The Traveller
When March was master of furrow and fold,And the skies kept cloudy festivalAnd the daffodil pods were tipped with goldAnd a passion was in the plover’s call,A spare old man went hobbling byWith a broken pipe and a tapping stick,And he mumbled--“Blossom before I die,Be quick, you little brown buds, be quick.
“I ’ve weathered the world for a count of years--Good old years of shining fire--And death and the devil bring no fears,And I ’ve fed the flame of my last desire;I ’m ready to go, but I ’d pass the gateOn the edge of the world with an old heart sickIf I missed the blossoms. I may not wait--The gate is open--be quick, be quick.”
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- weathered a.
- Made sloping, so as to throw off water; as, a weathered cornice or window sill.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Traveller 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, The Traveller, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/the-traveller.html, id L23046.
Form and metre
The Traveller is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCD foldA · festivalB · goldA · callB · byC · stickD · dieC · quickD
- 2 ABABCDCD yearsA · fireB · fearsA · desireB · gateC · sickD · waitC · quickD
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When March was master of furrow and fold, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| And the skies kept cloudy festival | 9 | ····/˘/˘˘ |
| And the daffodil pods were tipped with gold | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| And a passion was in the plover’s call, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| A spare old man went hobbling by | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With a broken pipe and a tapping stick, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| And he mumbled--“Blossom before I die, | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| Be quick, you little brown buds, be quick. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| “I ’ve weathered the world for a count of years-- | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Good old years of shining fire-- | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And death and the devil bring no fears, | 8 | ····/··· |
| And I ’ve fed the flame of my last desire; | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| I ’m ready to go, but I ’d pass the gate | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| On the edge of the world with an old heart sick | 11 | ··········· |
| If I missed the blossoms. I may not wait-- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| The gate is open--be quick, be quick.” | 9 | ···/˘···· |
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.