Faith
I's a-gittin' weary of de way dat people do,De folks dat's got dey 'ligion in dey fiah-place an' flue;Dey's allus somep'n comin' so de spit'll have to turn,An' hit tain't no p'oposition fu' to mek de hickory bu'n.Ef de sweet pertater fails us an' de go'geous yallah yam,We kin tek a bit o' comfo't f'om ouah sto' o' summah jam.W'en de snow hit git to flyin', dat's de Mastah's own desiah,De Lawd'll run de wintah an' yo' mammy'll run de fiah.
I ain' skeered because de win' hit staht to raih and blow,I ain't bothahed w'en he come er rattlin' at de do',Let him taih hisse'f an' shout, let him blow an' bawl,
Dat's de time de branches shek an' bresh-wood 'mence to fall.W'en de sto'm er railin' an' de shettahs blowin' 'bout,Dat de time de fiah-place crack hits welcome out.Tain' my livin' business fu' to trouble ner enquiah,De Lawd'll min' de wintah an' my mammy'll min' de fiah.
Ash-cake allus gits ez brown w'en February's hyeahEz it does in bakin' any othah time o' yeah.De bacon smell ez callin'-like, de kittle rock an' sing,De same way in de wintah dat dey do it in de spring;Dey ain't no use in mopin' 'round an' lookin' mad an' glumErbout de wintah season, fu' hit's des plumb boun' to come;
An' ef it comes to runnin' t'ings I's willin' to retiah,De Lawd'll min' de wintah an' my mammy'll min' de fiah.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- bawl v. i.
- To cry out with a loud, full sound; to cry with vehemence, as in calling or exultation; to shout; to vociferate. [Icel. baula to low, bellow, as a cow; akin to Sw. böla; cf. AS bellan, G. bellen to bark, E. bellow, bull.]
- kittle v. i.
- To bring forth young, as a cat; to kitten; to litter. [Prov. [Cf. Kit a kitten.]
- glum n.
- Sullenness. Skelton. [See Gloom.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Faith 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, Faith, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/faith.html, id L00823.
Form and metre
Faith is 24 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 75% of the lines. The metre is trochaic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.4 syllables. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic heptameter.
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 AA--BBCC doA · flueA · turn · bu'n · yamB · jamB · desiahC · fiahC
- 3 -AABB fall · boutA · outA · enquiahB · fiahB
- 4 AABBCC hyeahA · yeahA · singB · springB · glumC · comeC
- 5 AA retiahA · fiahA
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I's a-gittin' weary of de way dat people do, | 13 | ····/˘····/˘· |
| De folks dat's got dey 'ligion in dey fiah-place an' flue; | 13 | ············· |
| Dey's allus somep'n comin' so de spit'll have to turn, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| An' hit tain't no p'oposition fu' to mek de hickory bu'n. | 15 | ············/˘· |
| Ef de sweet pertater fails us an' de go'geous yallah yam, | 15 | ··············· |
| We kin tek a bit o' comfo't f'om ouah sto' o' summah jam. | 15 | ··············· |
| W'en de snow hit git to flyin', dat's de Mastah's own desiah, | 14 | ·············· |
| De Lawd'll run de wintah an' yo' mammy'll run de fiah. | 13 | ············· |
| I ain' skeered because de win' hit staht to raih and blow, | 13 | ············· |
| I ain't bothahed w'en he come er rattlin' at de do', | 13 | ············· |
| Let him taih hisse'f an' shout, let him blow an' bawl, | 12 | ············ |
| Dat's de time de branches shek an' bresh-wood 'mence to fall. | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| W'en de sto'm er railin' an' de shettahs blowin' 'bout, | 13 | ············· |
| Dat de time de fiah-place crack hits welcome out. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Tain' my livin' business fu' to trouble ner enquiah, | 13 | ··/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| De Lawd'll min' de wintah an' my mammy'll min' de fiah. | 13 | ············· |
| Ash-cake allus gits ez brown w'en February's hyeah | 13 | ········/˘·˘· |
| Ez it does in bakin' any othah time o' yeah. | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| De bacon smell ez callin'-like, de kittle rock an' sing, | 14 | ·/˘······/˘··· |
| De same way in de wintah dat dey do it in de spring; | 14 | ·············· |
| Dey ain't no use in mopin' 'round an' lookin' mad an' glum | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| Erbout de wintah season, fu' hit's des plumb boun' to come; | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| An' ef it comes to runnin' t'ings I's willin' to retiah, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| De Lawd'll min' de wintah an' my mammy'll min' de fiah. | 13 | ············· |
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.