Whistling Sam
I has hyeahd o' people dancin' an' I 's hyeahd o' people singin'.An' I 's been 'roun' lots of othahs dat could keep de banjo ringin';But of all de whistlin' da'kies dat have lived an' died since Ham,De whistlin'est I evah seed was ol' Ike Bates's Sam.In de kitchen er de stable, in de fiel' er mowin' hay,You could hyeah dat boy a-whistlin' pu'ty nigh a mile erway,--Puck'rin' up his ugly features 'twell you could n't see his eyes,Den you 'd hyeah a soun' lak dis un f'om dat awful puckah rise:
When dey had revival meetin' an' de Lawd's good grace was flowin'On de groun' dat needed wat'rin' whaih de seeds of good was growin',While de othahs was a-singin' an' a-shoutin' right an' lef,You could hyeah dat boy a-whistlin' kin' o' sof beneaf his bref:
At de call fu' colo'ed soldiers, Sam enlisted 'mong de res'Wid de blue o' Gawd's great ahmy wropped about his swellin' breas',An' he laffed an' whistled loudah in his youfful joy an' gleeDat de govament would let him he'p to mek his people free.Daih was lots o' ties to bin' him, pappy, mammy, an' his Dinah,--Dinah, min' you, was his sweet-hea't, an' dey was n't nary finah;But he lef 'em all, I tell you, lak a king he ma'ched away,Try'n' his level bes' to whistle, happy, solemn, choky, gay:
To de front he went an' bravely fought de foe an' kep' his sperrit,An' his comerds said his whistle made 'em strong when dey could hyeah it.When a saber er a bullet cut some frien' o' his'n down,An' de time 'u'd come to trench him an' de boys 'u'd gethah 'roun',An' dey could n't sta't a hymn-tune, mebbe none o' dem 'u'd keer,Sam 'u'd whistle "Sleep in Jesus," an' he knowed de Mastah 'd hyeah.In de camp, all sad discouraged, he would cheer de hea'ts of all,When above de soun' of labour dey could hyeah his whistle call:
When de cruel wah was ovah an' de boys come ma'chin' back,Dey was shouts an' cries an' blessin's all erlong dey happy track,An' de da'kies all was happy; souls an' bodies bofe was freed.Why, hit seemed lak de Redeemah mus' 'a' been on earf indeed.Dey was gethahed all one evenin' jes' befo' de cabin do',When dey hyeahd somebody whistlin' kin' o' sof' an' sweet an' low.Dey could n't see de whistlah, but de hymn was cleah and ca'm,An' dey all stood daih a-listenin' ontwell Dinah shouted, "Sam!"An' dey seed a little da'ky way off yandah thoo de treesWid his face all in a puckah mekin' jes' sich soun's ez dese:
Words in this poem
- banjo n.
- A stringed musical instrument having a head and neck like the guitar, and its body like a tambourine. It has five strings, and is played with the fingers and hands.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- pappy a.
- Like pap; soft; succulent; tender. Ray. [From Pap soft food.]
- mammy n.
- A child's name for mamma, mother.
- choky a.
- Tending to choke or suffocate, or having power to suffocate.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- somebody n.
- A person unknown or uncertain; a person indeterminate; some person.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Whistling Sam 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, Whistling Sam, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/whistling-sam.html, id L00698.
