Old Crow
The bird in the cornIs a marvellous crow.He was laid and was bornIn the season of snow;And he chants his old catchesLike a ghost under hatches.
He comes from the shadesOf his wood very early,And works in the bladesOf the wheat and the barley,And he’s happy, althoughHe’s a grumbleton crow.
The larks have devicesFor sunny delight,And the sheep in their fleecesAre woolly and white;But these things are the scornOf the bird in the corn.
And morning goes by,And still he is there,Till a rose in the skyCalls him back to his lairIn the boughs where the gloomIs a part of his plume.
But the boy in the laneWith his gun, by and by,To the heart of the grainWill narrowly spy,And the twilight will come,And no crow will fly home.
Words in this poem
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old Crow is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, 1908-1919, Project Gutenberg ebook #51575; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Drinkwater, Old Crow, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/old-crow.html, id L23104.
Form and metre
Old Crow is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 ABABCC cornA · crowB · bornA · snowB · catchesC · hatchesC
- 2 A-A-BB shadesA · early · bladesA · barley · althoughB · crowB
- 3 -A-ABB devices · delightA · fleeces · whiteA · scornB · cornB
- 4 ABABCC byA · thereB · skyA · lairB · gloomC · plumeC
- 5 ABABCC laneA · byB · grainA · spyB · comeC · homeC
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The bird in the corn | 5 | ····· |
| Is a marvellous crow. | 6 | ······ |
| He was laid and was born | 6 | ······ |
| In the season of snow; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| And he chants his old catches | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Like a ghost under hatches. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He comes from the shades | 5 | ····· |
| Of his wood very early, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And works in the blades | 5 | ····· |
| Of the wheat and the barley, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And he’s happy, although | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| He’s a grumbleton crow. | 6 | ······ |
| The larks have devices | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| For sunny delight, | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| And the sheep in their fleeces | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Are woolly and white; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| But these things are the scorn | 6 | ······ |
| Of the bird in the corn. | 6 | ······ |
| And morning goes by, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And still he is there, | 5 | ····· |
| Till a rose in the sky | 6 | ······ |
| Calls him back to his lair | 6 | ······ |
| In the boughs where the gloom | 6 | ······ |
| Is a part of his plume. | 6 | ······ |
| But the boy in the lane | 6 | ······ |
| With his gun, by and by, | 6 | ······ |
| To the heart of the grain | 6 | ······ |
| Will narrowly spy, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| And the twilight will come, | 6 | ··/··· |
| And no crow will fly home. | 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.