Discovered
Seen you down at chu'ch las' night,Nevah min', Miss Lucy.What I mean? oh, dat 's all right,Nevah min', Miss Lucy.You was sma't ez sma't could be,But you could n't hide f'om me.Ain't I got two eyes to see!Nevah min', Miss Lucy.
Guess you thought you's awful keen;Nevah min', Miss Lucy.Evahthing you done, I seen;Nevah min', Miss Lucy.Seen him tek yo' ahm jes' so,When he got outside de do'--Oh, I know dat man 's yo' beau!Nevah min', Miss Lucy.
Say now, honey, wha 'd he say?--Nevah min', Miss Lucy!Keep yo' secrets--dat's yo' way--Nevah min', Miss Lucy.Won't tell me an' I'm yo' pal--I'm gwine tell his othah gal,--Know huh, too, huh name is Sal;Nevah min', Miss Lucy!
About this text
Discovered 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, Discovered, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/discovered.html, id L00550.
Form and metre
Discovered is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCCB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 ABABCCCB nightA · lucyB · rightA · lucyB · beC · meC · seeC · lucyB
- 2 ABABC-CB keenA · lucyB · seenA · lucyB · soC · do · beauC · lucyB
- 3 ABABCCCB sayA · lucyB · wayA · lucyB · palC · galC · salC · lucyB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Seen you down at chu'ch las' night, | 7 | ······· |
| Nevah min', Miss Lucy. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| What I mean? oh, dat 's all right, | 8 | ········ |
| Nevah min', Miss Lucy. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| You was sma't ez sma't could be, | 7 | ······· |
| But you could n't hide f'om me. | 7 | ······· |
| Ain't I got two eyes to see! | 7 | ······· |
| Nevah min', Miss Lucy. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Guess you thought you's awful keen; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Nevah min', Miss Lucy. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Evahthing you done, I seen; | 7 | ······· |
| Nevah min', Miss Lucy. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Seen him tek yo' ahm jes' so, | 7 | ······· |
| When he got outside de do'-- | 7 | ···//·· |
| Oh, I know dat man 's yo' beau! | 8 | ········ |
| Nevah min', Miss Lucy. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Say now, honey, wha 'd he say?-- | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Nevah min', Miss Lucy! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Keep yo' secrets--dat's yo' way-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nevah min', Miss Lucy. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Won't tell me an' I'm yo' pal-- | 7 | ······· |
| I'm gwine tell his othah gal,-- | 7 | ······· |
| Know huh, too, huh name is Sal; | 7 | ······· |
| Nevah min', Miss Lucy! | 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.