Form and metre
Whistling Sam is 38 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 68% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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--CC singinA · ringinA · hamB · samB · hay · erway · eyesC · riseC
- 2 AABB flowinA · growinA · lefB · brefB
- 3 --AABBCC res · breas · gleeA · freeA · dinahB · finahB · awayC · gayC
- 4 ------AA sperrit · it · down · roun · keer · hyeah · allA · callA
- 5 AABB--CCDD backA · trackA · freedB · indeedB · do · low · ca'mC · samC · treesD · deseD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I has hyeahd o' people dancin' an' I 's hyeahd o' people singin'. | 17 | ····/˘/˘·····/˘/˘ |
| An' I 's been 'roun' lots of othahs dat could keep de banjo ringin'; | 17 | ·············/··· |
| But of all de whistlin' da'kies dat have lived an' died since Ham, | 15 | ··········˘···· |
| De whistlin'est I evah seed was ol' Ike Bates's Sam. | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| In de kitchen er de stable, in de fiel' er mowin' hay, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| You could hyeah dat boy a-whistlin' pu'ty nigh a mile erway,-- | 15 | ·············/˘ |
| Puck'rin' up his ugly features 'twell you could n't see his eyes, | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Den you 'd hyeah a soun' lak dis un f'om dat awful puckah rise: | 16 | ···········/˘··· |
| When dey had revival meetin' an' de Lawd's good grace was flowin' | 16 | ···˘/˘·········· |
| On de groun' dat needed wat'rin' whaih de seeds of good was growin', | 16 | ····/˘·········· |
| While de othahs was a-singin' an' a-shoutin' right an' lef, | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| You could hyeah dat boy a-whistlin' kin' o' sof beneaf his bref: | 15 | ··············· |
| At de call fu' colo'ed soldiers, Sam enlisted 'mong de res' | 15 | ····/˘/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Wid de blue o' Gawd's great ahmy wropped about his swellin' breas', | 15 | ··············· |
| An' he laffed an' whistled loudah in his youfful joy an' glee | 15 | ····/˘········· |
| Dat de govament would let him he'p to mek his people free. | 15 | ············/˘· |
| Daih was lots o' ties to bin' him, pappy, mammy, an' his Dinah,-- | 16 | ········/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Dinah, min' you, was his sweet-hea't, an' dey was n't nary finah; | 16 | /˘··········/˘·· |
| But he lef 'em all, I tell you, lak a king he ma'ched away, | 15 | ·············˘/ |
| Try'n' his level bes' to whistle, happy, solemn, choky, gay: | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘/˘··· |
| To de front he went an' bravely fought de foe an' kep' his sperrit, | 16 | ······/˘········ |
| An' his comerds said his whistle made 'em strong when dey could hyeah it. | 16 | ······/˘········ |
| When a saber er a bullet cut some frien' o' his'n down, | 14 | ··/˘··/˘······ |
| An' de time 'u'd come to trench him an' de boys 'u'd gethah 'roun', | 15 | ··············· |
| An' dey could n't sta't a hymn-tune, mebbe none o' dem 'u'd keer, | 14 | ·············· |
| Sam 'u'd whistle "Sleep in Jesus," an' he knowed de Mastah 'd hyeah. | 16 | ··/˘··/˘········ |
| In de camp, all sad discouraged, he would cheer de hea'ts of all, | 15 | ·····˘/˘······· |
| When above de soun' of labour dey could hyeah his whistle call: | 15 | ······/·····/˘· |
| When de cruel wah was ovah an' de boys come ma'chin' back, | 15 | ··/˘········/˘· |
| Dey was shouts an' cries an' blessin's all erlong dey happy track, | 15 | ············/˘· |
| An' de da'kies all was happy; souls an' bodies bofe was freed. | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| Why, hit seemed lak de Redeemah mus' 'a' been on earf indeed. | 15 | ·············˘/ |
| Dey was gethahed all one evenin' jes' befo' de cabin do', | 16 | ·············/˘· |
| When dey hyeahd somebody whistlin' kin' o' sof' an' sweet an' low. | 15 | ···/˘˘········· |
| Dey could n't see de whistlah, but de hymn was cleah and ca'm, | 15 | ···········/˘·· |
| An' dey all stood daih a-listenin' ontwell Dinah shouted, "Sam!" | 16 | ···········/˘/˘· |
| An' dey seed a little da'ky way off yandah thoo de trees | 15 | ····/˘········· |
| Wid his face all in a puckah mekin' jes' sich soun's ez dese: | 15 | ··············· |
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.