Analysis of Jones's Porvate Argyment

Sidney Lanier 1842 (Macon) – 1881 (Lynn)



That air same Jones, which lived in Jones,
   He had this pint about him:
He'd swear with a hundred sighs and groans,
That farmers MUST stop gittin' loans,
   And git along without 'em:

That bankers, warehousemen, and sich
   Was fatt'nin' on the planter,
And Tennessy was rotten-rich
A-raisin' meat and corn, all which
   Draw'd money to Atlanta:

And the only thing (says Jones) to do
   Is, eat no meat that's boughten:
`But tear up every I, O, U,
And plant all corn and swear for true
   To quit a-raisin' cotton!'

Thus spouted Jones (whar folks could hear,
   -- At Court and other gatherin's),
And thus kep' spoutin' many a year,
Proclaimin' loudly far and near
   Sich fiddlesticks and blatherin's.

But, one all-fired sweatin' day,
   It happened I was hoein'
My lower corn-field, which it lay
'Longside the road that runs my way
   Whar I can see what's goin'.

And a'ter twelve o'clock had come
   I felt a kinder faggin',
And laid myself un'neath a plum
To let my dinner settle sum,
   When 'long come Jones's waggin,

And Jones was settin' in it, SO:
   A-readin' of a paper.
His mules was goin' powerful slow,
Fur he had tied the lines onto
   The staple of the scraper.

The mules they stopped about a rod
   From me, and went to feedin'
'Longside the road, upon the sod,
But Jones (which he had tuck a tod)
   Not knowin', kept a-readin'.

And presently says he:  "Hit's true;
   That Clisby's head is level.
Thar's one thing farmers all must do,
To keep themselves from goin' tew
   Bankruptcy and the devil!

"More corn! more corn! MUST plant less ground,
   And MUSTN'T eat what's boughten!
Next year they'll do it:  reasonin's sound:
(And, cotton will fetch 'bout a dollar a pound),
   THARFORE, I'LL plant ALL cotton!"


Scheme AXAAX BCBBX DEDDE XAFFA GEGGX HEHHE ICIDC JEJJE DKDDK LELLE
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Metre 11111101 1111011 111010101 1101111 0101011 110101 111010 011101 01010111 1101010 001011111 1111110 111100111 01110111 1101010 11011111 110101 01111001 110101 1101 1111011 110111 11011111 1011111 111111 00110111 110101 011101 11110101 111101 0111011 011010 11111001 11110110 0101010 01110101 110111 1010101 11111101 11101 01001111 111110 11110111 1101111 1000010 11111111 0101110 1111111 01011101001 111110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,690
Words 302
Sentences 13
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 50
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 126
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:35 min read
39

Sidney Lanier

Sidney Lanier was a poet, writer, composer, critic, professor of literature at Johns Hopkins and first flutist with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in Baltiimore. He wrote the Centennial cantata for the opening ceremony of the 1876 Centennial celebration in Philadelphia. more…

All Sidney Lanier poems | Sidney Lanier Books

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