Keep A-Pluggin' Away
I 've a humble little mottoThat is homely, though it 's true,--Keep a-pluggin' away.It's a thing when I 've an objectThat I always try to do,--Keep a-pluggin' away.When you 've rising storms to quell,When opposing waters swell,It will never fail to tell,--Keep a-pluggin' away.
If the hills are high beforeAnd the paths are hard to climb,Keep a-pluggin' away.And remember that successesCome to him who bides his time,--Keep a-pluggin' away.From the greatest to the least,None are from the rule released.Be thou toiler, poet, priest,Keep a-pluggin' away.
Delve away beneath the surface,There is treasure farther down,--Keep a-pluggin' away.Let the rain come down in torrents,Let the threat'ning heavens frown,Keep a-pluggin' away.When the clouds have rolled away,There will come a brighter dayAll your labor to repay,--Keep a-pluggin' away.
There 'll be lots of sneers to swallow,There 'll be lots of pain to bear,--Keep a-pluggin' away.If you 've got your eye on heaven,Some bright day you 'll wake up there,--Keep a-pluggin' away.Perseverance still is king;Time its sure reward will bring;Work and wait unwearying,--Keep a-pluggin' away.
Words in this poem
- homely a.
- Belonging to, or having the characteristics of, home; domestic; familiar; intimate. [From Home, n.]
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
- toiler n.
- One who toils, or labors painfully.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Keep A-Pluggin' Away 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, Keep A-Pluggin' Away, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/keep-a-pluggin-away.html, id L00530.
Form and metre
Keep A-Pluggin' Away is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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-ABCCCB motto · trueA · awayB · object · doA · awayB · quellC · swellC · tellC · awayB
- 2 -AB-ABCCCB before · climbA · awayB · successes · timeA · awayB · leastC · releasedC · priestC · awayB
- 3 -AB-ABBBBB surface · downA · awayB · torrents · frownA · awayB · awayB · dayB · repayB · awayB
- 4 -AB-ABCCCB swallow · bearA · awayB · heaven · thereA · awayB · kingC · bringC · unwearyingC · awayB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I 've a humble little motto | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| That is homely, though it 's true,-- | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| It's a thing when I 've an object | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That I always try to do,-- | 7 | ··/···· |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| When you 've rising storms to quell, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When opposing waters swell, | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| It will never fail to tell,-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| If the hills are high before | 7 | ······· |
| And the paths are hard to climb, | 7 | ······· |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And remember that successes | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Come to him who bides his time,-- | 7 | ······· |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| From the greatest to the least, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| None are from the rule released. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Be thou toiler, poet, priest, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Delve away beneath the surface, | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| There is treasure farther down,-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Let the rain come down in torrents, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Let the threat'ning heavens frown, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| When the clouds have rolled away, | 8 | ·····˘˘/ |
| There will come a brighter day | 7 | ····/˘· |
| All your labor to repay,-- | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| There 'll be lots of sneers to swallow, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| There 'll be lots of pain to bear,-- | 8 | ········ |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| If you 've got your eye on heaven, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Some bright day you 'll wake up there,-- | 8 | ········ |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Perseverance still is king; | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Time its sure reward will bring; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Work and wait unwearying,-- | 6 | ······ |
| Keep a-pluggin' away. | 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.