Song of Summer
Dis is gospel weathah sho'--Hills is sawt o' hazy.Meddahs level ez a flo'Callin' to de lazy.Sky all white wif streaks o' blue,Sunshine softly gleamin',D'ain't no wuk hit's right to do,Nothin' 's right but dreamin'.
Dreamin' by de rivah sideWif de watahs glist'nin',Feelin' good an' satisfiedEz you lay a-list'nin'To the little nakid boysSplashin' in de watah,Hollerin' fu' to spress deir joysJes' lak youngsters ought to.
Squir'l a-tippin' on his toes,So 's to hide an' view you;Whole flocks o' camp-meetin' crowsShoutin' hallelujah.Peckahwood erpon de treeTappin' lak a hammah;Jaybird chattin' wif a bee,Tryin' to teach him grammah.
Breeze is blowin' wif perfume,Jes' enough to tease you;Hollyhocks is all in bloom,Smellin' fu' to please you.Go 'way, folks, an' let me 'lone,Times is gettin' dearah--Summah's settin' on de th'one,An' I 'm a-layin' neah huh!
Words in this poem
- hazy a.
- Thick with haze; somewhat obscured with haze; not clear or transparent. [From Haze, n.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- 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.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of Summer 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, Song of Summer, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/song-of-summer.html, id L00513.
Form and metre
Song of Summer is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 3 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 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 ABABCDCD shoA · hazyB · floA · lazyB · blueC · gleaminD · doC · dreaminD
- 2 ABABC-C- sideA · glist'ninB · satisfiedA · list'ninB · boysC · watah · joysC · to
- 3 A-A-BCBC toesA · you · crowsA · hallelujah · treeB · hammahC · beeB · grammahC
- 4 ABABC-C- perfumeA · youB · bloomA · youB · loneC · dearah · th'oneC · huh
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Dis is gospel weathah sho'-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Hills is sawt o' hazy. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Meddahs level ez a flo' | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Callin' to de lazy. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Sky all white wif streaks o' blue, | 7 | ······· |
| Sunshine softly gleamin', | 6 | /·/˘·· |
| D'ain't no wuk hit's right to do, | 7 | ······· |
| Nothin' 's right but dreamin'. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Dreamin' by de rivah side | 7 | ······· |
| Wif de watahs glist'nin', | 6 | ······ |
| Feelin' good an' satisfied | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Ez you lay a-list'nin' | 6 | ······ |
| To the little nakid boys | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Splashin' in de watah, | 6 | ······ |
| Hollerin' fu' to spress deir joys | 8 | ········ |
| Jes' lak youngsters ought to. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Squir'l a-tippin' on his toes, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So 's to hide an' view you; | 7 | ······· |
| Whole flocks o' camp-meetin' crows | 7 | ······· |
| Shoutin' hallelujah. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Peckahwood erpon de tree | 7 | ······· |
| Tappin' lak a hammah; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Jaybird chattin' wif a bee, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Tryin' to teach him grammah. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Breeze is blowin' wif perfume, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Jes' enough to tease you; | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| Hollyhocks is all in bloom, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Smellin' fu' to please you. | 6 | ······ |
| Go 'way, folks, an' let me 'lone, | 7 | ······· |
| Times is gettin' dearah-- | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Summah's settin' on de th'one, | 7 | ······· |
| An' I 'm a-layin' neah huh! | 7 | ······· |
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.