Blue
Standin' at de winder,Feelin' kind o' glum,Listenin' to de raindropsPlay de kettle drum,Lookin' crost de meddersSwimmin' lak a sea;Lawd 'a' mussy on us,What's de good o' me?
Can't go out a-hoein',Wouldn't ef I could;Groun' too wet fu' huntin',Fishin' ain't no good.Too much noise fo' sleepin',No one hyeah to chat;Des mus' stan' an' listenTo dat pit-a-pat.
Hills is gittin' misty,,Valley's gittin' dahk;Watch-dog's 'mence a-howlin',Rathah have 'em ba'kDan a-moanin' solemnSomewhaih out o' sight;Rain-crow des a-chucklin'--Dis is his delight.
Mandy, bring my banjo,Bring de chillen in,Come in f'om de kitchen,I feel sick ez sin.Call in Uncle Isaac,Call Aunt Hannah, too,Tain't no use in talkin',Chile, I's sholy blue.
Words in this poem
- winder v. i.
- To wither; to fail. Holland.
- glum n.
- Sullenness. Skelton. [See Gloom.]
- kettle n.
- A metallic vessel, with a wide mouth, often without a cover, used for heating and boiling water or other liguids. Kettle pins, ninepins; skittles. Shelton. [OE. ketel; cf. AS. cetel, cetil, cytel; akin to D. kjedel, G. kessel, OHG. chezzil, Icel. ketill, SW. kittel, Dan. kjedel, Goth. katils; all perh. fr. L. catill]
- mussy a.
- Disarranged; rumpled. [From 2d Muss.]
- 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.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Blue 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, Blue, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/blue.html, id L00843.
Form and metre
Blue is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.6 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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-B-B winder · glumA · raindrops · drumA · medders · seaB · us · meB
- 2 -ABABC-C hoein · couldA · huntinB · goodA · sleepinB · chatC · listen · patC
- 3 --A--BAB misty · dahk · howlinA · ba'k · solemn · sightB · chucklinA · delightB
- 4 -AAA-BAB banjo · inA · kitchenA · sinA · isaac · tooB · talkinA · blueB
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. Read against trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Standin' at de winder, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Feelin' kind o' glum, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Listenin' to de raindrops | 7 | ·····/· |
| Play de kettle drum, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Lookin' crost de medders | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Swimmin' lak a sea; | 5 | ····· |
| Lawd 'a' mussy on us, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| What's de good o' me? | 5 | ····· |
| Can't go out a-hoein', | 5 | ····· |
| Wouldn't ef I could; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Groun' too wet fu' huntin', | 6 | ······ |
| Fishin' ain't no good. | 5 | ····· |
| Too much noise fo' sleepin', | 6 | ······ |
| No one hyeah to chat; | 5 | ····· |
| Des mus' stan' an' listen | 6 | ····/˘ |
| To dat pit-a-pat. | 5 | ····· |
| Hills is gittin' misty,, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Valley's gittin' dahk; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Watch-dog's 'mence a-howlin', | 6 | ······ |
| Rathah have 'em ba'k | 5 | ····· |
| Dan a-moanin' solemn | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Somewhaih out o' sight; | 6 | ······ |
| Rain-crow des a-chucklin'-- | 6 | ······ |
| Dis is his delight. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Mandy, bring my banjo, | 6 | /˘··/· |
| Bring de chillen in, | 5 | ····· |
| Come in f'om de kitchen, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| I feel sick ez sin. | 5 | ····· |
| Call in Uncle Isaac, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Call Aunt Hannah, too, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Tain't no use in talkin', | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Chile, I's sholy blue. | 6 | /˘···· |
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.