Analysis of The Glendy Burk

Stephen C. Foster 1826 (Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania) – 1864 (New York City, New York)



De
Glendy Burk
is mighty fast boat,
Wid a mighty fast captain too;
He sits up dah on de hurricane roof
And he keeps his eye on de crew.
I can't stay here, for dey work too hard;
I'm bound to leave dis town;
I'll take my duds and tote 'em on my back
When de
Glendy Burk
comes down.

Ho! for Lou'siana!
I'm bound to leave dis town;
I'll take my duds and tote 'em on my back
When de Glendy Burk comes down.

De
Glendy Burk
has a funny old crew
And dey sing de boatman's song,
Dey burn de pitch and de pine knot too,
For to shove de boat along.
De smoke goes up and de ingine roars
And de wheel goes round and round,
So fair you well! for I'll take a little ride
When de
Glendy Burk
comes down.

I'll work all night in de wind and storm,
I'll work all day in de rain,
'Till I find myself on de levydock
In New Orleans again.
Dey make me mow in de hay field here
And knock my head wid de flail,
I'll go wha dey work wid de sugar and de cane
And roll on de cotten bale.

My lady love is as pretty as a pink,
I'll meet her on de way
I'll take her back to de sunny old south
And day I'll make her stay
So don't you fret my honey dear,
Oh! don't you fret, Miss Brown
I'll take you back 'fore de middle of de week
When de
Glendy Burk
comes down.


Scheme ABxcxcxDEABD dDEd ABcfcfxxxABD xgbxxhgh xixixdxABD
Poetic Form
Metre 1 11 11011 10101101 111111101 01111111 111111111 111111 1111011111 11 11 11 111 111111 1111011111 111111 1 11 101011 011111 111101111 1111101 11110111 0111101 11111110101 11 11 11 111101101 1111011 1111111 0110001 111101111 0111111 111111110011 0111101 11011110101 110111 1101111011 011101 11111101 111111 11111110111 11 11 11
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,223
Words 270
Sentences 13
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 12, 4, 12, 8, 10
Lines Amount 46
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 184
Words per stanza (avg) 53
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:26 min read
22

Stephen C. Foster

Stephen Collins Foster, known as "the father of American music", was an American songwriter known primarily for his parlor and minstrel music. more…

All Stephen C. Foster poems | Stephen C. Foster Books

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