A Road Song
It's--Oh, for the hills, where the wind's some oneWith a vagabond foot that follows!And a cheer-up hand that he claps uponYour arm with the hearty words, "Come on!We'll soon be out of the hollows,My heart!We'll soon be out of the hollows."
It's--Oh, for the songs, where the hope's some oneWith a renegade foot that doubles!And a jolly lilt that he flings to the sunAs he turns with the friendly laugh, "Come on!We'll soon be out of the troubles,My heart!We'll soon be out of the troubles!"
Words in this poem
- claps v. t.
- Variant of Clasp
- lilt v. i.
- To do anything with animation and quickness, as to skip, fly, or hop. [Cf. Norw. lilla, lirla, to sing in a high tone.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Road Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, A Road Song, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/a-road-song.html, id L10909.
Form and metre
A Road Song is 14 lines in 2 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -ABBA-A one · followsA · uponB · onB · hollowsA · heart · hollowsA
- 2 ABA-B-B oneA · doublesB · sunA · on · troublesB · heart · troublesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It's--Oh, for the hills, where the wind's some one | 10 | ·········· |
| With a vagabond foot that follows! | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| And a cheer-up hand that he claps upon | 10 | ·········· |
| Your arm with the hearty words, "Come on! | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| We'll soon be out of the hollows, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| My heart! | 2 | ·· |
| We'll soon be out of the hollows." | 8 | ······/˘ |
| It's--Oh, for the songs, where the hope's some one | 10 | ·········· |
| With a renegade foot that doubles! | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| And a jolly lilt that he flings to the sun | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| As he turns with the friendly laugh, "Come on! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| We'll soon be out of the troubles, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| My heart! | 2 | ·· |
| We'll soon be out of the troubles!" | 8 | ······/˘ |
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.