To the Eastern Shore
I 's feelin' kin' o' lonesome in my little room to-night,An' my min 's done los' de minutes an' de miles,Wile it teks me back a-flyin' to de country of delight,Whaih de Chesapeake goes grumblin' er wid smiles.Oh, de ol' plantation 's callin' to me, Come, come back,Hyeah 's de place fu' you to labouh an' to res','Fu my sandy roads is gleamin' w'ile de city ways is black;Come back, honey, case yo' country home is bes'.
I know de moon is shinin' down erpon de Eastern sho',An' de bay 's a-sayin' "Howdy" to de lan';An' de folks is all a-settin' out erroun' de cabin do',Wid dey feet a-restin' in de silvah san';An' de ol' plantation 's callin' to me, Come, oh, come,F'om de life dat 's des' a-waihin' you erway,F'om de trouble an' de bustle, an' de agernizin' humDat de city keeps ergoin' all de day.
I 's tiahed of de city, tek me back to Sandy Side,Whaih de po'est ones kin live an' play an' eat;Whaih we draws a simple livin' f'om de fo'est an' de tide,An' de days ah faih, an' evah night is sweet.Fu' de ol' plantation 's callin' to me, Come, oh, come.An' de Chesapeake 's a-sayin' "Dat's de t'ing,"W'ile my little cabin beckons, dough his mouf is closed an' dumb,I 's a-comin, an' my hea't begins to sing.
Words in this poem
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
- wile n.
- A trick or stratagem practiced for insnaring or deception; a sly, insidious; artifice; a beguilement; an allurement. [OE. wile, AS. wil; cf. Icel. v, væl. Cf. Guile.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Eastern Shore 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, To the Eastern Shore, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/to-the-eastern-shore.html, id L00762.
Form and metre
To the Eastern Shore is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 ABABC-C- nightA · milesB · delightA · smilesB · backC · res · blackC · bes
- 2 -A-AB-B- sho · lanA · do · sanA · comeB · erway · humB · day
- 3 ABABCDCD sideA · eatB · tideA · sweetB · comeC · t'ingD · dumbC · singD
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I 's feelin' kin' o' lonesome in my little room to-night, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| An' my min 's done los' de minutes an' de miles, | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| Wile it teks me back a-flyin' to de country of delight, | 14 | ·········/˘·˘/ |
| Whaih de Chesapeake goes grumblin' er wid smiles. | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Oh, de ol' plantation 's callin' to me, Come, come back, | 14 | ····/˘········ |
| Hyeah 's de place fu' you to labouh an' to res', | 12 | ············ |
| 'Fu my sandy roads is gleamin' w'ile de city ways is black; | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| Come back, honey, case yo' country home is bes'. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| I know de moon is shinin' down erpon de Eastern sho', | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| An' de bay 's a-sayin' "Howdy" to de lan'; | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··· |
| An' de folks is all a-settin' out erroun' de cabin do', | 15 | ············/˘· |
| Wid dey feet a-restin' in de silvah san'; | 11 | ··········· |
| An' de ol' plantation 's callin' to me, Come, oh, come, | 14 | ····/˘········ |
| F'om de life dat 's des' a-waihin' you erway, | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| F'om de trouble an' de bustle, an' de agernizin' hum | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| Dat de city keeps ergoin' all de day. | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| I 's tiahed of de city, tek me back to Sandy Side, | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| Whaih de po'est ones kin live an' play an' eat; | 10 | ·········· |
| Whaih we draws a simple livin' f'om de fo'est an' de tide, | 14 | ····/˘/˘······ |
| An' de days ah faih, an' evah night is sweet. | 11 | ··········· |
| Fu' de ol' plantation 's callin' to me, Come, oh, come. | 14 | ····/˘········ |
| An' de Chesapeake 's a-sayin' "Dat's de t'ing," | 12 | ··/˘···/˘··· |
| W'ile my little cabin beckons, dough his mouf is closed an' dumb, | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘······· |
| I 's a-comin, an' my hea't begins to sing. | 12 | ········˘/·· |
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