Yankee Doodle
Dawn this morning burned all redWatching them in wonder.There I saw our spangled flagDivide the clouds asunder.Then there followed Washington.Ah, he rode from glory,Cold and mighty as his nameAnd stern as Freedom's story.Unsubdued by burning dawnLed his continentals.Vast they were, and strange to seeIn gray old regimentals:--Marching still with bleeding feet,Bleeding feet and jesting--Marching from the judgment throneWith energy unresting.How their merry quickstep played--Silver, sharp, sonorous,Piercing through with prophecyThe demons' rumbling chorus--Behold the ancient powers of sinAnd slavery before them!--Sworn to stop the glorious dawn,The pit-black clouds hung o'er them.Plagues that rose to blast the dayFiend and tiger faces,Monsters plotting bloodshed forThe patient toiling races.Round the dawn their cannon raged,Hurling bolts of thunder,Yet before our spangled flagTheir host was cut asunder.Like a mist they fled away....Ended wrath and roaring.Still our restless soldier-hostFrom East to West went pouring.
High beside the sun of noonThey bore our banner splendid.All its days of stain and shameAnd heaviness were ended.Men were swelling now the throngFrom great and lowly station--Valiant citizens to-dayOf every tribe and nation.Not till night their rear-guard came,Down the west went marching,And left behind the sunset-raysIn beauty overarching.War-god banners lead us still,Rob, enslave and harryLet us rather choose to-dayThe flag the angels carry--Flag we love, but brighter far--Soul of it made splendid:Let its days of stain and shameAnd heaviness be ended.Let its fifes fill all the sky,Redeemed souls marching after,Hills and mountains shake with song,While seas roll on in laughter.
Words in this poem
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- regimentals n.
- The uniform worn by the officers and soldiers of a regiment; military dress; -- formerly used in the singular in the same sense.
- quickstep n.
- A lively, spirited march; also, a lively style of dancing.
- rumbling
- a. & n. from Rumble, v. i.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- heaviness n.
- The state or quality of being heavy in its various senses; weight; sadness; sluggishness; oppression; thickness.
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- harry v. i.
- To make a predatory incursion; to plunder or lay waste.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Yankee Doodle is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Congo, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1021; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vachel Lindsay, Yankee Doodle, in The Congo and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lindsay-congo/yankee-doodle.html, id L00944.
Form and metre
Yankee Doodle is 60 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 29 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 -A-ABC-CBD-D-E-E---------F-F-G-G-H-H red · wonderA · flag · asunderA · washingtonB · gloryC · name · storyC · dawnB · continentalsD · see · regimentalsD · feet · jestingE · throne · unrestingE · played · sonorous · prophecy · chorus · sin · them · dawn · them · day · facesF · for · racesF · raged · thunderG · flag · asunderG · away · roaringH · host · pouringH
- 2 -ABACDEDBF-F-GEG-ABA-HCH noon · splendidA · shameB · endedA · throngC · stationD · dayE · nationD · cameB · marchingF · rays · overarchingF · still · harryG · dayE · carryG · far · splendidA · shameB · endedA · sky · afterH · songC · laughterH
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Dawn this morning burned all red | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Watching them in wonder. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| There I saw our spangled flag | 7 | ···//˘· |
| Divide the clouds asunder. | 7 | ˘/··˘/˘ |
| Then there followed Washington. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Ah, he rode from glory, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Cold and mighty as his name | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And stern as Freedom's story. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Unsubdued by burning dawn | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Led his continentals. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Vast they were, and strange to see | 7 | ······· |
| In gray old regimentals:-- | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Marching still with bleeding feet, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Bleeding feet and jesting-- | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Marching from the judgment throne | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| With energy unresting. | 7 | ·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| How their merry quickstep played-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Silver, sharp, sonorous, | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Piercing through with prophecy | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| The demons' rumbling chorus-- | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Behold the ancient powers of sin | 8 | ˘/·/˘/·· |
| And slavery before them!-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Sworn to stop the glorious dawn, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The pit-black clouds hung o'er them. | 7 | ······· |
| Plagues that rose to blast the day | 7 | ······· |
| Fiend and tiger faces, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Monsters plotting bloodshed for | 7 | /˘/˘/·· |
| The patient toiling races. | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Round the dawn their cannon raged, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hurling bolts of thunder, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Yet before our spangled flag | 7 | ···//˘· |
| Their host was cut asunder. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Like a mist they fled away.... | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Ended wrath and roaring. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Still our restless soldier-host | 7 | ·//˘/˘· |
| From East to West went pouring. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| High beside the sun of noon | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| They bore our banner splendid. | 7 | ··//˘/˘ |
| All its days of stain and shame | 7 | ······· |
| And heaviness were ended. | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Men were swelling now the throng | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| From great and lowly station-- | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Valiant citizens to-day | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| Of every tribe and nation. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Not till night their rear-guard came, | 7 | ······· |
| Down the west went marching, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And left behind the sunset-rays | 8 | ·····/·· |
| In beauty overarching. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·˘ |
| War-god banners lead us still, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Rob, enslave and harry | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| Let us rather choose to-day | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The flag the angels carry-- | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Flag we love, but brighter far-- | 6 | ····/· |
| Soul of it made splendid: | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Let its days of stain and shame | 7 | ······· |
| And heaviness be ended. | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Let its fifes fill all the sky, | 7 | ······· |
| Redeemed souls marching after, | 7 | ˘/·/˘·· |
| Hills and mountains shake with song, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| While seas roll on in laughter. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.