The Crows at Washington
Slow flapping to the setting sunBy twos and threes, in wavering rows,As twilight shadows dimly close,The crows fly over Washington.
Under the crimson sunset skyVirginian woodlands leafless lie,In wintry torpor bleak and dun.Through the rich vault of heaven, which shinesLike a warmed opal in the sun,With wide advance in broken linesThe crows fly over Washington.
Over the Capitol's white dome,Across the obelisk soaring bareTo prick the clouds, they travel home,Content and weary, winnowingWith dusky vans the golden air,Which hints the coming of the spring,Though winter whitens Washington.
The dim, deep air, the level rayOf dying sunlight on their plumes,Give them a beauty not their own;Their hoarse notes fail and faint away;A rustling murmur floating downBlends sweetly with the thickening glooms;They touch with grace the fading day,Slow flying over Washington.
I stand and watch with clouded eyesThese dim battalions move along;Out of the distance memory criesOf days when life and hope were strong,When love was prompt and wit was gay;Even then, at evening, as to-day,I watched, while twilight hovered dimOver Potomac's curving rim,This selfsame flight of homing crowsBlotting the sunset's fading rose,Above the roofs of Washington.
Words in this poem
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- winnowing n.
- The act of one who, or that which, winnows.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- selfsame a.
- Precisely the same; the very same; identical. [Self, a. + same.]
- homing a.
- Home-returning; -- used specifically of carrier pigeons.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Crows at Washington is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pike County Ballads and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6062; 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 Hay, The Crows at Washington, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/the-crows-at-washington.html, id L21615.
Form and metre
The Crows at Washington is 37 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 sunA · rowsB · closeB · washingtonA
- 2 AABCBCB skyA · lieA · dunB · shinesC · sunB · linesC · washingtonB
- 3 ABACBC- domeA · bareB · homeA · winnowingC · airB · springC · washington
- 4 AB-ACBAC rayA · plumesB · own · awayA · downC · gloomsB · dayA · washingtonC
- 5 ABABCCDDEE- eyesA · alongB · criesA · strongB · gayC · dayC · dimD · rimD · crowsE · roseE · washington
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Slow flapping to the setting sun | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By twos and threes, in wavering rows, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As twilight shadows dimly close, | 8 | ·/·/·/˘· |
| The crows fly over Washington. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Under the crimson sunset sky | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Virginian woodlands leafless lie, | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘· |
| In wintry torpor bleak and dun. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Through the rich vault of heaven, which shines | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Like a warmed opal in the sun, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With wide advance in broken lines | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The crows fly over Washington. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Over the Capitol's white dome, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Across the obelisk soaring bare | 9 | ˘/·/˘˘/˘· |
| To prick the clouds, they travel home, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Content and weary, winnowing | 8 | ˘/·/˘/·˘ |
| With dusky vans the golden air, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Which hints the coming of the spring, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Though winter whitens Washington. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| The dim, deep air, the level ray | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of dying sunlight on their plumes, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Give them a beauty not their own; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Their hoarse notes fail and faint away; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A rustling murmur floating down | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Blends sweetly with the thickening glooms; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| They touch with grace the fading day, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Slow flying over Washington. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| I stand and watch with clouded eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| These dim battalions move along; | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Out of the distance memory cries | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of days when life and hope were strong, | 8 | ········ |
| When love was prompt and wit was gay; | 8 | ········ |
| Even then, at evening, as to-day, | 8 | /··/˘··· |
| I watched, while twilight hovered dim | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Over Potomac's curving rim, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| This selfsame flight of homing crows | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Blotting the sunset's fading rose, | 8 | /˘·/·/˘· |
| Above the roofs of Washington. | 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.