Analysis of Bars Fight

Lucy Terry Prince 1730 (Africa) – 1821 (Sunderland,Vermont)



August, twas the twenty-fifth,
Seventeen houndred forty-six,
The Indians did in ambush lay,
Some very valiant men to slay
Twas nigh unto Sam Dickinson's mill,
The Indians there five men did kill.
The names of whom I'll not leave out,
Samuel Allen like a hero foute,
And though he was so brave and bold,
His face no more shall we behold.
Eleazer Hawks was killed outright,
Before he had time to fight,
Before he did the Indians see,
Was shot and killed immediately.
Oliver Amsden he was slain,
Which caused his friends much grief pain.
Simeon Amsden they found dead
Not many rods from Oliver's head.
Adonijah Gillett, we do hear,
Did lose his life which was so dear.
John Sadler fled across the water,
And thus escaped the dreadful slaughter.
Eunice Allen see the Indians comeing
And hoped to save herself by running:
And had not her petticoats stopt her,
The awful creatures had not cotched her,
Not tommyhawked her on the head,
And left her on the ground for dead.
Young Samuel Allen, Oh! lack-a-day!
Was taken and carried to Canada.


Scheme ABCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKLMMNNMMJJCO
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Metre 1010101 1011101 01001011 11010111 1110111 010011111 01111111 101010101 01111101 11111101 10011111 0111111 011101001 110101000 10010111 1111111 10010111 110111001 101111 11111111 110101010 010101010 1010101001 011101110 01101010 010101110 110101 01010111 110101101 1100101100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,015
Words 185
Sentences 12
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 30
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 814
Words per stanza (avg) 183
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

56 sec read
279

Lucy Terry Prince

Lucy Terry Prince, often credited as simply Lucy Terry (c. 1730–1821), was brought to Rhode Island as a slave from Africa. Her future husband purchased her freedom before their marriage in 1756. She composed a ballad poem, "Bars Fight", about a 1746 incident. It was preserved orally until being published in 1855. It is considered the oldest known work of literature by an African American and a slave. more…

All Lucy Terry Prince poems | Lucy Terry Prince Books

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