Limitations
Ef you's only got de powah fe' to blow a little whistle,Keep ermong de people wid de whistles.Ef you don't, you'll fin' out sho'tly dat you's th'owed yo' fines' feelin'In a place dat's all a bed o' thistles.'Tain't no use a-goin' now, ez sho's you bo'n,A-squeakin' of yo' whistle 'g'inst a gread big ho'n.
Ef you ain't got but a teenchy bit o' victuals on de table,Whut' de use a-claimin' hit's a feas'?Fe' de folks is mighty 'spicious, an' dey's ap' to come apeerin',Lookin' fe' de scraps you lef' at leas'.Wen de meal's a-hidin' f'om de meal-bin's top,You needn't talk to hide it; ef you sta'ts, des stop.
Ef yo' min' kin only carry half a pint o' common idees,Don' go roun' a-sayin' hit's a bar'l;'Ca'se de people gwine to test you, an' dey'll fin' out you's a-lyin',Den dey'll twis' yo' sayin's in a snarl.Wuss t'ing in de country dat I evah hyahed--A crow dot sat a-squawkin', "I's a mockin'-bird."
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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Limitations 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, Limitations, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/limitations.html, id L00834.
Form and metre
Limitations is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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-ABB whistle · whistlesA · feelin · thistlesA · bo'nB · ho'nB
- 2 -A-ABB table · feasA · apeerin · leasA · topB · stopB
- 3 -A-A-- idees · bar'lA · lyin · snarlA · hyahed · bird
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ef you's only got de powah fe' to blow a little whistle, | 16 | ··/˘········/˘/˘ |
| Keep ermong de people wid de whistles. | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| Ef you don't, you'll fin' out sho'tly dat you's th'owed yo' fines' feelin' | 15 | ·············/˘ |
| In a place dat's all a bed o' thistles. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| 'Tain't no use a-goin' now, ez sho's you bo'n, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| A-squeakin' of yo' whistle 'g'inst a gread big ho'n. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Ef you ain't got but a teenchy bit o' victuals on de table, | 16 | ··········/˘··/˘ |
| Whut' de use a-claimin' hit's a feas'? | 9 | ········· |
| Fe' de folks is mighty 'spicious, an' dey's ap' to come apeerin', | 16 | ····/˘·········· |
| Lookin' fe' de scraps you lef' at leas'. | 9 | /˘······· |
| Wen de meal's a-hidin' f'om de meal-bin's top, | 11 | ··········· |
| You needn't talk to hide it; ef you sta'ts, des stop. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Ef yo' min' kin only carry half a pint o' common idees, | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Don' go roun' a-sayin' hit's a bar'l; | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| 'Ca'se de people gwine to test you, an' dey'll fin' out you's a-lyin', | 15 | ··/˘··········· |
| Den dey'll twis' yo' sayin's in a snarl. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Wuss t'ing in de country dat I evah hyahed-- | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| A crow dot sat a-squawkin', "I's a mockin'-bird." | 12 | ············ |
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.