Georgia Dusk
The sky, lazily disdaining to pursueThe setting sun, too indolent to holdA lengthened tournament for flashing gold,Passively darkens for night’s barbecue,
A feast of moon and men and barking hounds,An orgy for some genius of the SouthWith blood-hot eyes and cane-lipped scented mouth,Surprised in making folk-songs from soul sounds.
The sawmill blows its whistle, buzz-saws stop,And silence breaks the bud of knoll and hill,Soft settling pollen where plowed lands fulfillTheir early promise of a bumper crop.
Smoke from the pyramidal sawdust pileCurls up, blue ghosts of trees, tarrying lowWhere only chips and stumps are left to showThe solid proof of former domicile.
Meanwhile, the men, with vestiges of pomp,Race memories of king and caravan,High-priests, an ostrich, and a juju-man,Go singing through the footpaths of the swamp.
Their voices rise .. the pine trees are guitars,Strumming, pine-needles fall like sheets of rain ..Their voices rise .. the chorus of the caneIs caroling a vesper to the stars..
O singers, resinous and soft your songsAbove the sacred whisper of the pines,Give virgin lips to cornfield concubines,Bring dreams of Christ to dusky cane-lipped throngs.
Words in this poem 15
- indolent a.
- Free from toil, pain, or trouble. [Pref. in- not + L. dolens, -entis, p. pr. of dolere to feel pain: cf. F. indolent. See Dolorous.]
- tournament n.
- A mock fight, or warlike game, formerly in great favor, in which a number of combatants were engaged, as an exhibition of their address and bravery; hence, figuratively, a real battle. [OE. turnement, tornement, OF. torneiement, tornoiement, F. tournoiement a turning or wheeling round. See Tourney.]
- passively adv.
- In a passive manner; inertly; unresistingly.
- barbecue n.
- A hog, ox, or other large animal roasted or broiled whole for a feast. [In the language of Indians of Guiana, a frame on which all kinds of flesh and fish are roasted or smoke-dried.]
- orgy n.
- A frantic revel; drunken revelry. See Orgies
- sawmill n.
- A mill for sawing, especially one for sawing timber or lumber.
- settling n.
- The act of one who, or that which, settles; the act of establishing one's self, of colonizing, subsiding, adjusting, etc.
- pollen n.
- Fine bran or flour. Bailey.
- fulfill v. t.
- To fill up; to make full or complete. [OE. fulfillen, fulfullen, AS. fulfyllan; ful full + fyllan to fill. See Full, a., and Fill, v. t.]
- bumper n.
- A cup or glass filled to the brim, or till the liquor runs over, particularly in drinking a health or toast. [A corruption of bumbard, bombard, a large drinking vessel.]
- domicile n.
- An abode or mansion; a place of permanent residence, either of an individual or a family. [L. domicilium; domus house + (prob.) root of celare to conceal: cf. F. domicile. See Dome, and Conceal.]
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- caroling n.
- A song of joy or devotion; a singing, as of carols. Coleridge.
- vesper n.
- The evening star; Hesper; Venus, when seen after sunset; hence, the evening. [L., the evening, the evening star, the west; akin to Gr. west. Cf. Hesperian, Vespers.]
- cornfield n.
- A field where corn is or has been growing; -- in England, a field of wheat, rye, barley, or oats; in America, a field of Indian corn.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Georgia Dusk is in the public domain. This text is taken from Cane, Project Gutenberg ebook #60093; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jean Toomer, Georgia Dusk, in Cane (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/toomer-cane/georgia-dusk.html, id L01565.
Form and metre
Georgia Dusk is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBA pursueA · holdB · goldB · barbecueA
- 2 ABBA houndsA · southB · mouthB · soundsA
- 3 ABBA stopA · hillB · fulfillB · cropA
- 4 -AA- pile · lowA · showA · domicile
- 5 ABBA pompA · caravanB · manB · swampA
- 6 ABBA guitarsA · rainB · caneB · starsA
- 7 ABBA songsA · pinesB · concubinesB · throngsA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The sky, lazily disdaining to pursue | 10 | ··/˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| The setting sun, too indolent to hold | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| A lengthened tournament for flashing gold, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Passively darkens for night’s barbecue, | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| A feast of moon and men and barking hounds, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| An orgy for some genius of the South | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| With blood-hot eyes and cane-lipped scented mouth, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Surprised in making folk-songs from soul sounds. | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| The sawmill blows its whistle, buzz-saws stop, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And silence breaks the bud of knoll and hill, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Soft settling pollen where plowed lands fulfill | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Their early promise of a bumper crop. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Smoke from the pyramidal sawdust pile | 10 | ···˘/˘˘/·· |
| Curls up, blue ghosts of trees, tarrying low | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Where only chips and stumps are left to show | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The solid proof of former domicile. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Meanwhile, the men, with vestiges of pomp, | 10 | /····/˘˘·· |
| Race memories of king and caravan, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| High-priests, an ostrich, and a juju-man, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Go singing through the footpaths of the swamp. | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Their voices rise .. the pine trees are guitars, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Strumming, pine-needles fall like sheets of rain .. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Their voices rise .. the chorus of the cane | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Is caroling a vesper to the stars.. | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| O singers, resinous and soft your songs | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| Above the sacred whisper of the pines, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Give virgin lips to cornfield concubines, | 10 | ·/˘··/·/˘· |
| Bring dreams of Christ to dusky cane-lipped throngs. | 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.