As Toilsome I Wander’d Virginia’s Woods
As toilsome I wander’d Virginia’s woods,To the music of rustling leaves kick’d by my feet, (for ’twas autumn,)I mark’d at the foot of a tree the grave of a soldier;Mortally wounded he and buried on the retreat, (easily all couldunderstand,)The halt of a mid-day hour, when up! no time to lose--yet this sign left,On a tablet scrawl’d and nail’d on the tree by the grave,Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade.
Long, long I muse, then on my way go wandering,Many a changeful season to follow, and many a scene of life,Yet at times through changeful season and scene, abrupt, alone, orin the crowded street,Comes before me the unknown soldier’s grave, comes the inscriptionrude in Virginia’s woods,Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade.
Words in this poem
- mortally adv.
- In a mortal manner; so as to cause death; as, mortally wounded.
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
As Toilsome I Wander’d Virginia’s Woods is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, As Toilsome I Wander’d Virginia’s Woods, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/as-toilsome-i-wander-d-virginia-s-woods.html, id L03951.
Form and metre
As Toilsome I Wander’d Virginia’s Woods is 15 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| As toilsome I wander’d Virginia’s woods, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘· |
| To the music of rustling leaves kick’d by my feet, (for ’twas autumn,) | 16 | ··/˘·/˘·······/˘ |
| I mark’d at the foot of a tree the grave of a soldier; | 14 | ············/˘ |
| Mortally wounded he and buried on the retreat, (easily all could | 18 | /˘˘/˘··/˘··˘//˘˘·· |
| understand,) | 3 | ·˘/ |
| The halt of a mid-day hour, when up! no time to lose--yet this sign left, | 18 | ······/˘·········· |
| On a tablet scrawl’d and nail’d on the tree by the grave, | 13 | ··/˘········· |
| Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade. | 10 | ·/˘···/˘/· |
| Long, long I muse, then on my way go wandering, | 12 | ·········/˘˘ |
| Many a changeful season to follow, and many a scene of life, | 17 | /˘·/˘/˘·/˘·/˘···· |
| Yet at times through changeful season and scene, abrupt, alone, or | 15 | ····/˘/˘··˘/˘/· |
| in the crowded street, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Comes before me the unknown soldier’s grave, comes the inscription | 15 | ·····˘//˘···˘/˘ |
| rude in Virginia’s woods, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade. | 10 | ·/˘···/˘/· |
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