How Salty Win Out
Used to think that luck wuz luck and nuthin' else but luck--It made no diff'rence how or when or where or why it struck;But sev'ral years ago I changt my mind and now proclaimThat luck's a kind uv science--same as any other game;It happened out in Denver in the spring uv '80, whenSalty teched a humpback an' win out ten.
Salty wuz a printer in the good ol' Tribune days,An', natural-like, he fell in love with the good ol' Tribune ways;So, every Sunday evenin' he would sit into the gameWhich in this crowd uv thoroughbreds I think I need not name;An' there he'd sit until he rose, an', when he rose he woreInvariably less wealth about his person than before.
But once there come a powerful change; one sollum Sunday nightOccurred the tidle wave what put ol' Salty out o' sight!He win on deuce an' ace an' jack--he win on king an' queen--Cliff Bill allowed the like uv how he win wuz never seen!An' how he done it wuz revealed to all us fellers whenHe said he teched a humpback to win out ten.
There must be somethin' in it for he never win afore,An' when he tole the crowd about the humpback, how they swore!For every sport allows it is a losin' game to buckAgin the science of a man who's teched a hump f'r luck;An' there is no denyin' luck was nowhere in it whenSalty teched a humpback an' win out ten.
I've had queer dreams an' seen queer things, an' allus tried to doThe thing that luck apparrently intended f'r me to;Cats, funerils, cripples, beggars have I treated with regard,An' charity subscriptions have hit me powerful hard;But what's the use uv talkin'? I say, an' say again;You've got to tech a humpback to win out ten!
So, though I used to think that luck wuz lucky, I'll allowThat luck, for luck, agin a hump ain't nowhere in it now!An' though I can't explain the whys an' wherefores, I maintainThere must be somethin' in it when the tip's so straight an' plain;For I wuz there an' seen it, an' got full with Salty whenSalty teched a humpback and win out ten!
Words in this poem
- salty a.
- Somewhat salt; saltish.
- humpback n.
- A crooked back; a humped back. Tatler. [Cf. Hunchback.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
- tole v. t.
- To draw, or cause to follow, by displaying something pleasing or desirable; to allure by some bait. [OE. tollen to draw, to entice; of uncertain origin. Cf. Toll to ring a bell.]
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How Salty Win Out is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, How Salty Win Out, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/how-salty-win-out.html, id L11580.
Form and metre
How Salty Win Out is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.3 syllables. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AABBCC luckA · struckA · proclaimB · gameB · whenC · tenC
- 2 AABBCC daysA · waysA · gameB · nameB · woreC · beforeC
- 3 AABBCC nightA · sightA · queenB · seenB · whenC · tenC
- 4 --AABB afore · swore · buckA · luckA · whenB · tenB
- 5 AABBCC doA · toA · regardB · hardB · againC · tenC
- 6 AABBCC allowA · nowA · maintainB · plainB · whenC · tenC
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Used to think that luck wuz luck and nuthin' else but luck-- | 13 | ············· |
| It made no diff'rence how or when or where or why it struck; | 14 | ·············· |
| But sev'ral years ago I changt my mind and now proclaim | 14 | ····˘/······˘/ |
| That luck's a kind uv science--same as any other game; | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘/˘· |
| It happened out in Denver in the spring uv '80, when | 13 | ·/˘˘··/˘····· |
| Salty teched a humpback an' win out ten. | 10 | /˘··/····· |
| Salty wuz a printer in the good ol' Tribune days, | 13 | /˘··/˘····/˘· |
| An', natural-like, he fell in love with the good ol' Tribune ways; | 15 | ·/˘·········/˘· |
| So, every Sunday evenin' he would sit into the game | 15 | ·/˘/··········· |
| Which in this crowd uv thoroughbreds I think I need not name; | 14 | ·····/˘/······ |
| An' there he'd sit until he rose, an', when he rose he wore | 14 | ·············· |
| Invariably less wealth about his person than before. | 14 | ˘/˘˘·····/˘··· |
| But once there come a powerful change; one sollum Sunday night | 14 | ·····/˘····/·· |
| Occurred the tidle wave what put ol' Salty out o' sight! | 14 | ˘/·······/˘··· |
| He win on deuce an' ace an' jack--he win on king an' queen-- | 14 | ·············· |
| Cliff Bill allowed the like uv how he win wuz never seen! | 14 | ··˘/·······/˘· |
| An' how he done it wuz revealed to all us fellers when | 14 | ······˘/···/˘· |
| He said he teched a humpback to win out ten. | 11 | ·····/····· |
| There must be somethin' in it for he never win afore, | 14 | ···/˘····/˘·˘/ |
| An' when he tole the crowd about the humpback, how they swore! | 14 | ·········/···· |
| For every sport allows it is a losin' game to buck | 14 | ·/˘·˘/········ |
| Agin the science of a man who's teched a hump f'r luck; | 14 | ˘/·/˘········· |
| An' there is no denyin' luck was nowhere in it when | 13 | ········/···· |
| Salty teched a humpback an' win out ten. | 10 | /˘··/····· |
| I've had queer dreams an' seen queer things, an' allus tried to do | 14 | ·············· |
| The thing that luck apparrently intended f'r me to; | 14 | ········˘/˘··· |
| Cats, funerils, cripples, beggars have I treated with regard, | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| An' charity subscriptions have hit me powerful hard; | 14 | ·/˘˘˘/˘···/˘˘· |
| But what's the use uv talkin'? I say, an' say again; | 13 | ·····/˘····˘/ |
| You've got to tech a humpback to win out ten! | 11 | ·····/····· |
| So, though I used to think that luck wuz lucky, I'll allow | 14 | ·········/˘·˘/ |
| That luck, for luck, agin a hump ain't nowhere in it now! | 14 | ····˘/···/···· |
| An' though I can't explain the whys an' wherefores, I maintain | 15 | ····˘/·······˘/ |
| There must be somethin' in it when the tip's so straight an' plain; | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| For I wuz there an' seen it, an' got full with Salty when | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| Salty teched a humpback and win out ten! | 10 | /˘··/····· |
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.