Expectation
You 'll be wonderin' whut 's de reasonI 's a grinnin' all de time,An' I guess you t'ink my speritsMus' be feelin' mighty prime.Well, I 'fess up, I is tickledAs a puppy at his paws.But you need n't think I's crazy,I ain' laffin' 'dout a cause.
You's a wonderin' too, I reckon,Why I does n't seem to eat,An' I notice you a lookin'Lak you felt completely beatWhen I 'fuse to tek de bacon,An' don' settle on de ham.Don' you feel no feah erbout me,Jes' keep eatin', an' be ca'm.
Fu' I's waitin' an' I's watchin''Bout a little t'ing I see--D' othah night I's out a walkin'An' I passed a 'simmon tree.Now I's whettin' up my hongry,An' I's laffin' fit to kill,Fu' de fros' done turned de 'simmons,An' de possum 's eat his fill.
He done go'ged hisse'f owdacious,An' he stayin' by de tree!Don' you know, ol' Mistah PossumDat you gittin' fat fu' me?'T ain't no use to try to 'spute it,'Case I knows you's gittin' sweetWif dat 'simmon flavoh thoo you,So I's waitin' fu' yo' meat.
An' some ebenin' me an TowsahGwine to come an' mek a call,We jes' drap in onexpectedFu' to shek yo' han', dat's all.Oh, I knows dat you 'll be tickled,Seems lak I kin see you smile,So pu'haps I mought pu'suade youFu' to visit us a while.
Words in this poem
- puppy n.
- The young of a canine animal, esp. of the common dog; a whelp. [F. poupée doll, puppet. See Puppet, and cf. Pup, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Expectation 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, Expectation, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/expectation.html, id L00668.
Form and metre
Expectation is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% 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 -A-A-B-B reason · timeA · sperits · primeA · tickled · pawsB · crazy · causeB
- 2 -A-A-B-B reckon · eatA · lookin · beatA · bacon · hamB · me · ca'mB
- 3 ABAB-C-C watchinA · seeB · walkinA · treeB · hongry · killC · simmons · fillC
- 4 -A-A-B-B owdacious · treeA · possum · meA · it · sweetB · you · meatB
- 5 -A-A-B-B towsah · callA · onexpected · allA · tickled · smileB · you · whileB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| You 'll be wonderin' whut 's de reason | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I 's a grinnin' all de time, | 8 | ········ |
| An' I guess you t'ink my sperits | 8 | ········ |
| Mus' be feelin' mighty prime. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Well, I 'fess up, I is tickled | 8 | ······/˘ |
| As a puppy at his paws. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But you need n't think I's crazy, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I ain' laffin' 'dout a cause. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| You's a wonderin' too, I reckon, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Why I does n't seem to eat, | 7 | ······· |
| An' I notice you a lookin' | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Lak you felt completely beat | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| When I 'fuse to tek de bacon, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| An' don' settle on de ham. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Don' you feel no feah erbout me, | 8 | ········ |
| Jes' keep eatin', an' be ca'm. | 7 | ······· |
| Fu' I's waitin' an' I's watchin' | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| 'Bout a little t'ing I see-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| D' othah night I's out a walkin' | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| An' I passed a 'simmon tree. | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| Now I's whettin' up my hongry, | 8 | ········ |
| An' I's laffin' fit to kill, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Fu' de fros' done turned de 'simmons, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| An' de possum 's eat his fill. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| He done go'ged hisse'f owdacious, | 8 | ········ |
| An' he stayin' by de tree! | 6 | ······ |
| Don' you know, ol' Mistah Possum | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Dat you gittin' fat fu' me? | 7 | ······· |
| 'T ain't no use to try to 'spute it, | 9 | ········· |
| 'Case I knows you's gittin' sweet | 7 | ······· |
| Wif dat 'simmon flavoh thoo you, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| So I's waitin' fu' yo' meat. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| An' some ebenin' me an Towsah | 9 | ········· |
| Gwine to come an' mek a call, | 7 | ······· |
| We jes' drap in onexpected | 8 | ········ |
| Fu' to shek yo' han', dat's all. | 7 | ······· |
| Oh, I knows dat you 'll be tickled, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Seems lak I kin see you smile, | 7 | ······· |
| So pu'haps I mought pu'suade you | 8 | ········ |
| Fu' to visit us a while. | 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.