Tunk
Look heah, Tunk!--Now, ain't dis awful! T'ought I sont you off to school.Don't you know dat you is growin' up to be a reg'lah fool?
Whah's dem books dat I's done bought you? Look heah, boy, you tell me quick,Whah's dat Webster blue-back spellah an' dat bran' new 'rifmatic?
W'ile I'm t'inkin' you is lahnin' in de school, why bless ma soul!You off in de woods a-playin'. Can't you do like you is tole?
Boy, I tell you, it's jes scan'lous d'way dat you is goin' on.An' you sholy go'n be sorry, jes as true as you is bo'n.
Heah I'm tryin' hard to raise you as a credit to dis race,An' you tryin' heap much harder fu' to come up in disgrace.
Dese de days w'en men don't git up to de top by hooks an' crooks;Tell you now, dey's got to git der standin' on a pile o' books.
W'en you sees a darkey goin' to de fiel' as soon as light,Followin' a mule across it f'om de mawnin' tel de night,
Wukin' all his life fu' vittles, hoein' 'tween de cott'n rows,W'en he knocks off ole an' tiah'd, ownin' nut'n but his clo'es,
You kin put it down to ignunce, aftah all what's done an' said,You kin bet dat dat same darkey ain't got nut'n in his head.
Ain't you seed dem w'ite men set'n in der awfice? Don't you knowDey goes der 'bout nine each mawnin? Bless yo' soul, dey's out by fo'.
Dey jes does a little writin'; does dat by some easy means;Gals jes set an' play piannah on dem printin' press muchines.
Chile, dem men knows how to figgah, how to use dat little pen,An' dey knows dat blue-back spellah f'om beginnin' to de en'.
Dat's de 'fect of education; dat's de t'ing what's gwine to rule;Git dem books, you lazy rascal! Git back to yo' place in school!
Words in this poem
- tunk n.
- A sharp blow; a thump.
- webster n.
- A weaver; originally, a female weaver. Brathwait. [AS. webbestre. See Web, Weave, and -ster.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tunk 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, Tunk, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/tunk.html, id L08336.
Form and metre
Tunk is 26 lines in 13 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 85% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, 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 14.8 syllables.
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 AA schoolA · foolA
- 3 AA soulA · toleA
- 4 AA onA · bo'nA
- 5 AA raceA · disgraceA
- 6 AA crooksA · booksA
- 7 AA lightA · nightA
- 8 AA rowsA · clo'esA
- 9 AA saidA · headA
- 11 AA meansA · muchinesA
- 12 AA penA · enA
- 13 AA ruleA · schoolA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Look heah, Tunk!--Now, ain't dis awful! T'ought I sont you off to school. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Don't you know dat you is growin' up to be a reg'lah fool? | 15 | ··············· |
| Whah's dem books dat I's done bought you? Look heah, boy, you tell me quick, | 15 | ··············· |
| Whah's dat Webster blue-back spellah an' dat bran' new 'rifmatic? | 15 | ··/˘··········· |
| W'ile I'm t'inkin' you is lahnin' in de school, why bless ma soul! | 15 | ··············· |
| You off in de woods a-playin'. Can't you do like you is tole? | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Boy, I tell you, it's jes scan'lous d'way dat you is goin' on. | 15 | ············/˘· |
| An' you sholy go'n be sorry, jes as true as you is bo'n. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Heah I'm tryin' hard to raise you as a credit to dis race, | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| An' you tryin' heap much harder fu' to come up in disgrace. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘·····˘/ |
| Dese de days w'en men don't git up to de top by hooks an' crooks; | 15 | ··············· |
| Tell you now, dey's got to git der standin' on a pile o' books. | 15 | ········/˘····· |
| W'en you sees a darkey goin' to de fiel' as soon as light, | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Followin' a mule across it f'om de mawnin' tel de night, | 15 | ·····˘/········ |
| Wukin' all his life fu' vittles, hoein' 'tween de cott'n rows, | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| W'en he knocks off ole an' tiah'd, ownin' nut'n but his clo'es, | 13 | ············· |
| You kin put it down to ignunce, aftah all what's done an' said, | 15 | ··············· |
| You kin bet dat dat same darkey ain't got nut'n in his head. | 14 | ·············· |
| Ain't you seed dem w'ite men set'n in der awfice? Don't you know | 14 | ·············· |
| Dey goes der 'bout nine each mawnin? Bless yo' soul, dey's out by fo'. | 15 | ··············· |
| Dey jes does a little writin'; does dat by some easy means; | 15 | ····/˘······/˘· |
| Gals jes set an' play piannah on dem printin' press muchines. | 14 | ·············· |
| Chile, dem men knows how to figgah, how to use dat little pen, | 16 | /˘···········/˘· |
| An' dey knows dat blue-back spellah f'om beginnin' to de en'. | 15 | ··············· |
| Dat's de 'fect of education; dat's de t'ing what's gwine to rule; | 15 | ·····˘/˘······· |
| Git dem books, you lazy rascal! Git back to yo' place in school! | 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.