Analysis of The Memory Of Martha



OUT in de night a sad bird moans,
An', oh, but hit's moughty lonely;
Times I kin sing, but mos' I groans,
Fu' oh, but hit's moughty lonely!
Is you sleepin' well dis evenin', Marfy, deah?
W'en I calls you f'om de cabin, kin you hyeah?
'T ain't de same ol' place to me,
Nuffin' 's lak hit used to be,
W'en I knowed dat you was allus some'ers near.
Down by de road de shadders grows,
An', oh, but hit's moughty lonely;
Seem lak de ve'y moonlight knows,
An', oh, but hit's moughty lonely!
Does you know, I's cryin' fu' you, oh, my wife?
Does you know dey ain't no joy no mo' in life?
An' my only t'ought is dis,
Dat I's honin' fu' de bliss
Fu' to quit dis groun' o' worriment an' strife.
Dah on de baid my banjo lays,
An', oh, but hit's moughty lonely;
Can't even sta't a chune o' praise,
An', oh, but hit's moughty lonely!
Oh, hit's moughty slow a-waitin' hyeah below.
Is you watchin' fu' me, Marfy, at de do'?
Ef you is, in spite o' sin,
Dey'll be sho' to let me in,
W'en dey sees yo' face a-shinin', den dey'll know.


Scheme aBabcdbbefBfBgghhgiBiBjckkj
Poetic Form
Metre 10110111 1111110 11111111 1111110 11111111 10011111110111 11111111 1111111 1001111111111 1111111 1111110 1111111 1111110 1111111111 11111111101 11101111 111111 111111111 1111111 1111110 110110111 1111110 111101101 111111111 1110111 1111110 1001111101111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,001
Words 204
Sentences 13
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 27
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 709
Words per stanza (avg) 202
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:07 min read
49

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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