Lullaby
Bedtime 's come fu' little boys.Po' little lamb.Too tiahed out to make a noise,Po' little lamb.You gwine t' have to-morrer sho'?Yes, you tole me dat befo',Don't you fool me, chile, no mo',Po' little lamb.
You been bad de livelong day,Po' little lamb.Th'owin' stones an' runnin' 'way,Po' little lamb.My, but you 's a-runnin' wil',Look jes' lak some po' folks chile;Mam' gwine whup you atter while,Po' little lamb.
Come hyeah! you mos' tiahed to def,Po' little lamb.Played yo'se'f clean out o' bref,Po' little lamb.See dem han's now--sich a sight!Would you evah b'lieve dey's white?Stan' still twell I wash 'em right,Po' little lamb.
Jes' cain't hol' yo' haid up straight,Po' little lamb.Had n't oughter played so late,Po' little lamb.Mammy do' know whut she 'd do,Ef de chillun's all lak you;You 's a caution now fu' true,Po' little lamb.
Lay yo' haid down in my lap,Po' little lamb.Y' ought to have a right good slap,Po' little lamb.You been runnin' roun' a heap.Shet dem eyes an' don't you peep,Dah now, dah now, go to sleep,Po' little lamb.
Words in this poem
- bedtime n.
- The time to go to bed.
- tole v. t.
- To draw, or cause to follow, by displaying something pleasing or desirable; to allure by some bait. [OE. tollen to draw, to entice; of uncertain origin. Cf. Toll to ring a bell.]
- livelong a.
- Whole; entire; long in passing; -- used of time, as day or night, in adverbial phrases, and usually with a sense of tediousness. [For lifelong. Cf. Lifelong.]
- 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.]
- atter n.
- Poison; venom; corrupt matter from a sore. Holland. [AS. ætter.]
- mammy n.
- A child's name for mamma, mother.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lullaby 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, Lullaby, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/lullaby.html, id L00685.
Form and metre
Lullaby is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCCB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic 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 ABABC-CB boysA · lambB · noiseA · lambB · shoC · befo · moC · lambB
- 2 ABAB---B dayA · lambB · wayA · lambB · wil · chile · while · lambB
- 3 ABABCCCB defA · lambB · brefA · lambB · sightC · whiteC · rightC · lambB
- 4 ABABCCCB straightA · lambB · lateA · lambB · doC · youC · trueC · lambB
- 5 ABABCCCB lapA · lambB · slapA · lambB · heapC · peepC · sleepC · lambB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Bedtime 's come fu' little boys. | 8 | /····/˘· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Too tiahed out to make a noise, | 7 | ······· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| You gwine t' have to-morrer sho'? | 8 | ········ |
| Yes, you tole me dat befo', | 7 | ······· |
| Don't you fool me, chile, no mo', | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| You been bad de livelong day, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Th'owin' stones an' runnin' 'way, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| My, but you 's a-runnin' wil', | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Look jes' lak some po' folks chile; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Mam' gwine whup you atter while, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Come hyeah! you mos' tiahed to def, | 7 | ······· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Played yo'se'f clean out o' bref, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| See dem han's now--sich a sight! | 7 | ······· |
| Would you evah b'lieve dey's white? | 7 | ······· |
| Stan' still twell I wash 'em right, | 7 | ······· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Jes' cain't hol' yo' haid up straight, | 7 | ······· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Had n't oughter played so late, | 7 | ······· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Mammy do' know whut she 'd do, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Ef de chillun's all lak you; | 7 | ······· |
| You 's a caution now fu' true, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Lay yo' haid down in my lap, | 7 | ······· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Y' ought to have a right good slap, | 8 | ········ |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| You been runnin' roun' a heap. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Shet dem eyes an' don't you peep, | 7 | ······· |
| Dah now, dah now, go to sleep, | 7 | ······· |
| Po' little lamb. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.