Wandering at Morn
Wandering at morn,Emerging from the night from gloomy thoughts, thee in my thoughts,Yearning for thee harmonious Union! thee, singing bird divine!Thee coil’d in evil times my country, with craft and black dismay,with every meanness, treason thrust upon thee,This common marvel I beheld--the parent thrush I watch’d feeding its young,The singing thrush whose tones of joy and faith ecstatic,Fail not to certify and cheer my soul.
There ponder’d, felt I,If worms, snakes, loathsome grubs, may to sweet spiritual songs be turn’d,If vermin so transposed, so used and bless’d may be,Then may I trust in you, your fortunes, days, my country;Who knows but these may be the lessons fit for you?From these your future song may rise with joyous trills,Destin’d to fill the world.
Through the soft evening air enwinding all,Rocks, woods, fort, cannon, pacing sentries, endless wilds,In dulcet streams, in flutes’ and cornets’ notes,Electric, pensive, turbulent, artificial,(Yet strangely fitting even here, meanings unknown before,Subtler than ever, more harmony, as if born here, related here,Not to the city’s fresco’d rooms, not to the audience of the opera house,Sounds, echoes, wandering strains, as really here at home,Sonnambula’s innocent love, trios with Norma’s anguish,And thy ecstatic chorus Poliuto;)Ray’d in the limpid yellow slanting sundown,Music, Italian music in Dakota.
While Nature, sovereign of this gnarl’d realm,Lurking in hidden barbaric grim recesses,Acknowledging rapport however far remov’d,(As some old root or soil of earth its last-born flower or fruit,)Listens well pleas’d.
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- 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]
- certify v. t.
- To give cetain information to; to assure; to make certain. [F. certifier, LL. certificare; L. certus certain + facere to make. See Certain, and cf. Certificate, v. t.]
- vermin n.
- An animal, in general. [OE. vermine, F. vermine, from L. vermis a worm; cf. LL. vermen a worm, L. verminosus full of worms. See Vermicular, Worm.]
- dulcet a.
- Sweet to the taste; luscious. [OF. doucet, dim. of dous sweet, F. doux, L. dulcis; akin to Gr. Doucet.]
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- norma n.
- A norm; a principle or rule; a model; a standard. J. S. Mill. [L.]
- sundown n.
- The setting of the sun; sunset.
- gnarl v. i.
- To growl; to snarl. [From older gnar, prob. of imitative origin; cf. G. knarren, knurren. D. knorren, Sw. knorra, Dan. knurre.]
- barbaric a.
- Of, or from, barbarian nations; foreign; -- often with reference to barbarous nations of east. [L. barbaricus foreign, barbaric, Gr. .]
- rapport n.
- Relation; proportion; conformity; correspondence; accord. [F., fr. rapporter to bring again or back, to refer; pref. re- re- + apporter to bring, L. apporter to bring, L. apportare. Cf. Report.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Wandering at Morn 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, Wandering at Morn, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/wandering-at-morn.html, id L04012.
Form and metre
Wandering at Morn is 32 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.1 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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.
- 2 A-A---- iA · turn'd · beA · country · you · trills · world
- 3 A--A-------- allA · wilds · notes · artificialA · before · here · house · home · anguish · poliuto · sundown · dakota
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wandering at morn, | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| Emerging from the night from gloomy thoughts, thee in my thoughts, | 14 | ˘/˘····/˘····· |
| Yearning for thee harmonious Union! thee, singing bird divine! | 16 | /˘··˘/˘˘/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Thee coil’d in evil times my country, with craft and black dismay, | 15 | ···/˘··/˘····˘/ |
| with every meanness, treason thrust upon thee, | 12 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘···· |
| This common marvel I beheld--the parent thrush I watch’d feeding its young, | 18 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·/˘···/˘·· |
| The singing thrush whose tones of joy and faith ecstatic, | 13 | ·/˘·······˘/˘ |
| Fail not to certify and cheer my soul. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| There ponder’d, felt I, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| If worms, snakes, loathsome grubs, may to sweet spiritual songs be turn’d, | 16 | ···/˘····/˘˘˘··· |
| If vermin so transposed, so used and bless’d may be, | 12 | ·/˘·˘/······ |
| Then may I trust in you, your fortunes, days, my country; | 13 | ·······/˘··/˘ |
| Who knows but these may be the lessons fit for you? | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| From these your future song may rise with joyous trills, | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Destin’d to fill the world. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Through the soft evening air enwinding all, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Rocks, woods, fort, cannon, pacing sentries, endless wilds, | 12 | ···/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| In dulcet streams, in flutes’ and cornets’ notes, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Electric, pensive, turbulent, artificial, | 12 | ˘/˘/˘/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| (Yet strangely fitting even here, meanings unknown before, | 14 | ·/˘/˘/˘·/˘˘/·· |
| Subtler than ever, more harmony, as if born here, related here, | 18 | /˘˘·/˘·/˘˘····˘/˘· |
| Not to the city’s fresco’d rooms, not to the audience of the opera house, | 19 | ···/˘/˘····/˘˘··/˘· |
| Sounds, echoes, wandering strains, as really here at home, | 13 | ·/˘/˘˘··/˘··· |
| Sonnambula’s innocent love, trios with Norma’s anguish, | 15 | ····/˘˘·/··/˘/˘ |
| And thy ecstatic chorus Poliuto;) | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Ray’d in the limpid yellow slanting sundown, | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘/· |
| Music, Italian music in Dakota. | 11 | /˘˘/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| While Nature, sovereign of this gnarl’d realm, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Lurking in hidden barbaric grim recesses, | 12 | /˘·/˘˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| Acknowledging rapport however far remov’d, | 12 | ˘/˘˘˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| (As some old root or soil of earth its last-born flower or fruit,) | 15 | ···········/˘·· |
| Listens well pleas’d. | 4 | /˘·· |
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