The Ol' Tunes
You kin talk about yer anthemsAn' yer arias an' sich,An' yer modern choir-singin'That you think so awful rich;But you orter heerd us youngstersIn the times now far away,A-singin' o' the ol' tunesIn the ol'-fashioned way.
There was some of us sung trebleAn' a few of us growled bass,An' the tide o' song flowed smoothlyWith its 'comp'niment o' grace;There was spirit in that music,An' a kind o' solemn sway,A-singin' o' the ol' tunesIn the ol'-fashioned way.
I remember oft o' standin'In my homespun pantaloons--On my face the bronze an' frecklesO' the suns o' youthful Junes--Thinkin' that no mortal minstrelEver chanted sich a layAs the ol' tunes we was singin'In the ol'-fashioned way.
The boys 'ud always lead us,An' the girls 'ud all chime inTill the sweetness o' the singin'Robbed the list'nin' soul o' sin;An' I used to tell the parson'T was as good to sing as pray,When the people sung the ol' tunesIn the ol'-fashioned way.
How I long ag'in to hear 'emPourin' forth from soul to soul,With the treble high an' meller,An' the bass's mighty roll;But the times is very diff'rent,An' the music heerd to-dayAin't the singin' o' the ol' tunesIn the ol'-fashioned way.
Little screechin' by a woman,Little squawkin' by a man,Then the organ's twiddle-twaddle,Jest the empty space to span,--An' ef you should even think it,'T is n't proper fur to sayThat you want to hear the ol' tunesIn the ol'-fashioned way.
But I think that some bright mornin',When the toils of life air o'er,An' the sun o' heaven arisin'Glads with light the happy shore,I shall hear the angel chorus,In the realms of endless day,A-singin' o' the ol' tunesIn the ol'-fashioned way.
Words in this poem
- homespun a.
- Spun or wrought at home; of domestic manufacture; coarse; plain.
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- twiddle v. t.
- To touch lightly, or play with; to tweedle; to twirl; as, to twiddle one's thumbs; to twiddle a watch key. [Probably of imitative origin. Cf. Tweedle.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- 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 Ol' Tunes 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 Ol' Tunes, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-ol-tunes.html, id L00541.
Form and metre
The Ol' Tunes is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 16 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% 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 -A-A-B-B anthems · sichA · singin · richA · youngsters · awayB · tunes · wayB
- 2 -A-A-B-B treble · bassA · smoothly · graceA · music · swayB · tunes · wayB
- 3 -A-A-B-B standin · pantaloonsA · freckles · junesA · minstrel · layB · singin · wayB
- 4 -A-AAB-B us · inA · singin · sinA · parsonA · prayB · tunes · wayB
- 5 -A-A-B-B em · soulA · meller · rollA · diff'rent · dayB · tunes · wayB
- 6 AA-A-B-B womanA · manA · twaddle · spanA · it · sayB · tunes · wayB
- 7 A-A--B-B morninA · o'er · arisinA · shore · chorus · dayB · tunes · wayB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| You kin talk about yer anthems | 8 | ······/˘ |
| An' yer arias an' sich, | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| An' yer modern choir-singin' | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| That you think so awful rich; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But you orter heerd us youngsters | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In the times now far away, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| A-singin' o' the ol' tunes | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| In the ol'-fashioned way. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| There was some of us sung treble | 8 | ······/˘ |
| An' a few of us growled bass, | 8 | ······˘· |
| An' the tide o' song flowed smoothly | 8 | ······/˘ |
| With its 'comp'niment o' grace; | 7 | ······· |
| There was spirit in that music, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| An' a kind o' solemn sway, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| A-singin' o' the ol' tunes | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| In the ol'-fashioned way. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| I remember oft o' standin' | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| In my homespun pantaloons-- | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| On my face the bronze an' freckles | 8 | ······/˘ |
| O' the suns o' youthful Junes-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thinkin' that no mortal minstrel | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Ever chanted sich a lay | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| As the ol' tunes we was singin' | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In the ol'-fashioned way. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The boys 'ud always lead us, | 7 | ···/··· |
| An' the girls 'ud all chime in | 7 | ······· |
| Till the sweetness o' the singin' | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Robbed the list'nin' soul o' sin; | 8 | ·˘······ |
| An' I used to tell the parson | 8 | ······/˘ |
| 'T was as good to sing as pray, | 8 | ········ |
| When the people sung the ol' tunes | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| In the ol'-fashioned way. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| How I long ag'in to hear 'em | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Pourin' forth from soul to soul, | 7 | ······· |
| With the treble high an' meller, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| An' the bass's mighty roll; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| But the times is very diff'rent, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| An' the music heerd to-day | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ain't the singin' o' the ol' tunes | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| In the ol'-fashioned way. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Little screechin' by a woman, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Little squawkin' by a man, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Then the organ's twiddle-twaddle, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Jest the empty space to span,-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| An' ef you should even think it, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| 'T is n't proper fur to say | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That you want to hear the ol' tunes | 8 | ········ |
| In the ol'-fashioned way. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| But I think that some bright mornin', | 8 | ········ |
| When the toils of life air o'er, | 7 | ······· |
| An' the sun o' heaven arisin' | 8 | ····/··· |
| Glads with light the happy shore, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I shall hear the angel chorus, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| In the realms of endless day, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| A-singin' o' the ol' tunes | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| In the ol'-fashioned way. | 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.