Soliloquy of a Turkey
Dey 's a so't o' threatenin' feelin' in de blowin' of de breeze,An' I 's feelin' kin' o' squeamish in de night;I 's a-walkin' 'roun' a-lookin' at de diffunt style o' trees,An' a-measurin' dey thickness an' dey height.Fu' dey 's somep'n mighty 'spicious in de looks de da'kies give,Ez dey pass me an' my fambly on de groun,'So it 'curs to me dat lakly, ef I caihs to try an' live,It concehns me fu' to 'mence to look erroun'.
Dey's a cu'ious kin' o' shivah runnin' up an' down my back,An' I feel my feddahs rufflin' all de day,An' my laigs commence to trimble evah blessid step I mek;W'en I sees a ax, I tu'ns my head away.Folks is go'gin' me wid goodies, an' dey 's treatin' me wid caih,An' I 's fat in spite of all dat I kin do.I 's mistrus'ful of de kin'ness dat's erroun' me evahwhaih,Fu' it 's jes' too good, an' frequent, to be true.
Snow 's a-fallin' on de medders, all erroun' me now is white,But I 's still kep' on a-roostin' on de fence;Isham comes an' feels my breas'bone, an' he hefted me las' night,An' he 's gone erroun' a-grinnin' evah sence.'T ain't de snow dat meks me shivah; 't ain't de col' dat meks meshake;'T ain't de wintah-time itse'f dat's 'fectin' me;But I t'ink de time is comin', an' I 'd bettah mek a break,Fu' to set wid Mistah Possum in his tree.
Wen you hyeah de da'kies singin', an' de quahtahs all is gay,'T ain't de time fu' birds lak me to be 'erroun';Wen de hick'ry chip is flyin', an' de log 's been ca'ied erway,Den hit's dang'ous to be roostin' nigh he groun'.
Grin on, Isham! Sing on, da'kies! But I flop my wings an' goFu' de sheltah of de ve'y highest tree,Fu' dey 's too much close ertention--an' dey's too much fallin' snow--An' it's too nigh Chris'mus mo'nin' now fu' me.
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.]
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
- flop v. t.
- To clap or strike, as a bird its wings, a fish its tail, etc.; to flap. [A variant of flap.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Soliloquy of a Turkey 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, Soliloquy of a Turkey, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/soliloquy-of-a-turkey.html, id L00714.
Form and metre
Soliloquy of a Turkey is 33 lines in 5 stanzas. 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDCD breezeA · nightB · treesA · heightB · giveC · grounD · liveC · errounD
- 2 -A-ABCBC back · dayA · mek · awayA · caihB · doC · evahwhaihB · trueC
- 3 ABABCDCDC whiteA · fenceB · nightA · senceB · meC · shakeD · meC · breakD · treeC
- 4 -A-A gay · errounA · erway · grounA
- 5 ABAB goA · treeB · snowA · meB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dey 's a so't o' threatenin' feelin' in de blowin' of de breeze, | 17 | ········/˘······· |
| An' I 's feelin' kin' o' squeamish in de night; | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| I 's a-walkin' 'roun' a-lookin' at de diffunt style o' trees, | 16 | ···/˘··/˘······· |
| An' a-measurin' dey thickness an' dey height. | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Fu' dey 's somep'n mighty 'spicious in de looks de da'kies give, | 15 | ·····/˘········ |
| Ez dey pass me an' my fambly on de groun,' | 11 | ··········· |
| So it 'curs to me dat lakly, ef I caihs to try an' live, | 15 | ··············· |
| It concehns me fu' to 'mence to look erroun'. | 11 | ··········· |
| Dey's a cu'ious kin' o' shivah runnin' up an' down my back, | 14 | ·······/˘····· |
| An' I feel my feddahs rufflin' all de day, | 11 | ··········· |
| An' my laigs commence to trimble evah blessid step I mek; | 15 | ···˘/·/˘······· |
| W'en I sees a ax, I tu'ns my head away. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Folks is go'gin' me wid goodies, an' dey 's treatin' me wid caih, | 16 | ······/˘········ |
| An' I 's fat in spite of all dat I kin do. | 12 | ············ |
| I 's mistrus'ful of de kin'ness dat's erroun' me evahwhaih, | 16 | ················ |
| Fu' it 's jes' too good, an' frequent, to be true. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| Snow 's a-fallin' on de medders, all erroun' me now is white, | 16 | ···/˘··/˘······· |
| But I 's still kep' on a-roostin' on de fence; | 12 | ············ |
| Isham comes an' feels my breas'bone, an' he hefted me las' night, | 15 | /˘········/˘··· |
| An' he 's gone erroun' a-grinnin' evah sence. | 12 | ············ |
| 'T ain't de snow dat meks me shivah; 't ain't de col' dat meks me | 16 | ················ |
| shake; | 1 | · |
| 'T ain't de wintah-time itse'f dat's 'fectin' me; | 12 | ············ |
| But I t'ink de time is comin', an' I 'd bettah mek a break, | 16 | ······/˘········ |
| Fu' to set wid Mistah Possum in his tree. | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Wen you hyeah de da'kies singin', an' de quahtahs all is gay, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| 'T ain't de time fu' birds lak me to be 'erroun'; | 12 | ············ |
| Wen de hick'ry chip is flyin', an' de log 's been ca'ied erway, | 15 | ·············/˘ |
| Den hit's dang'ous to be roostin' nigh he groun'. | 11 | ··········· |
| Grin on, Isham! Sing on, da'kies! But I flop my wings an' go | 14 | ··/˘·········· |
| Fu' de sheltah of de ve'y highest tree, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fu' dey 's too much close ertention--an' dey's too much fallin' snow-- | 16 | ·············/˘· |
| An' it's too nigh Chris'mus mo'nin' now fu' me. | 11 | ··········· |
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