Songs For A Colored Singer Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCCDDEE FGGFH IIJKLLMM NOONH A POOOPEEQQ PQQPP RQQQRSSTT PUUPP A AVMWM AXQXQ AYZA2Z AQKB2C2 AVMWM D2D2D2D2 E2E2F2E2 QQQQ G2G2G2G2 H2H2H2H2 I2I2I2I2 EEEE J2J2J2J2| I | A |
| - | |
| A washing hangs upon the line | B |
| but it's not mine | B |
| None of the things that I can see | C |
| belong to me | C |
| The neighbors got a radio with an aerial | D |
| we got a little portable | D |
| They got a lot of closet space | E |
| we got a suitcase | E |
| - | |
| I say Le Roy just how much are we owing | F |
| Something I can't comprehend | G |
| the more we got the more we spend | G |
| He only answers Let's get going | F |
| Le Roy you're earning too much money now | H |
| - | |
| I sit and look at our backyard | I |
| and find it very hard | I |
| What have we got for all his dollars and cents | J |
| A pile of bottles by the fence | K |
| He's faithful and he's kind | L |
| but he sure has an inquiring mind | L |
| He's seen a lot he's bound to see the rest | M |
| and if I protest | M |
| - | |
| Le Roy answers with a frown | N |
| Darling when I earns I spends | O |
| The world is wide it still extends | O |
| I'm going to get a job in the next town | N |
| Le Roy you're earning too much money now | H |
| - | |
| II | A |
| - | |
| The time has come to call a halt | P |
| and so it ends | O |
| He's gone off with his other friends | O |
| He needn't try to make amends | O |
| this occasion's all his fault | P |
| Through rain and dark I see his face | E |
| across the street at Flossie's place | E |
| He's drinking in the warm pink glow | Q |
| to th' accompaniment of the piccolo | Q |
| - | |
| The time has come to call a halt | P |
| I met him walking with Varella | Q |
| and hit him twice with my umbrella | Q |
| Perhaps that occasion was my fault | P |
| but the time has come to call a halt | P |
| - | |
| Go drink your wine and go get tight | R |
| Let the piccolo play | Q |
| I'm sick of all your fussing anyway | Q |
| Now I'm pursuing my own way | Q |
| I'm leaving on the bus tonight | R |
| Far down the highway wet and black | S |
| I'll ride and ride and not come back | S |
| I'm going to go and take the bus | T |
| and find someone monogamous | T |
| - | |
| The time has come to call a halt | P |
| I've borrowed fifteen dollars fare | U |
| and it will take me anywhere | U |
| For this occasion's all his fault | P |
| The time has come to call a halt | P |
| - | |
| III | A |
| - | |
| Lullaby | A |
| Adult and child | V |
| sink to their rest | M |
| At sea the big ship sinks and dies | W |
| lead in its breast | M |
| - | |
| Lullaby | A |
| Let mations rage | X |
| let nations fall | Q |
| The shadow of the crib makes an enormous cage | X |
| upon the wall | Q |
| - | |
| Lullaby | A |
| Sleep on and on | Y |
| war's over soon | Z |
| Drop the silly harmless toy | A2 |
| pick up the moon | Z |
| - | |
| Lullaby | A |
| If they should say | Q |
| you have no sense | K |
| don't you mind them it won't make | B2 |
| much difference | C2 |
| - | |
| Lullaby | A |
| Adult and child | V |
| sink to their rest | M |
| At sea the big ship sinks and dies | W |
| lead in its breast | M |
| - | |
| IV | - |
| - | |
| What's that shining in the leaves | D2 |
| the shadowy leaves | D2 |
| like tears when somebody grieves | D2 |
| shining shining in the leaves | D2 |
| - | |
| Is it dew or is it tears | E2 |
| dew or tears | E2 |
| hanging there for years and years | F2 |
| like a heavy dew of tears | E2 |
| - | |
| Then that dew begins to fall | Q |
| roll down and fall | Q |
| Maybe it's not tears at all | Q |
| See it see it roll and fall | Q |
| - | |
| Hear it falling on the ground | G2 |
| hear all around | G2 |
| That is not a tearful sound | G2 |
| beating beating on the ground | G2 |
| - | |
| See it lying there like seeds | H2 |
| like black seeds | H2 |
| see it taking root like weeds | H2 |
| faster faster than the weeds | H2 |
| - | |
| all the shining seeds take root | I2 |
| conspiring root | I2 |
| and what curious flower or fruit | I2 |
| will grow from that conspiring root | I2 |
| - | |
| fruit or flower It is a face | E |
| Yes a face | E |
| In that dark and dreary place | E |
| each seed grows into a face | E |
| - | |
| Like an army in a dream | J2 |
| the faces seem | J2 |
| darker darker like a dream | J2 |
| They're too real to be a dream | J2 |
Elizabeth Bishop
(1)
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About Songs For A Colored Singer
Songs For A Colored Singer is a poem by Elizabeth Bishop. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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