Little Brown Baby

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906



Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,  
   Come to yo' pappy an' set on his knee.
  What you been doin', suh -- makin' san' pies?
   Look at dat bib -- you's es du'ty ez me.
  Look at dat mouf -- dat's merlasses, I bet;
   Come hyeah, Maria, an' wipe off his han's.
  Bees gwine to ketch you an' eat you up yit,
   Bein' so sticky an sweet -- goodness lan's!
  Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,
  Who's pappy's darlin' an' who's pappy's chile?
 Who is it all de day nevah once tries
  Fu' to be cross, er once loses dat smile?
 Whah did you git dem teef? My, you's a scamp!
  Whah did dat dimple come f'om in yo' chin?
 Pappy do' know you -- I b'lieves you's a tramp;
  Mammy, dis hyeah's some ol' straggler got in!

 Let's th'ow him outen de do' in de san',
  We do' want stragglers a-layin' 'roun' hyeah;
 Let's gin him 'way to de big buggah-man;
  I know he's hidin' erroun' hyeah right neah.
 Buggah-man, buggah-man, come in de do',
  Hyeah's a bad boy you kin have fu' to eat.
 Mammy an' pappy do' want him no mo',
  Swaller him down f'om his haid to his feet!

 Dah, now, I t'ought dat you'd hug me up close.
  Go back, ol' buggah, you sha'n't have dis boy.
 He ain't no tramp, ner no straggler, of co'se;
  He's pappy's pa'dner an' play-mate an' joy.
 Come to you' pallet now -- go to yo' res';
  Wisht you could allus know ease an' cleah skies;
 Wisht you could stay jes' a chile on my breas'--
  Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 09, 2023

1:32 min read
151

Quick analysis:

Scheme AbabcxcaAbaxdede fxfbxgxg xhxhxaaA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,421
Words 274
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 16, 8, 8

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…

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