Disappointed
An old man planted and dug and tended,Toiling in joy from dew to dew;The sun was kind, and the rain befriended;Fine grew his orchard and fair to view.Then he said: "I will quiet my thrifty fears,For here is fruit for my failing years."
But even then the storm-clouds gathered,Swallowing up the azure sky;The sweeping winds into white foam latheredThe placid breast of the bay, hard by;Then the spirits that raged in the darkened airSwept o'er his orchard and left it bare.
The old man stood in the rain, uncaring,Viewing the place the storm had swept;And then with a cry from his soul despairing,He bowed him down to the earth and wept.But a voice cried aloud from the driving rain;"Arise, old man, and plant again!"
Words in this poem
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- despairing a.
- Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless.
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Disappointed 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, Disappointed, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/disappointed.html, id L00551.
Form and metre
Disappointed is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCC tendedA · dewB · befriendedA · viewB · fearsC · yearsC
- 2 ABABCC gatheredA · skyB · latheredA · byB · airC · bareC
- 3 ABABCC uncaringA · sweptB · despairingA · weptB · rainC · againC
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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| An old man planted and dug and tended, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Toiling in joy from dew to dew; | 8 | /˘······ |
| The sun was kind, and the rain befriended; | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Fine grew his orchard and fair to view. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Then he said: "I will quiet my thrifty fears, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| For here is fruit for my failing years." | 9 | ······/˘· |
| But even then the storm-clouds gathered, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Swallowing up the azure sky; | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| The sweeping winds into white foam lathered | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| The placid breast of the bay, hard by; | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Then the spirits that raged in the darkened air | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| Swept o'er his orchard and left it bare. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| The old man stood in the rain, uncaring, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Viewing the place the storm had swept; | 8 | /˘······ |
| And then with a cry from his soul despairing, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| He bowed him down to the earth and wept. | 9 | ········· |
| But a voice cried aloud from the driving rain; | 11 | ····˘/··/˘· |
| "Arise, old man, and plant again!" | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
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.