Parted
De breeze is blowin' 'cross de bay.My lady, my lady;De ship hit teks me far away,My lady, my lady;Ole Mas' done sol' me down de stream;Dey tell me 't ain't so bad 's hit seem,My lady, my lady.
O' co'se I knows dat you 'll be true,My lady, my lady;But den I do' know whut to do,My lady, my lady;I knowed some day we 'd have to pa't,But den hit put' nigh breaks my hea't,My lady, my lady.
De day is long, de night is black,My lady, my lady;I know you 'll wait twell I come back,My lady, my lady;I 'll stan' de ship, I 'll stan' de chain,But I 'll come back, my darlin' Jane,My lady, my lady.
Jes' wait, jes' b'lieve in whut I say,My lady, my lady;D' ain't nothin' dat kin keep me 'way,My lady, my lady;A man 's a man, an' love is love;God knows ouah hea'ts, my little dove;He 'll he'p us f'om his th'one above,My lady, my lady.
Words in this poem
- jane n.
- A coin of Genoa; any small coin. [LL. Janua Genoa; L. Genua, also OE. Jean.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Parted 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, Parted, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/parted.html, id L00688.
Form and metre
Parted is 29 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCB, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 12 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 ABABCCB bayA · ladyB · awayA · ladyB · streamC · seemC · ladyB
- 2 ABAB--B trueA · ladyB · doA · ladyB · pa't · hea't · ladyB
- 3 ABABCCB blackA · ladyB · backA · ladyB · chainC · janeC · ladyB
- 4 ABABCCCB sayA · ladyB · wayA · ladyB · loveC · doveC · aboveC · ladyB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| De breeze is blowin' 'cross de bay. | 8 | ········ |
| My lady, my lady; | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| De ship hit teks me far away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| My lady, my lady; | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Ole Mas' done sol' me down de stream; | 8 | ········ |
| Dey tell me 't ain't so bad 's hit seem, | 10 | ·········· |
| My lady, my lady. | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| O' co'se I knows dat you 'll be true, | 9 | ········· |
| My lady, my lady; | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| But den I do' know whut to do, | 8 | ········ |
| My lady, my lady; | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| I knowed some day we 'd have to pa't, | 9 | ········· |
| But den hit put' nigh breaks my hea't, | 8 | ········ |
| My lady, my lady. | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| De day is long, de night is black, | 8 | ········ |
| My lady, my lady; | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| I know you 'll wait twell I come back, | 9 | ········· |
| My lady, my lady; | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| I 'll stan' de ship, I 'll stan' de chain, | 10 | ·········· |
| But I 'll come back, my darlin' Jane, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| My lady, my lady. | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Jes' wait, jes' b'lieve in whut I say, | 8 | ········ |
| My lady, my lady; | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| D' ain't nothin' dat kin keep me 'way, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| My lady, my lady; | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| A man 's a man, an' love is love; | 9 | ········· |
| God knows ouah hea'ts, my little dove; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He 'll he'p us f'om his th'one above, | 9 | ········· |
| My lady, my lady. | 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.