The Forest Greeting
Good hunting!--aye, good hunting,Wherever the forests call;But ever a heart beats hot with fear,And what of the birds that fall?
Good hunting!--aye, good hunting,Wherever the north winds blow;But what of the stag that calls for his mate?And what of the wounded doe?
Good hunting!--aye, good hunting;And ah! we are bold and strong;But our triumph call through the forest hallIs a brother's funeral song.
For we are brothers ever,Panther and bird and bear;Man and the weakest that fear his face,Born to the nest or lair.
Yes, brothers, and who shall judge us?Hunters and game are we;But who gave the right for me to smite?Who boasts when he smiteth me?
Good hunting!--aye, good hunting,And dim is the forest track;But the sportsman Death comes striding on:Brothers, the way is black.
Words in this poem
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Forest Greeting 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 Forest Greeting, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-forest-greeting.html, id L00807.
Form and metre
The Forest Greeting is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is short measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in short measure.
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 hunting · callA · fear · fallA
- 2 -A-A hunting · blowA · mate · doeA
- 3 AA-A huntingA · strongA · hall · songA
- 4 -A-A ever · bearA · face · lairA
- 5 -A-A us · weA · smite · meA
- 6 -A-A hunting · trackA · on · blackA
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 short measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Good hunting!--aye, good hunting, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Wherever the forests call; | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘· |
| But ever a heart beats hot with fear, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And what of the birds that fall? | 7 | ······· |
| Good hunting!--aye, good hunting, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Wherever the north winds blow; | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| But what of the stag that calls for his mate? | 10 | ·········· |
| And what of the wounded doe? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Good hunting!--aye, good hunting; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And ah! we are bold and strong; | 7 | ······· |
| But our triumph call through the forest hall | 10 | ·//˘···/˘· |
| Is a brother's funeral song. | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| For we are brothers ever, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Panther and bird and bear; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Man and the weakest that fear his face, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Born to the nest or lair. | 6 | ······ |
| Yes, brothers, and who shall judge us? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Hunters and game are we; | 6 | /˘···· |
| But who gave the right for me to smite? | 9 | ········· |
| Who boasts when he smiteth me? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Good hunting!--aye, good hunting, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And dim is the forest track; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But the sportsman Death comes striding on: | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Brothers, the way is black. | 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.