When Dawn Comes to the City
The tired cars go grumbling by,The moaning, groaning cars,And the old milk carts go rumbling byUnder the same dull stars.Out of the tenements, cold as stone,Dark figures start for work;I watch them sadly shuffle on,’Tis dawn, dawn in New York.
But I would be on the island of the sea,In the heart of the island of the sea,Where the cocks are crowing, crowing, crowing,And the hens are cackling in the rose-apple tree,Where the old draft-horse is neighing, neighing, neighingOut on the brown dew-silvered lawn,And the tethered cow is lowing, lowing, lowing,And dear old Ned is braying, braying, braying,And the shaggy Nannie goat is calling, calling, callingFrom her little trampled corner of the long wide leaThat stretches to the waters of the hill-stream fallingSheer upon the flat rocks joyously!There, oh there! on the island of the sea,There I would be at dawn.
The tired cars go grumbling by,The crazy, lazy cars,And the same milk carts go rumbling byUnder the dying stars.A lonely newsboy hurries by,Humming a recent ditty;Red streaks strike through the gray of the sky,The dawn comes to the city.
But I would be on the island of the sea,In the heart of the island of the sea,Where the cocks are crowing, crowing, crowing,And the hens are cackling in the rose-apple tree,Where the old draft-horse is neighing, neighing, neighingOut on the brown dew-silvered lawn,And the tethered cow is lowing, lowing, lowing,And dear old Ned is braying, braying, braying,And the shaggy Nannie goat is calling, calling, callingFrom her little trampled corner of the long wide leaThat stretches to the waters of the hill-stream fallingSheer upon the flat rocks joyously!There, oh there! on the island of the sea,There I would be at dawn.
Words in this poem
- rumbling
- a. & n. from Rumble, v. i.
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- cackling n.
- The broken noise of a goose or a hen.
- lowing n.
- The calling sound made by cows and other bovine animals.
- braying a.
- Making a harsh noise; blaring.
- newsboy n.
- A boy who distributes or sells newspaper.
- hurries n.
- A staith or framework from which coal is discharged from cars into vessels.
- ditty n.
- A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and frequently repeated; a theme. [OE. dite, OF. ditié, fr. L. dictatum, p. p. neut. of dictare to say often, dictate, compose. See Dictate, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
When Dawn Comes to the City is in the public domain. This text is taken from Harlem shadows, Project Gutenberg ebook #64989; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Claude McKay, When Dawn Comes to the City, in Harlem Shadows (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #64989, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mckay-harlem-shadows/when-dawn-comes-to-the-city.html, id L01385.
Form and metre
When Dawn Comes to the City is 44 lines in 4 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABAB---- byA · carsB · byA · starsB · stone · work · on · york
- 2 AABACDBCCA--AD seaA · seaA · crowingB · treeA · neighingC · lawnD · lowingB · brayingC · callingC · leaA · falling · joyously · seaA · dawnD
- 3 ABABACAC byA · carsB · byA · starsB · byA · dittyC · skyA · cityC
- 4 AABACDBCCA--AD seaA · seaA · crowingB · treeA · neighingC · lawnD · lowingB · brayingC · callingC · leaA · falling · joyously · seaA · dawnD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The tired cars go grumbling by, | 10 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘· |
| The moaning, groaning cars, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And the old milk carts go rumbling by | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Under the same dull stars. | 6 | ······ |
| Out of the tenements, cold as stone, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Dark figures start for work; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I watch them sadly shuffle on, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| ’Tis dawn, dawn in New York. | 6 | ······ |
| But I would be on the island of the sea, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| In the heart of the island of the sea, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Where the cocks are crowing, crowing, crowing, | 10 | ····/˘/˘/˘ |
| And the hens are cackling in the rose-apple tree, | 12 | ····/˘···/˘· |
| Where the old draft-horse is neighing, neighing, neighing | 12 | ············ |
| Out on the brown dew-silvered lawn, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| And the tethered cow is lowing, lowing, lowing, | 12 | ··/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| And dear old Ned is braying, braying, braying, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| And the shaggy Nannie goat is calling, calling, calling | 14 | ··/˘····/˘/˘/˘ |
| From her little trampled corner of the long wide lea | 13 | ··/˘/˘/˘····· |
| That stretches to the waters of the hill-stream falling | 13 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘ |
| Sheer upon the flat rocks joyously! | 8 | ········ |
| There, oh there! on the island of the sea, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| There I would be at dawn. | 6 | ······ |
| The tired cars go grumbling by, | 10 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘· |
| The crazy, lazy cars, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And the same milk carts go rumbling by | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Under the dying stars. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A lonely newsboy hurries by, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Humming a recent ditty; | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Red streaks strike through the gray of the sky, | 9 | ········· |
| The dawn comes to the city. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But I would be on the island of the sea, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| In the heart of the island of the sea, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Where the cocks are crowing, crowing, crowing, | 10 | ····/˘/˘/˘ |
| And the hens are cackling in the rose-apple tree, | 12 | ····/˘···/˘· |
| Where the old draft-horse is neighing, neighing, neighing | 12 | ············ |
| Out on the brown dew-silvered lawn, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| And the tethered cow is lowing, lowing, lowing, | 12 | ··/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| And dear old Ned is braying, braying, braying, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| And the shaggy Nannie goat is calling, calling, calling | 14 | ··/˘····/˘/˘/˘ |
| From her little trampled corner of the long wide lea | 13 | ··/˘/˘/˘····· |
| That stretches to the waters of the hill-stream falling | 13 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘ |
| Sheer upon the flat rocks joyously! | 8 | ········ |
| There, oh there! on the island of the sea, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| There I would be at dawn. | 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.