On, on the Same, Ye Jocund Twain!
On, on the same, ye jocund twain!My life and recitative, containing birth, youth, mid-age years,Fitful as motley-tongues of flame, inseparably twined and merged inone--combining all,My single soul--aims, confirmations, failures, joys--Nor single soul alone,I chant my nation’s crucial stage, (America’s, haply humanity’s)--the trial great, the victory great,A strange eclaircissement of all the masses past, the eastern world,the ancient, medieval,Here, here from wanderings, strayings, lessons, wars, defeats--hereat the west a voice triumphant--justifying all,A gladsome pealing cry--a song for once of utmost pride and satisfaction;I chant from it the common bulk, the general average horde, (thebest sooner than the worst)--And now I chant old age,(My verses, written first for forenoon life, and for the summer’s,autumn’s spread,I pass to snow-white hairs the same, and give to pulseswinter-cool’d the same;)As here in careless trill, I and my recitatives, with faith and love,wafting to other work, to unknown songs, conditions,On, on ye jocund twain! continue on the same!
After surmounting three-score and ten,With all their chances, changes, losses, sorrows,My parents’ deaths, the vagaries of my life, the many tearingpassions of me, the war of ’63 and ’4,As some old broken soldier, after a long, hot, wearying march, orhaply after battle,To-day at twilight, hobbling, answering company roll-call, Here,with vital voice,Reporting yet, saluting yet the Officer over all.
Words in this poem
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- fitful a.
- Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable. [From 7th Fit.]
- inseparably adv.
- In an inseparable manner or condition; so as not to be separable.
- crucial a.
- Having the form of a cross; appertaining to a cross; cruciform; intersecting; as, crucial ligaments; a crucial incision. [F. crucial, fr. L. crux, crucis, cross, torture. See Cross.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- eclaircissement n.
- The clearing up of anything which is obscure or not easily understood; an explanation. [F., fr. éclaircir. See Eclaircise, v. t.]
- gladsome a.
- Pleased; joyful; cheerful.
- horde n.
- A wandering troop or gang; especially, a clan or tribe of a nomadic people migrating from place to place for the sake of pasturage, plunder, etc.; a predatory multitude. Thomson. [F. horde (cf. G. horde), fr. Turk. ord, ordi, camp; of Tartar origin.]
- forenoon n.
- The early part of the day, from morning to meridian, or noon.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On, on the Same, Ye Jocund Twain! 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, On, on the Same, Ye Jocund Twain!, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/on-on-the-same-ye-jocund-twain.html, id L04123.
Form and metre
On, on the Same, Ye Jocund Twain! is 30 lines in 2 stanzas. 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.3 syllables. 9 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.
- 1 A-ABA---B-B------C--C twainA · years · inA · allB · aloneA · humanity's · great · world · medievalB · here · allB · satisfaction · the · age · summer's · spread · pulses · sameC · love · conditions · sameC
- 2 -----A--A ten · sorrows · tearing · — · or · battleA · here · voice · allA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| On, on the same, ye jocund twain! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My life and recitative, containing birth, youth, mid-age years, | 15 | ·······˘/˘····· |
| Fitful as motley-tongues of flame, inseparably twined and merged in | 17 | /˘·/˘···˘/˘˘˘···· |
| one--combining all, | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| My single soul--aims, confirmations, failures, joys--Nor single soul alone, | 18 | ·/˘···˘/˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| I chant my nation’s crucial stage, (America’s, haply humanity’s)-- | 18 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| the trial great, the victory great, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| A strange eclaircissement of all the masses past, the eastern world, | 16 | ··˘/˘˘···/˘··/˘· |
| the ancient, medieval, | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| Here, here from wanderings, strayings, lessons, wars, defeats--here | 14 | ···/˘˘/˘/˘·˘/· |
| at the west a voice triumphant--justifying all, | 13 | ·····˘/˘/˘·˘· |
| A gladsome pealing cry--a song for once of utmost pride and satisfaction; | 19 | ·/˘/˘······/····˘/˘ |
| I chant from it the common bulk, the general average horde, (the | 17 | ·····/˘··/˘˘/˘˘·· |
| best sooner than the worst)--And now I chant old age, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| (My verses, written first for forenoon life, and for the summer’s, | 15 | ·/˘/˘··/˘····/˘ |
| autumn’s spread, | 3 | /˘· |
| I pass to snow-white hairs the same, and give to pulses | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| winter-cool’d the same;) | 5 | /˘··· |
| As here in careless trill, I and my recitatives, with faith and love, | 17 | ···/˘·····˘˘/···· |
| wafting to other work, to unknown songs, conditions, | 13 | /˘·/˘··˘/·˘/˘ |
| On, on ye jocund twain! continue on the same! | 12 | ···/˘·˘/˘··· |
| After surmounting three-score and ten, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| With all their chances, changes, losses, sorrows, | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| My parents’ deaths, the vagaries of my life, the many tearing | 16 | ·/˘··/˘˘····/˘/˘ |
| passions of me, the war of ’63 and ’4, | 8 | /˘······ |
| As some old broken soldier, after a long, hot, wearying march, or | 17 | ···/˘/˘·····/˘˘·· |
| haply after battle, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| To-day at twilight, hobbling, answering company roll-call, Here, | 17 | ···/·/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘··· |
| with vital voice, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Reporting yet, saluting yet the Officer over all. | 15 | ˘/˘·˘/˘··/˘˘··· |
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.