Analysis of Soliloquy Of A Turkey
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
Dey 's a so't o' threatenin' feelin' in de blowin' of de breeze,
An' I 's feelin' kin' o' squeamish in de night;
I 's a-walkin' 'roun' a-lookin' at de diffunt style o' trees,
An' a-measurin' dey thickness an' dey height.
Fu' dey 's somep'n mighty 'spicious in de looks de da'kies give,
Ez dey pass me an' my fambly on de groun,'
So it 'curs to me dat lakly, ef I caihs to try an' live,
It concehns me fu' to 'mence to look erroun'.
Dey's a cu'ious kin' o' shivah runnin' up an' down my back,
An' I feel my feddahs rufflin' all de day,
An' my laigs commence to trimble evah blessid step I mek;
W'en I sees a ax, I tu'ns my head away.
Folks is go'gin' me wid goodies, an' dey 's treatin' me wid caih,
An' I 's fat in spite of all dat I kin do.
I 's mistrus'ful of de kin'ness dat's erroun' me evahwhaih,
Fu' it 's jes' too good, an' frequent, to be true.
Snow 's a-fallin' on de medders, all erroun' me now is white,
But I 's still kep' on a-roostin' on de fence;
Isham comes an' feels my breas'bone, an' he hefted me las' night,
An' he 's gone erroun' a-grinnin' evah sence.
'T ain't de snow dat meks me shivah; 't ain't de col' dat meks me
shake;
'T ain't de wintah-time itse'f dat's 'fectin' me;
But I t'ink de time is comin', an' I 'd bettah mek a break,
Fu' to set wid Mistah Possum in his tree.
Wen you hyeah de da'kies singin', an' de quahtahs all is gay,
'T ain't de time fu' birds lak me to be 'erroun';
Wen de hick'ry chip is flyin', an' de log 's been ca'ied erway,
Den hit's dang'ous to be roostin' nigh he groun'.
Grin on, Isham! Sing on, da'kies! But I flop my wings an' go
Fu' de sheltah of de ve'y highest tree,
Fu' dey 's too much close ertention--an' dey's too much fallin' snow--
An' it's too nigh Chris'mus mo'nin' now fu' me.
Scheme | ABABXCXC DEDEDFXF BXBAGHGHG ECEC XGCG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011111011111 11111110011 1101101111111 101110111 11111010111111 1111111111 11111111111111 111111111 101111111111 111111111 1110111011111 10011101111101 111111101111111 111101111111 11111111111 111111110111 110101110111111 11111101111 1011111111111 111110111 111111111111111 1 111111111 111111111111101 1111110011 1111111111111 11111111111 1111111111111 111111111 111011111111111 1111111101 11111111111101 111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,720 |
Words | 353 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 9, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 244 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 70 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:54 min read
- 40 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Soliloquy Of A Turkey" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28862/soliloquy-of-a-turkey>.
Discuss this Paul Laurence Dunbar poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In