey as a dormouse-- | 6 | /˘··/· |
| Sometimes sleeping on a knoll | 7 | /·/˘··· |
| With no rooftree but the Pole-- | 7 | ··/···· |
| Sometimes halely welcomed in | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| At an old-time farmhouse. | 6 | ····/· |
| Loafing under ledge and tree, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Leaping over boulders, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Sitting on the pasture bars, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Hail-fellow with storm or stars-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Three of us alive and free, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| With unburdened shoulders! | 7 | ·˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Three of us with hearts like pine | 7 | ······· |
| That the lightnings splinter, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Clean of cleave and white of grain-- | 7 | ······· |
| Three of us afoot again, | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| With a rapture fresh and fine | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As a spring in winter! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| All the hills are red and gold; | 7 | ······· |
| And the horns of vision | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Call across the crackling air | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Till we shout back to them there, | 7 | ······· |
| Taken captive in the hold | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Of their bluff derision. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Spray-salt gusts of ocean blow | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From the rocky headlands; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Overhead the wild geese fly, | 7 | /˘/···· |
| Honking in the autumn sky; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Black sinister flocks of crow | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Settle on the dead lands. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Three of us in love with life, | 7 | ······· |
| Roaming like wild cattle, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| With the stinging air a-reel | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As a warrior might feel | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| The swift orgasm of the knife | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Slay him in mid-battle. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Three of us to march abreast | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Down the hills of morrow! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| With a clean heart and a few | 7 | ······· |
| Friends to clench the spirit to!-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Leave the gods to rule the rest, | 7 | ······· |
| And good-by, sorrow! | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.