Analysis of Little Brown Baby
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,
Come to yo' pappy an' set on his knee.
What you been doin', suh -- makin' san' pies?
Look at dat bib -- you's es du'ty ez me.
Look at dat mouf -- dat's merlasses, I bet;
Come hyeah, Maria, an' wipe off his han's.
Bees gwine to ketch you an' eat you up yit,
Bein' so sticky an sweet -- goodness lan's!
Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,
Who's pappy's darlin' an' who's pappy's chile?
Who is it all de day nevah once tries
Fu' to be cross, er once loses dat smile?
Whah did you git dem teef? My, you's a scamp!
Whah did dat dimple come f'om in yo' chin?
Pappy do' know you -- I b'lieves you's a tramp;
Mammy, dis hyeah's some ol' straggler got in!
Let's th'ow him outen de do' in de san',
We do' want stragglers a-layin' 'roun' hyeah;
Let's gin him 'way to de big buggah-man;
I know he's hidin' erroun' hyeah right neah.
Buggah-man, buggah-man, come in de do',
Hyeah's a bad boy you kin have fu' to eat.
Mammy an' pappy do' want him no mo',
Swaller him down f'om his haid to his feet!
Dah, now, I t'ought dat you'd hug me up close.
Go back, ol' buggah, you sha'n't have dis boy.
He ain't no tramp, ner no straggler, of co'se;
He's pappy's pa'dner an' play-mate an' joy.
Come to you' pallet now -- go to yo' res';
Wisht you could allus know ease an' cleah skies;
Wisht you could stay jes' a chile on my breas'--
Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes!
Scheme | AbabcxcaAbaxdede fxfbxgxg xhxhxaaA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10110111 111111111 111111011 1111111111 11111111 1101011111 1111111111 111011101 10110111 111011110 111111111 1111011011 1111111101 1111011011 111111101 111111010 111111011011 111100111 111111111 11111111 11111011 1011111111 11111111 111111111 11111111111 11111111111 11111110111 11111111 1111011111 1111111101 11111010111 10110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,421 |
Words | 274 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 326 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 91 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 09, 2023
- 1:32 min read
- 151 Views
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"Little Brown Baby" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28772/little-brown-baby>.
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