Analysis of Lover's Lane
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
Summah night an' sighin' breeze,
'Long de lovah's lane;
Frien'ly, shadder-mekin' trees,
'Long de lovah's lane.
White folks' wo'k all done up gran'--
Me an' 'Mandy han'-in-han'
Struttin' lak we owned de lan',
'Long de lovah's lane.
Owl a-settin' 'side de road,
'Long de lovah's lane,
Lookin' at us lak he knowed
Dis uz lovah's lane.
Go on, hoot yo' mou'nful tune,
You ain' nevah loved in June,
An' come hidin' f'om de moon
Down in lovah's lane.
Bush it ben' an' nod an' sway,
Down in lovah's lane,
Try'n' to hyeah me whut I say
'Long de lovah's lane.
But I whispahs low lak dis,
An' my 'Mandy smile huh bliss--
Mistah Bush he shek his fis',
Down in lovah's lane.
Whut I keer ef day is long,
Down in lovah's lane.
I kin allus sing a song
'Long de lovah's lane.
An' de wo'ds I hyeah an' say
Meks up fu' de weary day
Wen I's strollin' by de way,
Down in lovah's lane.
An' dis t'ought will allus rise
Down in lovah's lane;
Wondah whethah in de skies
Dey 's a lovah's lane.
Ef dey ain't, I tell you true,
'Ligion do look mighty blue,
'Cause I do' know whut I 'd do
'Dout a lovah's lane.
Scheme | aBaBcxcB dBdbeeeB fBfBgggB hBhBfffB iBibjjjb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11111 1111 1111 1111 11111111 111101 111111 1111 101111 1111 111111 1111 111111 111101 111111 1011 1111111 1011 11111111 1111 111111 1110111 111111 1011 1111111 1011 111101 1111 1111111 1111101 111111 1011 1111111 1011 11011 11011 1111111 111101 11111111 1011 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,049 |
Words | 212 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 153 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 16, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 113 Views
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"Lover's Lane" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28781/lover%27s-lane>.
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