The Whippoorwill
Above lone woodland ways that ledTo dells the stealthy twilights treadThe west was hot geranium red;And still, and still,Along old lanes the locusts sowWith clustered pearls the Maytimes know,Deep in the crimson afterglow,We heard the homeward cattle low,And then the far-off, far-off woeOf "whippoorwill!" of "whippoorwill!"
Beneath the idle beechen boughsWe heard the far bells of the cowsCome slowly jangling towards the house;And still, and still,Beyond the light that would not dieOut of the scarlet-haunted sky;Beyond the evening-star's white eyeOf glittering chalcedony,Drained out of dusk the plaintive cryOf "whippoorwill," of "whippoorwill."
And in the city oft, when swimsThe pale moon o'er the smoke that dimsIts disc, I dream of wildwood limbs;And still, and still,I seem to hear, where shadows gropeMid ferns and flowers that dewdrops rope,--Lost in faint deeps of heliotropeAbove the clover-sweetened slope,--Retreat, despairing, past all hope,The whippoorwill, the whippoorwill.
Words in this poem
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- beechen a.
- Consisting, or made, of the wood or bark of the beech; belonging to the beech. [AS. b.]
- jangling a.
- Producing discordant sounds.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- disc n.
- A flat round plate; (Biol.) [See Disk, Dish.]
- wildwood n.
- A wild or unfrequented wood. Also used adjectively; as, wildwood flowers; wildwood echoes. Burns.
- despairing a.
- Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Whippoorwill 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, The Whippoorwill, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-whippoorwill.html, id L10866.
Form and metre
The Whippoorwill is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAABCCCCCB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% 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 AAABCCCCCB ledA · treadA · redA · stillB · sowC · knowC · afterglowC · lowC · woeC · whippoorwillB
- 2 AA-BCCC-CB boughsA · cowsA · house · stillB · dieC · skyC · eyeC · chalcedony · cryC · whippoorwillB
- 3 AAABCCCCCB swimsA · dimsA · limbsA · stillB · gropeC · ropeC · heliotropeC · slopeC · hopeC · whippoorwillB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Above lone woodland ways that led | 8 | ···/···· |
| To dells the stealthy twilights tread | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| The west was hot geranium red; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And still, and still, | 4 | ···· |
| Along old lanes the locusts sow | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| With clustered pearls the Maytimes know, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Deep in the crimson afterglow, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| We heard the homeward cattle low, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And then the far-off, far-off woe | 8 | ········ |
| Of "whippoorwill!" of "whippoorwill!" | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Beneath the idle beechen boughs | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| We heard the far bells of the cows | 8 | ········ |
| Come slowly jangling towards the house; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And still, and still, | 4 | ···· |
| Beyond the light that would not die | 8 | ········ |
| Out of the scarlet-haunted sky; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Beyond the evening-star's white eye | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of glittering chalcedony, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·˘ |
| Drained out of dusk the plaintive cry | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of "whippoorwill," of "whippoorwill." | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| And in the city oft, when swims | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The pale moon o'er the smoke that dims | 8 | ········ |
| Its disc, I dream of wildwood limbs; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And still, and still, | 4 | ···· |
| I seem to hear, where shadows grope | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Mid ferns and flowers that dewdrops rope,-- | 8 | ···/···· |
| Lost in faint deeps of heliotrope | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above the clover-sweetened slope,-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Retreat, despairing, past all hope, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| The whippoorwill, the whippoorwill. | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
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.