The Capture
Duck come switchin' 'cross de lotHi, oh, Miss Lady!Hurry up an' hide de potHi, oh, Miss Lady!Duck's a mighty 'spicious fowl,Slick as snake an' wise as owl;Hol' dat dog, don't let him yowl!Hi, oh, Miss Lady!
Th'ow dat co'n out kind o' slowHi, oh, Miss Lady!Keep yo'se'f behin' de do'Hi, oh, Miss Lady!Lots o' food'll kill his feah,Co'n is cheap but fowls is deah--"Come, good ducky, come on heah."Hi, oh, Miss Lady!
Ain't he fat and ain't he fine,Hi, oh, Miss Lady!Des can't wait to make him mine.Hi, oh, Miss Lady!See him waddle when he walk,'Sh! keep still and don't you talk!Got you! Don't you daih to squawk!Hi, oh, Miss Lady!
Words in this poem
- slick v. t.
- To make sleek or smoth.
- yowl v. i.
- To utter a loud, long, and mournful cry, as a dog; to howl; to yell. [See Yawl, v. i.]
- squawk v. i.
- To utter a shrill, abrupt scream; to squeak harshly. Squawking thrush (Zoöl.), the missel turush; -- so called from its note when alarmed. [See Squeak.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Capture 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, The Capture, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-capture.html, id L00878.
Form and metre
The Capture is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCCB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 ABABCCCB lotA · ladyB · potA · ladyB · fowlC · owlC · yowlC · ladyB
- 2 -A-ABBBA slow · ladyA · do · ladyA · feahB · deahB · heahB · ladyA
- 3 ABABCCCB fineA · ladyB · mineA · ladyB · walkC · talkC · squawkC · 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. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Duck come switchin' 'cross de lot | 7 | ······· |
| Hi, oh, Miss Lady! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Hurry up an' hide de pot | 7 | /˘····· |
| Hi, oh, Miss Lady! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Duck's a mighty 'spicious fowl, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Slick as snake an' wise as owl; | 7 | ······· |
| Hol' dat dog, don't let him yowl! | 7 | ······· |
| Hi, oh, Miss Lady! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Th'ow dat co'n out kind o' slow | 7 | ······· |
| Hi, oh, Miss Lady! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Keep yo'se'f behin' de do' | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Hi, oh, Miss Lady! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Lots o' food'll kill his feah, | 6 | ······ |
| Co'n is cheap but fowls is deah-- | 7 | ······· |
| "Come, good ducky, come on heah." | 7 | ······· |
| Hi, oh, Miss Lady! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Ain't he fat and ain't he fine, | 7 | ······· |
| Hi, oh, Miss Lady! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Des can't wait to make him mine. | 7 | ······· |
| Hi, oh, Miss Lady! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| See him waddle when he walk, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'Sh! keep still and don't you talk! | 8 | //······ |
| Got you! Don't you daih to squawk! | 7 | ······· |
| Hi, oh, Miss Lady! | 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.