Analysis of Bein' Back Home



HOME agin, an' home to stay —
Yes, it's nice to be away.
Plenty things to do an' see,
But the old place seems to me
Jest about the proper thing.
Mebbe 'ts 'cause the mem'ries cling
Closer 'round yore place o' birth
'N ary other spot on earth.
W'y it's nice jest settin' here,
Lookin' out an' seein' clear,
'Thout no smoke, ner dust, ner haze
In these sweet October days.
What's as good as that there lane,
Kind o' browned from last night's rain?
'Pears like home has got the start
When the goal's a feller's heart.
What's as good as that there jay
Screechin' up'ards towards the gray
Skies? An' tell me, what's as fine
As that full-leafed pumpkin vine?
Tow'rin' buildin's — yes, they're good;
But in sight o' field and wood,
Then a feller understan's
'Bout the house not made with han's
Let the others rant an' roam
When they git away from home;
Jest gi' me my old settee
An' my pipe beneath a tree;
Sight o' medders green an' still,
Now and then a gentle hill.
Apple orchards, full o' fruit,
Nigh a cider press to boot —
That's the thing jest done up brown;
D'want to be too nigh to town;
Want to have the smells an' sights,
An' the dreams o' long still nights,
With the friends you used to know
In the keerless long ago.—
Same old cronies, same old folks,
Same old cider, same old jokes.
Say, it's nice a-gittin' back,
When yore pulse is growin' slack,
An' yore breath begins to wheeze
Like a fair-set valley breeze;
Kind o' nice to set aroun'
On the old familiar groun',
Knowin' that when Death does come,
That he'll find you right at home.


Scheme AABBCCDDEFGGHHIIAAJJKKBLMMABNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUHHVM
Poetic Form
Metre 1011111 1111101 1011111 1011111 1010101 1111011 1011111 11010111 100111111 11111 1111111 0110101 1111111 1111111 1111101 101011 1111111 110101 1111111 1111101 11111 1011101 10101 1011111 1010111 1110111 111111 1110101 1110111 1010101 1010111 1010111 1011111 11111111 1110111 1011111 1011111 001101 1110111 1110111 111011 111111 1110111 1011101 111111 1010101 111111 1111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,515
Words 296
Sentences 13
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 48
Lines Amount 48
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,147
Words per stanza (avg) 293
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:34 min read
121

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

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