A Back-Log Song
De axes has been ringin' in de woods de blessid day,An' de chips has been a-fallin' fa' an' thick;Dey has cut de bigges' hick'ry dat de mules kin tote away,An' dey's laid hit down and soaked it in de crik.Den dey tuk hit to de big house an' dey piled de wood erroun'In de fiah-place f'om ash-flo' to de flue,While ol' Ezry sta'ts de hymn dat evah yeah has got to soun'When de back-log fus' commence a-bu'nin' thoo.
Ol' Mastah is a-smilin' on de da'kies f'om de hall,Ol' Mistus is a-stannin' in de do',An' de young folks, males an' misses, is a-tryin', one an' all,Fu' to mek us feel hit 's Chrismus time fu' sho'.An' ouah hea'ts are full of pleasure, fu' we know de time is ouahsFu' to dance er do jes' whut we wants to do.An' dey ain't no ovahseer an' no othah kind o' powahsDat kin stop us while dat log is bu'nin thoo.
Dey 's a-wokin' in de qua'tahs a-preparin' fu' de feas',So de little pigs is feelin' kind o' shy.De chickens ain't so trus'ful ez dey was, to say de leas',An' de wise ol' hens is roostin' mighty high.You could n't git a gobblah fu' to look you in de face--I ain't sayin' whut de tu'ky 'spects is true;But hit's mighty dange'ous trav'lin' fu' de critters on de placeF'om de time dat log commence a bu'nin' thoo.
Some one's tunin' up his fiddle dah, I hyeah a banjo's ring,An', bless me, dat's de tootin' of a ho'n!Now dey 'll evah one be runnin' dat has got a foot to fling,An' dey 'll dance an' frolic on f'om now 'twell mo'n.Plunk de banjo, scrap de fiddle, blow dat ho'n yo' level bes',Keep yo' min' erpon de chune an' step it true.Oh, dey ain't no time fu' stoppin' an' dey ain't no time fu' res',Fu' hit 's Chrismus an' de back-log 's bu'nin' thoo!
Words in this poem
- tote v. t.
- To carry or bear; as, to tote a child over a stream; -- a colloquial word of the Southern States, and used esp. by negroes. [Said to be of African origin.]
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- plunk v. t.
- To pluck and release quickly (a musical string); to twang.
- banjo n.
- A stringed musical instrument having a head and neck like the guitar, and its body like a tambourine. It has five strings, and is played with the fingers and hands.
- scrap n.
- Something scraped off; hence, a small piece; a bit; a fragment; a detached, incomplete portion. [OE. scrappe, fr. Icel. skrap trifle, cracking. See Scrape, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Back-Log Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Project Gutenberg ebook #18338; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Paul Laurence Dunbar, A Back-Log Song, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/a-back-log-song.html, id L00684.
Form and metre
A Back-Log Song is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.9 syllables. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-A-BCBC dayA · thick · awayA · crik · errounB · flueC · sounB · thooC
- 2 ABA-CBCB hallA · doB · allA · sho · ouahsC · doB · powahsC · thooB
- 3 ABABCDCD feasA · shyB · leasA · highB · faceC · trueD · placeC · thooD
- 4 ABAB-C-C ringA · ho'nB · flingA · mo'nB · bes · trueC · res · thooC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| De axes has been ringin' in de woods de blessid day, | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| An' de chips has been a-fallin' fa' an' thick; | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Dey has cut de bigges' hick'ry dat de mules kin tote away, | 15 | ·············˘/ |
| An' dey's laid hit down and soaked it in de crik. | 11 | ··········· |
| Den dey tuk hit to de big house an' dey piled de wood erroun' | 15 | ··············· |
| In de fiah-place f'om ash-flo' to de flue, | 10 | ·········· |
| While ol' Ezry sta'ts de hymn dat evah yeah has got to soun' | 15 | ··············· |
| When de back-log fus' commence a-bu'nin' thoo. | 11 | ·····˘/···· |
| Ol' Mastah is a-smilin' on de da'kies f'om de hall, | 13 | ············· |
| Ol' Mistus is a-stannin' in de do', | 10 | ·········· |
| An' de young folks, males an' misses, is a-tryin', one an' all, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Fu' to mek us feel hit 's Chrismus time fu' sho'. | 12 | ············ |
| An' ouah hea'ts are full of pleasure, fu' we know de time is ouahs | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Fu' to dance er do jes' whut we wants to do. | 11 | ··········· |
| An' dey ain't no ovahseer an' no othah kind o' powahs | 15 | ··············· |
| Dat kin stop us while dat log is bu'nin thoo. | 11 | ··········· |
| Dey 's a-wokin' in de qua'tahs a-preparin' fu' de feas', | 16 | ················ |
| So de little pigs is feelin' kind o' shy. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| De chickens ain't so trus'ful ez dey was, to say de leas', | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| An' de wise ol' hens is roostin' mighty high. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| You could n't git a gobblah fu' to look you in de face-- | 14 | ·············· |
| I ain't sayin' whut de tu'ky 'spects is true; | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| But hit's mighty dange'ous trav'lin' fu' de critters on de place | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| F'om de time dat log commence a bu'nin' thoo. | 11 | ·····˘/···· |
| Some one's tunin' up his fiddle dah, I hyeah a banjo's ring, | 15 | ······/˘····/·· |
| An', bless me, dat's de tootin' of a ho'n! | 10 | ·········· |
| Now dey 'll evah one be runnin' dat has got a foot to fling, | 16 | ·······/˘······· |
| An' dey 'll dance an' frolic on f'om now 'twell mo'n. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Plunk de banjo, scrap de fiddle, blow dat ho'n yo' level bes', | 15 | ··/···/˘····/˘· |
| Keep yo' min' erpon de chune an' step it true. | 11 | ··········· |
| Oh, dey ain't no time fu' stoppin' an' dey ain't no time fu' res', | 15 | ··············· |
| Fu' hit 's Chrismus an' de back-log 's bu'nin' thoo! | 13 | ············· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.