The Vagabond
I know the pools where the grayling rise,I know the trees where the filberts fall,I know the woods where the red fox lies,The twisted elms where the brown owls call.And I’ve seldom a shilling to call my own,And there’s never a girl I’d marry,I thank the Lord I’m a rolling stoneWith never a care to carry.
I talk to the stars as they come and goOn every night from July to June,I’m free of the speech of the winds that blow,And I know what weather will sing what tune.I sow no seed and I pay no rent,And I thank no man for his bounties,But I’ve a treasure that’s never spent,I’m lord of a dozen counties.
Words in this poem
- grayling n.
- A European fish (Thymallus vulgaris), allied to the trout, but having a very broad dorsal fin; -- called also umber. It inhabits cold mountain streams, and is valued as a game fish. [From Gray, a.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Vagabond 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 Vagabond, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/the-vagabond.html, id L23043.
Form and metre
The Vagabond is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
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 ABABCDCD riseA · fallB · liesA · callB · ownC · marryD · stoneC · carryD
- 2 ABABCDCD goA · juneB · blowA · tuneB · rentC · bountiesD · spentC · countiesD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I know the pools where the grayling rise, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I know the trees where the filberts fall, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I know the woods where the red fox lies, | 9 | ········· |
| The twisted elms where the brown owls call. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And I’ve seldom a shilling to call my own, | 11 | ··/˘·/˘···· |
| And there’s never a girl I’d marry, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| I thank the Lord I’m a rolling stone | 9 | ······/˘· |
| With never a care to carry. | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| I talk to the stars as they come and go | 10 | ·········· |
| On every night from July to June, | 9 | ·/˘···/·· |
| I’m free of the speech of the winds that blow, | 10 | ·········· |
| And I know what weather will sing what tune. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| I sow no seed and I pay no rent, | 9 | ········· |
| And I thank no man for his bounties, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But I’ve a treasure that’s never spent, | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| I’m lord of a dozen counties. | 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.