Drizzle
Hit 's been drizzlin' an' been sprinklin',Kin' o' techy all day long.I ain't wet enough fu' toddy,I 's too damp to raise a song,An' de case have set me t'inkin',Dat dey 's folk des lak de rain,Dat goes drizzlin' w'en dey's talkin',An' won't speak out flat an' plain.
Ain't you nevah set an' listenedAt a body 'splain his min'?W'en de t'oughts dey keep on drappin'Was n't big enough to fin'?Dem 's whut I call drizzlin' people,Othahs call 'em mealy mouf,But de fust name hits me bettah,Case dey nevah tech a drouf.
Dey kin talk from hyeah to yandah,An' f'om yandah hyeah ergain,An' dey don' mek no mo' 'pression,Den dis powd'ry kin' o' rain.En yo' min' is dry ez cindahs,Er a piece o' kindlin' wood,'T ain't no use a-talkin' to 'em,Fu' dey drizzle ain't no good.
Gimme folks dat speak out nachul,Whut 'll say des whut dey mean,Whut don't set dey wo'ds so skimpyDat you got to guess between.I want talk des' lak de showahsWhut kin wash de dust erway,Not dat sprinklin' convusation,Dat des drizzle all de day.
Words in this poem
- techy a.
- Peevish; fretful; irritable. [From OE. tecche, tache, a habit, bad habit, vice, OF. tache, teche, a spot, stain, blemish, habit, vice, F. tache a spot, blemish; probably akin to E. tack a sm]
- toddy n.
- A juice drawn from various kinds of palms in the East Indies; or, a spirituous liquor procured from it by fermentation. [Formed from Hind. ta the juice of the palmyra tree, popularly, toddy, fr. ta the palmyra tree, Skr. tala.]
- folk 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.]
- fust v. i.
- To become moldy; to smell ill.
- drizzle v. i.
- To rain slightly in very small drops; to fall, as water from the clouds, slowly and in fine particles; as, it drizzles; drizzling drops or rain. [Prop. freq. of AS. dreósan to fall. See Dreary.]
- gimme a.
- Neat; spruce. [Prov.] [Cf. Gimp, a.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Drizzle 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, Drizzle, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/drizzle.html, id L00728.
Form and metre
Drizzle is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AB-BACCC sprinklinA · longB · toddy · songB · t'inkinA · rainC · talkinC · plainC
- 2 -A-A-B-B listened · minA · drappin · finA · people · moufB · bettah · droufB
- 3 -A-A-B-B yandah · ergainA · pression · rainA · cindahs · woodB · em · goodB
- 4 -A-A---- nachul · meanA · skimpy · betweenA · showahs · erway · convusation · day
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hit 's been drizzlin' an' been sprinklin', | 9 | ········· |
| Kin' o' techy all day long. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I ain't wet enough fu' toddy, | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| I 's too damp to raise a song, | 8 | ········ |
| An' de case have set me t'inkin', | 8 | ········ |
| Dat dey 's folk des lak de rain, | 8 | ········ |
| Dat goes drizzlin' w'en dey's talkin', | 8 | ······/˘ |
| An' won't speak out flat an' plain. | 7 | ······· |
| Ain't you nevah set an' listened | 8 | ······/˘ |
| At a body 'splain his min'? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| W'en de t'oughts dey keep on drappin' | 8 | ········ |
| Was n't big enough to fin'? | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Dem 's whut I call drizzlin' people, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Othahs call 'em mealy mouf, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But de fust name hits me bettah, | 8 | ········ |
| Case dey nevah tech a drouf. | 7 | ······· |
| Dey kin talk from hyeah to yandah, | 8 | ········ |
| An' f'om yandah hyeah ergain, | 7 | ······· |
| An' dey don' mek no mo' 'pression, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Den dis powd'ry kin' o' rain. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| En yo' min' is dry ez cindahs, | 8 | ········ |
| Er a piece o' kindlin' wood, | 7 | ······· |
| 'T ain't no use a-talkin' to 'em, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Fu' dey drizzle ain't no good. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Gimme folks dat speak out nachul, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Whut 'll say des whut dey mean, | 7 | ······· |
| Whut don't set dey wo'ds so skimpy | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Dat you got to guess between. | 7 | ······· |
| I want talk des' lak de showahs | 8 | ········ |
| Whut kin wash de dust erway, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Not dat sprinklin' convusation, | 8 | ········ |
| Dat des drizzle all de day. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.