Analysis of The Dilettante: A Modern Type

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906



HE scribbles some in prose and verse,
And now and then he prints it;
He paints a little, — gathers some
Of Nature's gold and mints it.
He plays a little, sings a song,
Acts tragic roles, or funny;
He does, because his love is strong,
But not, oh, not for money!
He studies almost everything
From social art to science;
A thirsty mind, a flowing spring,
Demand and swift compliance.
He looms above the sordid crowd —
At least through friendly lenses;
While his mamma looks pleased and proud,
And kindly pays expenses.


Scheme ABCBDEDEFGFGHIHI
Poetic Form
Metre 11010101 0101111 11010101 1101011 11010101 1101110 11011111 1111110 110110 1101110 01010101 0101010 11010101 1111010 11101101 0101010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 513
Words 96
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 400
Words per stanza (avg) 94
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

29 sec read
224

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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