Noon
Shadder in de valleySunlight on de hill,Sut'ny wish dat locus'Knowed how to be still.Don't de heat alreadyMek a body hum,'Dout dat insec' sayin'Hottah days to come?
Fiel' 's a shinin' yallerWid de bendin' grain,Guinea hen a callin',Now's de time fu' rain;Shet yo' mouf, you rascal,Wha' 's de use to cry?You do' see no rain cloudsUp dah in de sky.
Dis hyeah sweat's been po'in'Down my face sence dawn;Ain't hit time we 's hyeahin'Dat ah dinnah ho'n?Go on, Ben an' Jaspah,Lif yo' feet an' fly,Hit out fu' de shadderFo' I drap an' die.
Hongry, lawd a' mussy,Hongry as a baih,Seems lak I hyeah dinnahCallin' evahwhaih;Daih 's de ho'n a blowin'!Let dat cradle swing,One mo' sweep, den da'kies,Beat me to de spring!
Words in this poem
- mussy a.
- Disarranged; rumpled. [From 2d Muss.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Noon 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, Noon, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/noon.html, id L00797.
Form and metre
Noon is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.6 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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-A-B-B valley · hillA · locus · stillA · already · humB · sayin · comeB
- 2 -A-A-B-B yaller · grainA · callin · rainA · rascal · cryB · clouds · skyB
- 3 -----A-A po'in · dawn · hyeahin · ho'n · jaspah · flyA · shadder · dieA
- 4 -A-A-B-B mussy · baihA · dinnah · evahwhaihA · blowin · swingB · da'kies · springB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Shadder in de valley | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Sunlight on de hill, | 5 | /···· |
| Sut'ny wish dat locus' | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Knowed how to be still. | 5 | ····· |
| Don't de heat already | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Mek a body hum, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| 'Dout dat insec' sayin' | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Hottah days to come? | 5 | ····· |
| Fiel' 's a shinin' yaller | 7 | ······· |
| Wid de bendin' grain, | 5 | ····· |
| Guinea hen a callin', | 6 | /˘···· |
| Now's de time fu' rain; | 5 | ····· |
| Shet yo' mouf, you rascal, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Wha' 's de use to cry? | 6 | ······ |
| You do' see no rain clouds | 6 | ······ |
| Up dah in de sky. | 5 | ····· |
| Dis hyeah sweat's been po'in' | 5 | ····· |
| Down my face sence dawn; | 5 | ····· |
| Ain't hit time we 's hyeahin' | 7 | ······· |
| Dat ah dinnah ho'n? | 5 | ····· |
| Go on, Ben an' Jaspah, | 6 | ······ |
| Lif yo' feet an' fly, | 5 | ····· |
| Hit out fu' de shadder | 6 | ······ |
| Fo' I drap an' die. | 5 | ····· |
| Hongry, lawd a' mussy, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Hongry as a baih, | 5 | ····· |
| Seems lak I hyeah dinnah | 6 | ······ |
| Callin' evahwhaih; | 5 | ····· |
| Daih 's de ho'n a blowin'! | 7 | ······· |
| Let dat cradle swing, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| One mo' sweep, den da'kies, | 5 | ····· |
| Beat me to de spring! | 5 | ····· |
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.