The Old Front Gate
W'en daih 's chillun in de house,Dey keep on a-gittin' tall;But de folks don' seem to seeDat dey 's growin' up at all,'Twell dey fin' out some fine dayDat de gals has 'menced to grow,Wen dey notice as dey passDat de front gate 's saggin' low.
Wen de hinges creak an' cry,An' de bahs go slantin' down,You kin reckon dat hit's timeFu' to cas' yo' eye erroun','Cause daih ain't no 'sputin' dis,Hit's de trues' sign to showDat daih 's cou'tin' goin' onWen de ol' front gate sags low.
Oh, you grumble an' complain,An' you prop dat gate up right;But you notice right nex' dayDat hit's in de same ol' plight.So you fin' dat hit's a rule,An' daih ain' no use to blow,W'en de gals is growin' up,Dat de front gate will sag low.
Den you t'ink o' yo' young days,W'en you cou'ted Sally Jane,An' you so't o' feel ashamedFu' to grumble an' complain,'Cause yo' ricerlection says,An' you know hits wo'ds is so,Dat huh pappy had a timeWid his front gate saggin' low.
So you jes' looks on an' smilesAt 'em leanin' on de gate,Tryin' to t'ink whut he kin sayFu' to keep him daih so late,But you lets dat gate erlone,Fu' yo' 'sperunce goes to show,'Twell de gals is ma'ied off,It gwine keep on saggin' low.
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.]
- creak v. i.
- To make a prolonged sharp grating or ssqueaking sound, as by the friction of hard substances; as, shoes creak. [OE. creken, prob. of imitative origin; cf. E. crack, and. D. kreiken to crackle, chirp.]
- grumble v. i.
- To murmur or mutter with discontent; to make ill-natured complaints in a low voice and a surly manner. [Cf. LG. grummeln, grumman, D. grommelen, grommen, and F. grommeler, of German origin; cf. W. grwm, murmur, grumble, surly. sq. root35. Cf. Grum, Grim.]
- plight v. t.
- To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [OE. pliten; probably through Old French, fr. LL. plectare, L. plectere. See Plait, Ply.]
- jane n.
- A coin of Genoa; any small coin. [LL. Janua Genoa; L. Genua, also OE. Jean.]
- pappy a.
- Like pap; soft; succulent; tender. Ray. [From Pap soft food.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Old Front Gate 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 Old Front Gate, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-old-front-gate.html, id L00755.
Form and metre
The Old Front Gate is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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 house · tallA · see · allA · day · growB · pass · lowB
- 2 -----A-A cry · down · time · erroun · dis · showA · on · lowA
- 3 -A-A-B-B complain · rightA · day · plightA · rule · blowB · up · lowB
- 4 -A-A-B-B days · janeA · ashamed · complainA · says · soB · time · lowB
- 5 -A-A-B-B smiles · gateA · say · lateA · erlone · showB · off · lowB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| W'en daih 's chillun in de house, | 8 | ········ |
| Dey keep on a-gittin' tall; | 7 | ······· |
| But de folks don' seem to see | 7 | ······· |
| Dat dey 's growin' up at all, | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twell dey fin' out some fine day | 7 | ······· |
| Dat de gals has 'menced to grow, | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| Wen dey notice as dey pass | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Dat de front gate 's saggin' low. | 8 | ········ |
| Wen de hinges creak an' cry, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| An' de bahs go slantin' down, | 7 | ······· |
| You kin reckon dat hit's time | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Fu' to cas' yo' eye erroun', | 7 | ······· |
| 'Cause daih ain't no 'sputin' dis, | 7 | ······· |
| Hit's de trues' sign to show | 6 | ······ |
| Dat daih 's cou'tin' goin' on | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wen de ol' front gate sags low. | 7 | ······· |
| Oh, you grumble an' complain, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| An' you prop dat gate up right; | 7 | ······· |
| But you notice right nex' day | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Dat hit's in de same ol' plight. | 7 | ······· |
| So you fin' dat hit's a rule, | 7 | ······· |
| An' daih ain' no use to blow, | 7 | ······· |
| W'en de gals is growin' up, | 7 | ······· |
| Dat de front gate will sag low. | 7 | ······· |
| Den you t'ink o' yo' young days, | 7 | ······· |
| W'en you cou'ted Sally Jane, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| An' you so't o' feel ashamed | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Fu' to grumble an' complain, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| 'Cause yo' ricerlection says, | 7 | ······· |
| An' you know hits wo'ds is so, | 7 | ······· |
| Dat huh pappy had a time | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Wid his front gate saggin' low. | 7 | ······· |
| So you jes' looks on an' smiles | 7 | ······· |
| At 'em leanin' on de gate, | 7 | ······· |
| Tryin' to t'ink whut he kin say | 8 | /˘······ |
| Fu' to keep him daih so late, | 7 | ······· |
| But you lets dat gate erlone, | 7 | ······· |
| Fu' yo' 'sperunce goes to show, | 7 | ······· |
| 'Twell de gals is ma'ied off, | 6 | ······ |
| It gwine keep on saggin' low. | 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.