The Real Question
Folks is talkin' 'bout de money, 'bout de silvah an' de gold;All de time de season 's changin' an' de days is gittin' cold.An' dey 's wond'rin' 'bout de metals, whethah we'll have one er two.While de price o' coal is risin' an' dey 's two months' rent dat 's due.
Some folks says dat gold 's de only money dat is wuff de name,Den de othahs rise an' tell 'em dat dey ought to be ashame,An' dat silvah is de only thing to save us f'om de powahOf de gold-bug ragin' 'roun' an' seekin' who he may devowah.
Well, you folks kin keep on shoutin' wif yo' gold er silvah cry,But I tell you people hams is sceerce an' fowls is roostin' high.An' hit ain't de so't o' money dat is pesterin' my min',But de question I want answehed 's how to get at any kin'!
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.]
- 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.]
- ashame v. t.
- To shame. Barrow. [Pref. a- + shame: cf. AS. ascamian to shame (where a- is the same as Goth. us-, G. er-, and orig. meant out), gescamian, gesceamian, to shame.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Real Question 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 Real Question, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-real-question.html, id L00674.
Form and metre
The Real Question is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.7 syllables. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic octameter.
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 AABB goldA · coldA · twoB · dueB
- 2 AABB nameA · ashameA · powahB · devowahB
- 3 AABB cryA · highA · minB · kinB
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 octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Folks is talkin' 'bout de money, 'bout de silvah an' de gold; | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| All de time de season 's changin' an' de days is gittin' cold. | 16 | ····/˘·········· |
| An' dey 's wond'rin' 'bout de metals, whethah we'll have one er two. | 16 | ·······/˘······· |
| While de price o' coal is risin' an' dey 's two months' rent dat 's due. | 17 | ······/˘········· |
| Some folks says dat gold 's de only money dat is wuff de name, | 16 | ·······/˘/˘····· |
| Den de othahs rise an' tell 'em dat dey ought to be ashame, | 15 | ·············˘/ |
| An' dat silvah is de only thing to save us f'om de powah | 16 | ······/˘········ |
| Of de gold-bug ragin' 'roun' an' seekin' who he may devowah. | 16 | ····/˘·········· |
| Well, you folks kin keep on shoutin' wif yo' gold er silvah cry, | 15 | ··············· |
| But I tell you people hams is sceerce an' fowls is roostin' high. | 15 | ····/˘········· |
| An' hit ain't de so't o' money dat is pesterin' my min', | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| But de question I want answehed 's how to get at any kin'! | 16 | ··/˘·········/˘· |
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.