A Death Song

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906



Lay me down beneaf de willers in de grass,
Whah de branch 'll go a-singin' as it pass.
An' w'en I's a-layin' low,
I kin hyeah it as it go
Singin', 'Sleep, my honey, tek yo' res' at las'.'

Lay me nigh to whah hit meks a little pool,
An' de watah stan's so quiet lak an' cool,
Whah de little birds in spring,
Ust to come an' drink an' sing,
An' de chillen waded on dey way to school.

Let me settle w'en my shouldahs draps dey load
Nigh enough to hyeah de noises in de road;
Fu' I t'ink de las' long res'
Gwine to soothe my sperrit bes'
Ef I's layin' 'mong de t'ings I's allus knowed.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
89

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBX CCDDC EEXXE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 575
Words 123
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

All Paul Laurence Dunbar poems | Paul Laurence Dunbar Books

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    Which poetic form consists of fourteen lines, typically written in iambic pentameter and follows a specific rhyme scheme?
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