Differences
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
My neighbor lives on the hill,
And I in the valley dwell,
My neighbor must look down on me,
Must I look up?--ah, well,
My neighbor lives on the hill,
And I in the valley dwell.
My neighbor reads, and prays,
And I--I laugh, God wot,
And sing like a bird when the grass is green
In my small garden plot;
But ah, he reads and prays,
And I--I laugh, God wot.
His face is a book of woe,
And mine is a song of glee;
A slave he is to the great 'They say,'
But I--I am bold and free;
No wonder he smacks of woe,
And I have the tang of glee.
My neighbor thinks me a fool,
'The same to yourself,' say I;
'Why take your books and take your prayers,
Give me the open sky;'
My neighbor thinks me a fool,
'The same to yourself,' say I.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 13, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 78 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABcbAB dExedE fcxcfc GHxhGH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 706 |
Words | 158 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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"Differences" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/28703/differences>.
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