July in Georgy
I'm back down in ole Georgy w'ere de sun is shinin' hot,W'ere de cawn it is a-tasslin', gittin' ready fu' de pot;
W'ere de cott'n is a-openin' an' a-w'itenin' in de sun,An' de ripenin' o' de sugah-cane is mighty nigh begun.
An' de locus' is a-singin' f'om eveh bush an' tree,An' you kin heah de hummin' o' de noisy bumblebee;
An' de mule he stan's a-dreamin' an' a-dreamin' in de lot,An' de sun it is a-shinin' mighty hot, hot, hot.
But evehbody is a-restin', fu' de craps is all laid by,An' time fu' de camp-meetin' is a-drawin' purty nigh;
An' we's put away de ploughshare, an' we's done hung up de spade,An' we's eatin' watermelon, an' a-layin' in de shade.
Words in this poem
- bumblebee n.
- A large bee of the genus Bombus, sometimes called humblebee; -- so named from its sound. [OE. bumblen to make a humming noise (dim. of bum, v.i.) + bee. Cf. Humblebee.]
- craps n.
- A gambling game with dice. [Local, U.S.]
- ploughshare n.
- The share of a plow, or that part which cuts the slice of earth or sod at the bottom of the furrow. Plowshare bone (Anat.), the pygostyle.
- watermelon n.
- The very large ovoid or roundish fruit of a cucurbitaceous plant (Citrullus vulgaris) of many varieties; also, the plant itself.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
July in Georgy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Fifty Years, & Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #17884; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Weldon Johnson, July in Georgy, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/july-in-georgy.html, id L08340.
Form and metre
July in Georgy is 12 lines in 6 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is trochaic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 14.7 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 AA hotA · potA
- 2 AA sunA · begunA
- 3 AA treeA · bumblebeeA
- 4 AA lotA · hotA
- 5 AA byA · nighA
- 6 AA spadeA · shadeA
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I'm back down in ole Georgy w'ere de sun is shinin' hot, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| W'ere de cawn it is a-tasslin', gittin' ready fu' de pot; | 15 | ··········/˘··· |
| W'ere de cott'n is a-openin' an' a-w'itenin' in de sun, | 16 | ················ |
| An' de ripenin' o' de sugah-cane is mighty nigh begun. | 16 | ···········/˘·˘/ |
| An' de locus' is a-singin' f'om eveh bush an' tree, | 14 | ··/˘··/˘······ |
| An' you kin heah de hummin' o' de noisy bumblebee; | 14 | ·········/˘/˘˘ |
| An' de mule he stan's a-dreamin' an' a-dreamin' in de lot, | 15 | ··············· |
| An' de sun it is a-shinin' mighty hot, hot, hot. | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| But evehbody is a-restin', fu' de craps is all laid by, | 16 | ················ |
| An' time fu' de camp-meetin' is a-drawin' purty nigh; | 14 | ·············· |
| An' we's put away de ploughshare, an' we's done hung up de spade, | 15 | ···˘/·/˘······· |
| An' we's eatin' watermelon, an' a-layin' in de shade. | 14 | ····/˘·˘······ |
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.