Analysis of Opportunity

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906



GRANNY'S gone a-visitin',
Seen huh git huh shawl
W'en I was a-hidin' down
Hime de gyahden wall.
Seen huh put her bonnet on,
Seen huh tie de strings,
An' I'se gone to dreamin' now
'Bout dem cakes an' t'ings.
On de she'f behime de do' —
Mussy, what a feas'!
Soon ez she gits out o' sight,
I kin eat in peace.
I bin watchin' fu' a week
Des fu' dis hyeah chance.
Mussy, w'en I gits in daih,
I'll des sholy dance.
Lemon pie an' gingah-cake,
Let me set an' t'ink —
Vinegah an' sugah, too,
Dat 'll mek a drink;
Ef dey's one t'ing dat I loves
Mos' pu'ticlahly,
It is eatin' sweet t'ings an'
A-drinkin' Sangaree.
Lawdy, won' po' granny raih
W'en she see de she'f;
W'en I t'ink erbout huh face,
I's mos' 'shamed myse'f.
Well, she gone, an' hyeah I is,
Back behime de do' —
Look hyeah! gran' 's done 'spected me,
Dain't no sweets no mo'.
Evah sweet is hid erway,
Job des done up brown;
Pusson t'ink dat someun t'ought
Dey was t'eves erroun';
Dat des breaks my heart in two,
Oh how bad I feel!
Des to t'ink my own gramma
B'lieved dat I 'u'd steal!


Scheme ABABACACDCEFGHDHIJDJKBALLMNMODPQRASADTPT
Poetic Form Tetractys  (25%)
Etheree  (25%)
Metre 1101 11111 100111011 1111 1110101 11111 1111111 11111 1111111 1101 1111111 11101 111101 11111 110011101 1111 101111 111111 1111 11101 11111111 11 111111 011 111101 100111111 1001111111 1111 1111111 1111 1111111 111111 11111 11111 1111111 11111 1111101 11111 1111111 11111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,013
Words 207
Sentences 13
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 40
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 732
Words per stanza (avg) 205
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

1:09 min read
89

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

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