Dumb Swede
With barbwire hooch they filled him full,
Till he was drunker than all hell,
And then they peddled him the bull
About a claim they had to sell.
A thousand bucks they made him pay,
Knowing that he had nothing more,
And when he begged it back next day,
And wept! - they kicked him from the door.
They reckoned they were mighty slick,
Them two tinhorns from Idaho;
That poor dumb Swede could swing a pick,
but that was all he'd ever know.
So sitting in a poker game,
They lost the price for which they sold
To that bonehead a poor dud claim
That didn't have a speck of gold.
My story's true as gospel creed
Of these bright boys from Idaho;
They made a sucker of that Swede
And laughed to see the poor boob go,
And work like n*gger on his ground,
Bucked by the courage of despair . . .
Till lo! A rich pay-streak he found,
That made him twice a millionaire.
So two smart Alecs, mighty sick,
Begged jobs at fifteen bucks a day.
Then said the Swede: "Give each a pick
And let them sweat to make their pay."
And though he don't know what it means,
Folks call that Swede "magnanimous"
- But picking nuggets big as beans,
you oughta' hear them fellers cuss!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 131 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IFIFJKJK ECECLMLM |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,125 |
Words | 223 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
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"Dumb Swede" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Dec. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32089/dumb-swede>.
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