Analysis of Lonesome
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
MOTHER's gone a-visitin' to spend a month er two,
An', oh, the house is lonesome ez a nest whose birds has flew
To other trees to build ag'in; the rooms seem jest so bare
That the echoes run like sperrits from the kitchen to the stair.
The shetters flap more lazy-like 'n what they used to do,
Sence mother's gone a-visitin' to spend a month er two.
We've killed the fattest chicken an' we've cooked her to a turn;
We've made the richest gravy, but I jest don't give a durn
Fur nothin' 'at I drink er eat, er nothin' 'at I see.
The food ain't got the pleasant taste it used to have to me.
They's somep'n' stickin' in my throat ez tight ez hardened glue,
Sence mother's gone a-visitin' to spend a month er two.
The hollyhocks air jest ez pink, they're double ones at that,
An' I wuz prouder of 'em than a baby of a cat.
But now I don't go near 'era, though they nod an' blush at me,
Fur they's somep'n' seems to gall me in their keerless sort o' glee
An' all their fren'ly noddin' an' their blushin' seems to say:
'You're putty lonesome, John, old boy, sence mother's gone away.'
The neighbors ain't so fren'ly ez it seems they'd ort to be;
They seem to be a-lookin' kinder sideways like at me,
A-kinder feared they'd tech me off ez ef I wuz a match,
An' all because 'at mother's gone an' I'm a-keepin' batch!
I'm shore I don't do nothin' worse 'n what I used to do
'Fore mother went a-visitin' to spend a month er two.
The sparrers ac's more fearsome like an' won't hop quite so near,
The cricket's chirp is sadder, an' the sky ain't ha'f so clear;
When ev'nin' comes, I set an' smoke tell my eyes begin to swim,
An' things aroun' commence to look all blurred an' faint an' dim.
Well, I guess I'll have to own up 'at I'm feelin' purty blue
Sence mother's gone a-visitin' to spend a month er two.
Scheme | aabbaAccddaAeeddffddggaahhiiaA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101110101 11011101011111 11011110011111 10101111010101 0111101111111 110101110101 11010101110101 11010101111101 11011101010111 01110101111111 111011111101 110101110101 0101111110111 11110111010101 111111101111111 1111111011111 11111111111 11010111110101 0101111111111 111101101111 01011111111101 1101110111011 11111101111111 110101110101 0111101111111 010111010111111 11111111110111 1110111111111 1111111111111 110101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,776 |
Words | 350 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 30 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 44 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,324 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 347 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 10, 2023
- 1:55 min read
- 38 Views
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"Lonesome" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28775/lonesome>.
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