Analysis of On The Road

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906



I 's boun' to see my gal to-night--
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
De moon ain't out, de stars ain't bright--
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
Dis hoss o' mine is pow'ful slow,
But when I does git to yo' do'
Yo' kiss 'll pay me back, an' mo',
Dough lone de way, my dearie.

De night is skeery-lak an' still--
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
'Cept fu' dat mou'nful whippo'will--
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
De way so long wif dis slow pace,
'T 'u'd seem to me lak savin' grace
Ef you was on a nearer place,
Fu' lone de way, my dearie.

I hyeah de hootin' of de owl--
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
I wish dat watch-dog would n't howl:--
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
An' evaht'ing, bofe right an' lef',
Seem p'int'ly lak hit put itse'f
In shape to skeer me half to def--
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!

I whistles so's I won't be feared--
Oh lone de way, my dearie!
But anyhow I's kin' o' skeered,
Fu' lone de way, my dearie.
De sky been lookin' mighty glum,
But you kin mek hit lighten some,
Ef you 'll jes' say you's glad I come,
Dough lone de way, my dearie.


Scheme aBaBcxcB xBcBdddB eBeBfffB xBaBgggB
Poetic Form
Metre 111111111 111111 11111111 111111 1111111 11111111 11111111 111111 1111111 111111 11111 111111 11111111 111111101 11110101 111111 1111111 111111 111111111 111111 111111 111111 01111111 111111 11011111 111111 1101111 111111 1111101 11111101 111111111 111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,014
Words 217
Sentences 13
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 180
Words per stanza (avg) 54
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:09 min read
60

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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    "On The Road" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28822/on-the-road>.

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