Analysis of The Tryst
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
DE night creep down erlong de lan',
De shadders rise an' shake,
De frog is sta'tin' up his ban',
De cricket is awake;
My wo'k is mos' nigh done, Celes',
To-night I won't be late,
I's hu'yin' thoo my level bes',
Wait fu' me by de gate.
De mockin'-bird'll sen' his glee
A-thrillin' thoo and thoo,
I know dat ol' magnolia-tree
Is smellin' des' fu' you;
De jessamine erside de road
Is bloomin' rich an' white,
My hea't's a-th'obbin' 'cause it knowed
You'd wait fu' me to-night.
Hit's lonesome, ain't it, stan'in' thaih
Wid no one nigh to talk?
But ain't dey whispahs in de aih
Erlong de gyahden walk?
Don't somep'n kin' o' call my name,
An' say 'he love you bes''?
Hit's true, I wants to say de same,
So wait fu' me, Celes'.
Sing somep'n fu' to pass de time,
Outsing de mockin'-bird,
You got de music an' de rhyme,
You beat him wid de word.
I's comin' now, my wo'k is done,
De hour has come fu' res',
I wants to fly, but only run—
Wait fu' me, deah Celes'.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEGHIHIFJKJLCLCMNMNOCOC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 11111 11111111 110101 11111111 111111 11111101 111111 111111 01101 11110101 11111 1100111 11111 1101011 111111 11011101 111111 1111011 1111 1111111 111111 11111111 11111 1111111 1111 11110111 111111 11111111 1101111 11111101 11111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 932 |
Words | 186 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 670 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 184 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 22, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 104 Views
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"The Tryst" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28954/the-tryst>.
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