When the Fishing Boats Go Out
When the lucent skies of morning flush with dawning rose once more,And waves of golden glory break adown the sunrise shore,And o'er the arch of heaven pied films of vapor float.There's joyance and there's freedom when the fishing boats go out.
The wind is blowing freshly up from far, uncharted caves,And sending sparkling kisses o'er the brows of virgin waves,While routed dawn-mists shiver—oh, far and fast they flee,Pierced by the shafts of sunrise athwart the merry sea!
Behind us, fair, light-smitten hills in dappled splendor lie,Before us the wide ocean runs to meet the limpid sky—Our hearts are full of poignant life, and care has fled afarAs sweeps the white-winged fishing fleet across the harbor bar:
The sea is calling to us in a blithesome voice and free,There's keenest rapture on its breast and boundless liberty!Each man is master of his craft, its gleaming sails out-blown,And far behind him on the shore a home he calls his own.
Salt is the breath of ocean slopes and fresher blows the breeze,And swifter still each bounding keel cuts through the combing seas,Athwart our masts the shadows of the dipping seagulls float,And all the water-world's alive when the fishing boats go out.
Words in this poem
- lucent a.
- Shining; bright; resplendent. [L. lucens, p. pr. of lucere to shine, fr. lux, lucis, light.]
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- joyance n.
- Enjoyment; gayety; festivity; joyfulness. [OF. joiance.]
- dappled a.
- Marked with spots of different shades of color; spotted; variegated; as, a dapple horse.
- poignant a.
- Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L. pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- blithesome a.
- Cheery; gay; merry.
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- swifter v. t.
- To tighten, as slack standing rigging, by bringing the opposite shrouds nearer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
When the Fishing Boats Go Out is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, When the Fishing Boats Go Out, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/when-the-fishing-boats-go-out.html, id L29375.
Form and metre
When the Fishing Boats Go Out is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AABB moreA · shoreA · floatB · outB
- 2 AABB cavesA · wavesA · fleeB · seaB
- 3 AABB lieA · skyA · afarB · barB
- 4 AABB freeA · libertyA · blownB · ownB
- 5 AABB breezeA · seasA · floatB · outB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When the lucent skies of morning flush with dawning rose once more, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| And waves of golden glory break adown the sunrise shore, | 14 | ···/˘/˘·˘/·/·· |
| And o'er the arch of heaven pied films of vapor float. | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
| There's joyance and there's freedom when the fishing boats go out. | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| The wind is blowing freshly up from far, uncharted caves, | 14 | ···/˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| And sending sparkling kisses o'er the brows of virgin waves, | 14 | ·/˘/˘/˘····/˘· |
| While routed dawn-mists shiver—oh, far and fast they flee, | 13 | ·/˘··/˘······ |
| Pierced by the shafts of sunrise athwart the merry sea! | 14 | ·˘····/·˘/·/˘· |
| Behind us, fair, light-smitten hills in dappled splendor lie, | 14 | ·····/˘···˘/˘· |
| Before us the wide ocean runs to meet the limpid sky— | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| Our hearts are full of poignant life, and care has fled afar | 14 | /····/˘·····˘/ |
| As sweeps the white-winged fishing fleet across the harbor bar: | 14 | ·····/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| The sea is calling to us in a blithesome voice and free, | 14 | ···/˘····/˘··· |
| There's keenest rapture on its breast and boundless liberty! | 14 | ·/˘/˘····/˘/˘˘ |
| Each man is master of his craft, its gleaming sails out-blown, | 14 | ···/˘····/˘··· |
| And far behind him on the shore a home he calls his own. | 14 | ·············· |
| Salt is the breath of ocean slopes and fresher blows the breeze, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| And swifter still each bounding keel cuts through the combing seas, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Athwart our masts the shadows of the dipping seagulls float, | 14 | ˘//··/···/˘/·· |
| And all the water-world's alive when the fishing boats go out. | 15 | ···/˘·˘/··/˘··· |
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