The Tryst
De night creep down erlong de lan',De shadders rise an' shake,De frog is sta'tin' up his ban',De cricket is awake;My wo'k is mos' nigh done, Celes',To-night I won't be late,I 's hu'yin' thoo my level bes',Wait fu' me by de gate.
De mockin'-bird 'll sen' his gleeA-thrillin' thoo and thoo,I know dat ol' magnolia-treeIs smellin' des' fu' you;De jessamine erside de roadIs bloomin' rich an' white,My hea't 's a-th'obbin' 'cause it knowedYou 'd wait fu' me to-night.
Hit 's lonesome, ain't it, stan'in' thaihWid no one nigh to talk?But ain't dey whispahs in de aihErlong de gyahden walk?Don't somep'n kin' o' call my name,An' say "he love you bes'"?Hit 's true, I wants to say de same,So wait fu' me, Celes'.
Sing somep'n fu' to pass de time,Outsing de mockin'-bird,You got de music an' de rhyme,You beat him wid de word.I 's comin' now, my wo'k is done,De hour has come fu' res',I wants to fly, but only run--Wait fu' me, deah Celes'.
Words in this poem
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
- outsing v. t.
- To surpass in singing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Tryst 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 Tryst, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-tryst.html, id L00706.
Form and metre
The Tryst is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABAB-C-C lanA · shakeB · banA · awakeB · celes · lateC · bes · gateC
- 2 ABABCDCD gleeA · thooB · treeA · youB · roadC · whiteD · knowedC · nightD
- 3 ABABC-C- thaihA · talkB · aihA · walkB · nameC · bes · sameC · celes
- 4 ABABC-C- timeA · birdB · rhymeA · wordB · doneC · res · runC · celes
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 iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| De night creep down erlong de lan', | 8 | ········ |
| De shadders rise an' shake, | 6 | ······ |
| De frog is sta'tin' up his ban', | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| De cricket is awake; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| My wo'k is mos' nigh done, Celes', | 7 | ······· |
| To-night I won't be late, | 6 | ······ |
| I 's hu'yin' thoo my level bes', | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wait fu' me by de gate. | 6 | ······ |
| De mockin'-bird 'll sen' his glee | 8 | ········ |
| A-thrillin' thoo and thoo, | 6 | ······ |
| I know dat ol' magnolia-tree | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Is smellin' des' fu' you; | 6 | ······ |
| De jessamine erside de road | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Is bloomin' rich an' white, | 6 | ······ |
| My hea't 's a-th'obbin' 'cause it knowed | 9 | ········· |
| You 'd wait fu' me to-night. | 7 | ······· |
| Hit 's lonesome, ain't it, stan'in' thaih | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Wid no one nigh to talk? | 6 | ······ |
| But ain't dey whispahs in de aih | 8 | ········ |
| Erlong de gyahden walk? | 6 | ······ |
| Don't somep'n kin' o' call my name, | 8 | ········ |
| An' say "he love you bes'"? | 6 | ······ |
| Hit 's true, I wants to say de same, | 9 | ········· |
| So wait fu' me, Celes'. | 5 | ····· |
| Sing somep'n fu' to pass de time, | 8 | ········ |
| Outsing de mockin'-bird, | 6 | /˘···· |
| You got de music an' de rhyme, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You beat him wid de word. | 6 | ······ |
| I 's comin' now, my wo'k is done, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| De hour has come fu' res', | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| I wants to fly, but only run-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wait fu' me, deah Celes'. | 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.