Analysis of The Canadian Country Doctor
William Henry Drummond 1854 – 1907
I s'pose mos'ev'ry body t'ink hees job's
about de hardes'
From de boss man on de Guvernement to
poor man on de town
From de curé to de lawyer, an' de farmer to
de school boy
An' all de noder feller was mak' de worl'
go roun'.
But dere 's wan man got hees han' full t'roo
ev'ry kin' of wedder
An' he 's never sure of not'ing but work
an' work away-
Dat 's de man dey call de doctor, w'en you
ketch heem on de contree
An' he 's only man I know-me, don't got
no holiday.
If you 're comin' off de city spen' de summer-
tam among us
An' you walk out on de morning w'en de
leetle bird is sing
Mebbe den you see de doctor w'en he 's passin
wit' hees buggy
An' you t'ink 'Wall! contree doctor mus'
be very plesan' t'ing
'Drivin' dat way all de summer up an' down
along de reever
W'ere de nice cool win' is blowin' among de
maple tree
Den w'en he 's mak' hees visit, comin' home
before de night tam
For pass de quiet evening wit' hees wife an'
familee.'
An' w'en off across de mountain, some wan 's
sick an' want de doctor
'Mus' be fine trip crossin' over for watch
de sun go down
Makin' all dem purty color lak w'at you call
de rainbow,'
Dat 's de way peop' is talkin' was leevin' on
de town.
But it is n't alway summer on de contree, an'
de doctor
He could tole you many story of de storm
dat he 's been in
How hees coonskin coat come handy, w'en de
win' blow off de reever
For if she 's sam ole reever, she's not
alway sam' old win'.
An' de mountain dat 's so quiet w'en de w'ite
cloud go a-sailin'
All about her on de summer w'ere de sheep
in feedin' high
You should see her on December w'en de snow
is pilin' roun' her
An' all de win' of winter come tearin' t'roo
de sky.
O! le bon Dieu help de doctor w'en de mes-
sage come to call heem
From hees warm bed on de night-tam for
visit some poor man
Lyin' sick across de hill side on noder side de
reever
An' he hear de mountain roarin' lak de beeg
Shawinigan.
Ah! well he know de warning but he can't
stay till de morning
So he's hitchin' up hees leetle horse an' put
heem on burleau
Den w'en he 's feex de buffalo, an' wissle to
hees pony
Away t'roo storm an' hurricane de contree
doctor go.
O! de small Canadian pony! dat 's de horse
can walk de snowdreef.
Dat 's de horse can fin' de road too he 's
never been before
Kip your heart up leetle feller, for dere 's
many mile before you
An' it 's purty hard job tellin' w'en you see
your stable door.
Yass! de doctor he can tole you, if he have de
tam for talkin'
All about de bird was singin' before de sum-
mer lef'
For he got dem on hees bureau an' he 's doin'
it hese'f too
An' de las' tam I was dere, me, I see dem all
mese'f.
But about de way he travel t'roo de stormy
night of winter
W'en de rain come on de spring flood, an'
de bridge is wash away
All de hard work, all de danger dat was offen
hang aroun' heem
Dat 's de tam our contree doctor don 't have
very moche to say.
For it 's purty ole, ole story, an' he alway have
it wit' heem
Ever since he come among us parish Saint
Mathieu
An' do doubt he's feelin' mebbe jus' de
sam' as noder feller
So he rader do hees talkin' about somet'ing
dat was new.
Scheme | AABCBXDC EEFGBEHG EXIJCIAJ CEIEKXLD MEXCDNXC LEXOIEHO BCXPNEEP AKELIEFQ XJXDBIEN XPMEMBIE IQXPCBDP IELGQKRG RKXBIEFB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101111 0111 11111111 11111 111111011101 111 1111101111 11 1111111111 1111 11110111111 1101 11111111010011 11111 11110111111 110 111111101110 1011 1111111010011 1111 11111101001111 1110 111111101 110111 1111110111 01110 1001111111011 101 1100111111011 01111 11110101111 1 11001101110111 111110 1111101011 1111 10111101100111 11 11111110111 11 111111101111 110 11111010111 11110 111111010011 111110 1111111011 1111 111011110100111 1101 10101110100111 011 11101010100111 1110 1111110111 11 10111110100111 11111 111111111 10111 11011111111 10 1111101111 0100 1111110111 11110 111111111 111 11001111110111 11 011111011 101 111010011111 1111 11111111111 10101 1111110111 101011 1111111100111 1101 111011111111 1110 10111110111 11 111111101111 111 111111111111 1 101111101110 1110 100111111111 111101 111111101110 111 111110110111 10111 111111101111 111 10111011101 10 11111111 11110 11101110011 111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 3,018 |
Words | 647 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 104 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 175 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 3:25 min read
- 44 Views
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"The Canadian Country Doctor" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40732/the-canadian--country-doctor>.
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