Analysis of My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night!
Stephen C. Foster 1826 (Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania) – 1864 (New York City, New York)
1 The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,
2 'Tis summer, the darkies are gay,
3 The corn top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom
4 While the birds make music all the day.
5 The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,
6 All merry, all happy and bright:
7 By'n by Hard Times comes a knocking at the door,
8 Then my old Kentucky Home, good night!
9 [Chorus] Weep no more, my lady, oh! weep no more to-day!
10 We will sing one song
11 For the old Kentucky Home,
12 For the old Kentucky Home, far away.
13 [Solo] They hunt no more for the possum and the coon
14 On the meadow, the hill and the shore,
15 They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon,
16 On the bench by the old cabin door.
17 The day goes by like a shadow o'er the heart,
18 With sorrow where all was delight:
19 The time has come when the darkies have to part,
20 Then my old Kentucky Home, good-night!
21 [Chorus] Weep no more, my lady, oh! weep no more to-day!
22 We will sing one song
23 For the old Kentucky Home,
24 For the old Kentucky Home, far away.
25 [Solo] The head must bow and the back will have to bend,
26 Wherever the darkey may go:
27 A few more days, and the trouble all will end
28 In the field where the sugar-canes grow.
29 A few more days for to tote the weary load,
30 No matter 'twill never be light,
31 A few more days till we totter on the road,
32 Then my old Kentucky Home, good-night!
33 [Chorus] Weep no more, my lady, oh! weep no more to-day!
34 We will sing one song
35 For the old Kentucky Home,
36 For the old Kentucky Home, far away.
Scheme | ABXBCDCD BEAB FCFCGDGD BEAB HIHIJDJD BEAB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110010101 1100111 0111001001 101110101 01111010101 11011001 111111010101 111010111 1111110111111 11111 1010101 1010101101 111111010001 10101001 11111010101 101101101 01111011001 11011101 0111101111 111010111 1111110111111 11111 1010101 1010101101 101110011111 0100111 01110010111 001101011 01111110101 11011011 01111110101 111010111 1111110111111 11111 1010101 1010101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,606 |
Words | 322 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 194 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 68 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 1:37 min read
- 49 Views
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"My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35644/my-old-kentucky-home%2C-good-night%21>.
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