Little Brown Baby
Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,Come to yo' pappy an' set on his knee.What you been doin', suh--makin' san' pies?Look at dat bib--you's ez du'ty ez me.Look at dat mouf--dat's merlasses, I bet;Come hyeah, Maria, an' wipe off his han's.Bees gwine to ketch you an' eat you up yit,Bein' so sticky an sweet--goodness lan's!
Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,Who's pappy's darlin' an' who 's pappy's chile?Who is it all de day nevah once triesFu' to be cross, er once loses dat smile?Whah did you git dem teef? My, you 's a scamp!Whah did dat dimple come f'om in yo' chin?Pappy do' know you--I b'lieves you 's a tramp;Mammy, dis hyeah's some ol' straggler got in!
Let's th'ow him outen de do' in de san',We do' want stragglers a-layin' 'roun' hyeah;Let's gin him 'way to de big buggah-man;I know he's hidin' erroun' hyeah right neah.Buggah-man, buggah-man, come in de do',Hyeah 's a bad boy you kin have fu' to eat.Mammy an' pappy do' want him no mo',Swaller him down f'om his haid to his feet!
Dah, now, I t'ought dat you 'd hug me up close.Go back, ol' buggah, you sha'n't have dis boy.He ain't no tramp, ner no straggler, of co'se;He's pappy's pa'dner an' play-mate an' joy.Come to you' pallet now--go to yo' res;Wisht you could allus know ease an' cleah skies;Wisht you could stay jes' a chile on my breas'--Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes!
Words in this poem
- pappy a.
- Like pap; soft; succulent; tender. Ray. [From Pap soft food.]
- ketch n.
- An almost obsolete form of vessel, with a mainmast and a mizzenmast, -- usually from one hundred to two hundred and fifty tons burden. Bomb ketch. See under Bomb. [Prob. corrupted fr. Turk. qaiq : cf. F. caiche. Cf. Caïque.]
- scamp n.
- A rascal; a swindler; a rogue. De Quincey. [OF. escamper to run away, to make one's escape. originally, one who runs away, a fugitive, a vagabond. See Scamper.]
- dimple n.
- A slight natural depression or indentation on the surface of some part of the body, esp. on the cheek or chin. [Prob. a nasalized dim. of dip. See Dip, and cf. Dimble.]
- mammy n.
- A child's name for mamma, mother.
- straggler n.
- One who straggles, or departs from the direct or proper course, or from the company to which he belongs; one who falls behind the rest; one who rambles without any settled direction.
- pallet n.
- A small and mean bed; a bed of straw. [OE. paillet, F. paillet a heap of straw, fr. paille straw, fr. L. palea chaff; cf. Gr. pala straw, palava chaff. Cf. Paillasse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Little Brown Baby 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, Little Brown Baby, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/little-brown-baby.html, id L00672.
Form and metre
Little Brown Baby is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends 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 ABAB-C-C eyesA · kneeB · piesA · meB · bet · han'sC · yit · lan'sC
- 2 A-A-BCBC eyesA · chile · triesA · smile · scampB · chinC · trampB · inC
- 3 ABAB-C-C sanA · hyeahB · manA · neahB · do · eatC · mo · feetC
- 4 ABAB-C-C closeA · boyB · co'seA · joyB · res · skiesC · breas · eyesC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes, | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Come to yo' pappy an' set on his knee. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| What you been doin', suh--makin' san' pies? | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| Look at dat bib--you's ez du'ty ez me. | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Look at dat mouf--dat's merlasses, I bet; | 10 | ·········· |
| Come hyeah, Maria, an' wipe off his han's. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Bees gwine to ketch you an' eat you up yit, | 10 | ·········· |
| Bein' so sticky an sweet--goodness lan's! | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes, | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Who's pappy's darlin' an' who 's pappy's chile? | 12 | ···/˘·····/˘ |
| Who is it all de day nevah once tries | 10 | ·········· |
| Fu' to be cross, er once loses dat smile? | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Whah did you git dem teef? My, you 's a scamp! | 11 | ··········· |
| Whah did dat dimple come f'om in yo' chin? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Pappy do' know you--I b'lieves you 's a tramp; | 11 | /˘········· |
| Mammy, dis hyeah's some ol' straggler got in! | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| Let's th'ow him outen de do' in de san', | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| We do' want stragglers a-layin' 'roun' hyeah; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Let's gin him 'way to de big buggah-man; | 10 | ·········· |
| I know he's hidin' erroun' hyeah right neah. | 10 | ·········· |
| Buggah-man, buggah-man, come in de do', | 10 | ·········· |
| Hyeah 's a bad boy you kin have fu' to eat. | 11 | ··········· |
| Mammy an' pappy do' want him no mo', | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Swaller him down f'om his haid to his feet! | 10 | ·········· |
| Dah, now, I t'ought dat you 'd hug me up close. | 11 | ··········· |
| Go back, ol' buggah, you sha'n't have dis boy. | 10 | ·········· |
| He ain't no tramp, ner no straggler, of co'se; | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| He's pappy's pa'dner an' play-mate an' joy. | 10 | ·········· |
| Come to you' pallet now--go to yo' res; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Wisht you could allus know ease an' cleah skies; | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Wisht you could stay jes' a chile on my breas'-- | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes! | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
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.