Growin' Gray
Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray,An' it beats ole Ned to see the way'At the crow's feet's a-getherin' aroun' yore eyes;Tho' it ought n't to cause me no su'prise,Fur there 's many a sun 'at you 've seen riseAn' many a one you 've seen go downSence yore step was light an' yore hair was brown,An' storms an' snows have had their way--Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray.
Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray,An' the youthful pranks 'at you used to playAre dreams of a far past long agoThat lie in a heart where the fires burn low--That has lost the flame though it kept the glow,An' spite of drivin' snow an' storm,Beats bravely on forever warm.December holds the place of May--Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray.
Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray--Who cares what the carpin' youngsters say?For, after all, when the tale is told,Love proves if a man is young or old!Old age can't make the heart grow coldWhen it does the will of an honest mind;When it beats with love fur all mankind;Then the night but leads to a fairer day--Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray!
Words in this poem
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Growin' Gray 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, Growin' Gray, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/growin-gray.html, id L00584.
Form and metre
Growin' Gray is 27 lines in 3 stanzas of 9 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBBCCAA. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.5 syllables. 22% 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 AABBBCCAA grayA · wayA · eyesB · su'priseB · riseB · downC · brownC · wayA · grayA
- 2 AABBBCCAA grayA · playA · agoB · lowB · glowB · stormC · warmC · mayA · grayA
- 3 AABBBCCAA grayA · sayA · toldB · oldB · coldB · mindC · mankindC · dayA · grayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| An' it beats ole Ned to see the way | 9 | ········· |
| 'At the crow's feet's a-getherin' aroun' yore eyes; | 12 | ············ |
| Tho' it ought n't to cause me no su'prise, | 10 | ·········· |
| Fur there 's many a sun 'at you 've seen rise | 11 | ···/······· |
| An' many a one you 've seen go down | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Sence yore step was light an' yore hair was brown, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' storms an' snows have had their way-- | 8 | ········ |
| Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| An' the youthful pranks 'at you used to play | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Are dreams of a far past long ago | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| That lie in a heart where the fires burn low-- | 10 | ·······/·· |
| That has lost the flame though it kept the glow, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' spite of drivin' snow an' storm, | 8 | ········ |
| Beats bravely on forever warm. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| December holds the place of May-- | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray-- | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Who cares what the carpin' youngsters say? | 9 | ······/˘· |
| For, after all, when the tale is told, | 9 | ········· |
| Love proves if a man is young or old! | 9 | ········· |
| Old age can't make the heart grow cold | 8 | ········ |
| When it does the will of an honest mind; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When it beats with love fur all mankind; | 9 | ·······// |
| Then the night but leads to a fairer day-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Hello, ole man, you 're a-gittin' gray! | 10 | ˘/········ |
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