The Ghost of Deacon Brown
In a backwoods townLived Deacon Brown,And he was a miser old;He would trust no bank,So he dug, and sankIn the ground a box of gold,Down deep in the ground a box of gold.
He hid his gold,As has been told,He remembered that he did it;But sad to say,On the very next day,He forgot just where he hid it:To find his gold he tried and triedTill he grew faint and sick, and died.
Then on each dark and gloomy nightA form in phosphorescent white,A genuine hair-raising sight,Would wander through the town.And as it slowly roamed around,With a spade it dug each foot of ground;So the folks aboutSaid there was no doubt'Twas the ghost of Deacon Brown.
Around the churchThis Ghost would search,And whenever it would seeThe passers-byTake wings and flyIt would laugh in ghostly glee,Hee, hee!--it would laugh in ghostly glee.
And so the townWent quickly down,For they said that it was haunted;And doors and gates,So the story states,Bore a notice, "Tenants wanted."
And the town is now for let,But the ghost is digging yet.
Words in this poem
- backwoods n.
- The forests or partly cleared grounds on the frontiers. [Back, a. + woods.]
- 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.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ghost of Deacon Brown 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, The Ghost of Deacon Brown, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/the-ghost-of-deacon-brown.html, id L08317.
Form and metre
The Ghost of Deacon Brown is 39 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABCCBB townA · brownA · oldB · bankC · sankC · goldB · goldB
- 2 AABCCBDD goldA · toldA · itB · sayC · dayC · itB · triedD · diedD
- 3 AAABBBCCB nightA · whiteA · sightA · townB · aroundB · groundB · aboutC · doubtC · brownB
- 4 AABCCBB churchA · searchA · seeB · byC · flyC · gleeB · gleeB
- 5 AABCCB townA · downA · hauntedB · gatesC · statesC · wantedB
- 6 AA letA · yetA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In a backwoods town | 5 | ··//· |
| Lived Deacon Brown, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And he was a miser old; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| He would trust no bank, | 5 | ····· |
| So he dug, and sank | 5 | ····· |
| In the ground a box of gold, | 7 | ······· |
| Down deep in the ground a box of gold. | 9 | ········· |
| He hid his gold, | 4 | ···· |
| As has been told, | 4 | ···· |
| He remembered that he did it; | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| But sad to say, | 4 | ···· |
| On the very next day, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| He forgot just where he hid it: | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| To find his gold he tried and tried | 8 | ········ |
| Till he grew faint and sick, and died. | 8 | ········ |
| Then on each dark and gloomy night | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A form in phosphorescent white, | 8 | ········ |
| A genuine hair-raising sight, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Would wander through the town. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And as it slowly roamed around, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With a spade it dug each foot of ground; | 9 | ········· |
| So the folks about | 5 | ····· |
| Said there was no doubt | 5 | ····· |
| 'Twas the ghost of Deacon Brown. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Around the church | 4 | ···· |
| This Ghost would search, | 4 | ···· |
| And whenever it would see | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| The passers-by | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Take wings and fly | 4 | ···· |
| It would laugh in ghostly glee, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hee, hee!--it would laugh in ghostly glee. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And so the town | 4 | ···· |
| Went quickly down, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| For they said that it was haunted; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And doors and gates, | 4 | ···· |
| So the story states, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Bore a notice, "Tenants wanted." | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| And the town is now for let, | 7 | ······· |
| But the ghost is digging yet. | 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.