"Lazy"
Some men enjoy the constant strifeOf days with work and worry rife,But that is not my dream of life:I think such men are crazy.For me, a life with worries few,A job of nothing much to do,Just pelf enough to see me through:I fear that I am lazy.
On winter mornings cold and drear,When six o'clock alarms I hear,'Tis then I love to shift my ear,And hug my downy pillows.When in the shade it's ninety-three,No job in town looks good to me,I'd rather loaf down by the sea,And watch the foaming billows.
Some people think the world's a school,Where labor is the only rule;But I'll not make myself a mule,And don't you ever doubt it.I know that work may have its use,But still I feel that's no excuseFor turning it into abuse;What do you think about it?
Let others fume and sweat and boil,And scratch and dig for golden spoil,And live the life of work and toil,Their lives to labor giving.But what is gold when life is sped,And life is short, as has been said,And we are such a long time dead,I'll spend my life in living.
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- pelf n.
- Money; riches; lucre; gain; -- generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten or worthless. It has no plural. [OE. pelfir booty, OF. pelfre, akin to pelfrer to plunder, and perh. to E. pillage. Cf. Pilfer.]
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- fume n.
- Exhalation; volatile matter (esp. noxious vapor or smoke) ascending in a dense body; smoke; vapor; reek; as, the fumes of tobacco. [L. fumus; akin to Skr. dh smoke, dh to shake, fan a flame, cf. Gr. fum smoke, F. fumée. Cf. Dust, n., Femerell, Thyme.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"Lazy" 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, "Lazy", in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/lazy.html, id L08318.
Form and metre
"Lazy" is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AAABCCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AAABCCCB strifeA · rifeA · lifeA · crazyB · fewC · doC · throughC · lazyB
- 2 AAABCCCB drearA · hearA · earA · pillowsB · threeC · meC · seaC · billowsB
- 3 AAABCCCB schoolA · ruleA · muleA · itB · useC · excuseC · abuseC · itB
- 4 AAABCCCB boilA · spoilA · toilA · givingB · spedC · saidC · deadC · livingB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Some men enjoy the constant strife | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Of days with work and worry rife, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But that is not my dream of life: | 8 | ········ |
| I think such men are crazy. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For me, a life with worries few, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A job of nothing much to do, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Just pelf enough to see me through: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| I fear that I am lazy. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| On winter mornings cold and drear, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When six o'clock alarms I hear, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| 'Tis then I love to shift my ear, | 8 | ········ |
| And hug my downy pillows. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| When in the shade it's ninety-three, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No job in town looks good to me, | 8 | ········ |
| I'd rather loaf down by the sea, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And watch the foaming billows. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Some people think the world's a school, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Where labor is the only rule; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But I'll not make myself a mule, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And don't you ever doubt it. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| I know that work may have its use, | 8 | ········ |
| But still I feel that's no excuse | 8 | ······˘/ |
| For turning it into abuse; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| What do you think about it? | 7 | ······· |
| Let others fume and sweat and boil, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And scratch and dig for golden spoil, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And live the life of work and toil, | 8 | ········ |
| Their lives to labor giving. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| But what is gold when life is sped, | 8 | ········ |
| And life is short, as has been said, | 8 | ········ |
| And we are such a long time dead, | 8 | ········ |
| I'll spend my life in living. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.