Camps of Green
Nor alone those camps of white, old comrades of the wars,When as order’d forward, after a long march,Footsore and weary, soon as the light lessens we halt for the night,Some of us so fatigued carrying the gun and knapsack, droppingasleep in our tracks,Others pitching the little tents, and the fires lit up begin to sparkle,Outposts of pickets posted surrounding alert through the dark,And a word provided for countersign, careful for safety,Till to the call of the drummers at daybreak loudly beating the drums,We rise up refresh’d, the night and sleep pass’d over, and resume ourjourney,Or proceed to battle.
Lo, the camps of the tents of green,Which the days of peace keep filling, and the days of war keep filling,With a mystic army, (is it too order’d forward? is it too onlyhalting awhile,Till night and sleep pass over?)
Now in those camps of green, in their tents dotting the world,In the parents, children, husbands, wives, in them, in the old and young,Sleeping under the sunlight, sleeping under the moonlight, contentand silent there at last,Behold the mighty bivouac-field and waiting-camp of all,Of the corps and generals all, and the President over the corps andgenerals all,And of each of us O soldiers, and of each and all in the ranks we fought,(There without hatred we all, all meet.)
For presently O soldiers, we too camp in our place in thebivouac-camps of green,But we need not provide for outposts, nor word for the countersign,Nor drummer to beat the morning drum.
Words in this poem
- knapsack n.
- A case of canvas or leather, for carrying on the back a soldier's necessaries, or the clothing, etc., of a traveler. [D. knapzak; knappen to eat + zak a bag. See Knap, v. t., and Sack.]
- countersign v. t.
- To sign on the opposite side of (an instrument or writing); hence, to sign in addition to the signature of a principal or superior, in order to attest the authenticity of a writing. [Counter- + sign: cf. F. contresigner.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- resume n.
- A summing up; a condensed statement; an abridgment or brief recapitulation. [F. See Resume.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- corps n.
- The human body, whether living or dead. See Corpse, 1. [F., fr. L. corpus body. See Corpse.]
- presently adv.
- At present; at this time; now.
- drummer n.
- One whose office is to best the drum, as in military exercises and marching.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Camps of Green 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, Camps of Green, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/camps-of-green.html, id L04066.
Form and metre
Camps of Green is 30 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 82% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.2 syllables. 10 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.
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.
- 3 ----A-A-- world · young · content · last · allA · and · allA · fought · meet
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nor alone those camps of white, old comrades of the wars, | 13 | ·˘/·····/···· |
| When as order’d forward, after a long march, | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| Footsore and weary, soon as the light lessens we halt for the night, | 16 | /˘·/˘····/˘····· |
| Some of us so fatigued carrying the gun and knapsack, dropping | 16 | ····˘//˘˘···/·/˘ |
| asleep in our tracks, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Others pitching the little tents, and the fires lit up begin to sparkle, | 19 | /˘/˘·/˘···/˘··˘/·/˘ |
| Outposts of pickets posted surrounding alert through the dark, | 15 | /··/˘/˘˘/˘˘/··· |
| And a word provided for countersign, careful for safety, | 15 | ···˘/˘·/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| Till to the call of the drummers at daybreak loudly beating the drums, | 17 | ······/˘·/·/˘/˘·· |
| We rise up refresh’d, the night and sleep pass’d over, and resume our | 17 | ···˘/········˘//˘ |
| journey, | 2 | /˘ |
| Or proceed to battle. | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| Lo, the camps of the tents of green, | 8 | ········ |
| Which the days of peace keep filling, and the days of war keep filling, | 16 | ······/˘······/˘ |
| With a mystic army, (is it too order’d forward? is it too only | 18 | ··/˘/˘···/˘/˘···/˘ |
| halting awhile, | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Till night and sleep pass over?) | 7 | ······· |
| Now in those camps of green, in their tents dotting the world, | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| In the parents, children, husbands, wives, in them, in the old and young, | 16 | ··/˘/˘/˘········ |
| Sleeping under the sunlight, sleeping under the moonlight, content | 16 | /˘···/·/˘···/·/˘ |
| and silent there at last, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Behold the mighty bivouac-field and waiting-camp of all, | 14 | ˘/·/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Of the corps and generals all, and the President over the corps and | 18 | ····/˘˘···/˘······ |
| generals all, | 4 | /˘˘· |
| And of each of us O soldiers, and of each and all in the ranks we fought, | 18 | ······/˘·········· |
| (There without hatred we all, all meet.) | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| For presently O soldiers, we too camp in our place in the | 16 | ·/˘˘·/˘····/˘··· |
| bivouac-camps of green, | 5 | /˘··· |
| But we need not provide for outposts, nor word for the countersign, | 16 | ····˘/·/·····/˘˘ |
| Nor drummer to beat the morning drum. | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
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