Analysis of Camptown Races
Stephen C. Foster 1826 (Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania) – 1864 (New York City, New York)
De Camptown ladies sing dis song -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
De Camptown racetrack five miles long -- Oh! doo-dah day!
I come down dah wid my hat caved in -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I go back home wid a pocket full of tin -- Oh! doo-dah day!
Gwine to run all night! Gwine to run all day!
I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag -- Somebody bet on de bay!
De long tail filly and de big black hoss -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Dey fly de track and dey both cut across -- Oh! doo-dah day!
De blind hoss sticken in a big mud hole -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Can't touch bottom wid a ten foot pole -- Oh! doo-dah day!
Old muley cow come on to de track -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
De bob-tail fling her ober his back -- Oh! doo-dah day!
Den fly along like a rail-road car -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Runnin' a race with a shootin' star -- Oh! doo-dah day!
Seen dem flyin' on a ten mile heat -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Round de race track, den repeat -- Oh! doo-dah day!
I win my money on de bob-tail nag -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I keep my money in an old tow-bag -- Oh! doo-dah day!
| Scheme | ABAB BB ABAB ABAB ABAB |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 11101111111 1111111111 1111111101111 111110101111111 1111111111 1111011111101111 11110011111111 11110111011111 1111001111111 1110101111111 111111111111 1111010111111 1101101111111 10110111111 111101111111 11111011111 11110111111111 11110011111111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
| Characters | 1,039 |
| Words | 211 |
| Sentences | 36 |
| Stanzas | 5 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 2, 4, 4, 4 |
| Lines Amount | 18 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 40 |
| Words per line (avg) | 11 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 143 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 129 Views
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"Camptown Races" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35638/camptown-races>.
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