The Whitest Man I Know Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCC DCEC FFGG HIJJI KKLL MNM OOAAPPJQNJ RRSSCCTUUT CCGGAAVWWV XXYYZZCEEC| R Fenton Gower | A |
| - | |
| - | |
| He's acruisin' in a pearler with a dirty nigger crew | B |
| Abuyin' pearls and copra for a stingy Spanish Jew | B |
| And his face is tann'd like leather 'neath a blazin' tropic Sun | C |
| And he's workin' out a penance for the things he hasn't done | C |
| - | |
| Round the Solomons he runs tradin' beads and castoff guns | D |
| Buyin' pearls from grinnin' niggers loadin copra by the ton | C |
| And he'll bargain and he'll smile but he's thinkin' all the while | E |
| Of the penance that he's workin' out for sins he hasn't done | C |
| - | |
| We'd been round the Horn together and I'd come to know his worth | F |
| The greatest friend I'd ever had the whitest man on earth | F |
| He'd pull'd me out of many a scrape he'd risk'd his life for me | G |
| And side by side for many a year we'd rough'd it on the sea | G |
| - | |
| But a woman came between us she was beautiful as Venus | H |
| And she set her cap at him until she hook'd him unawares | I |
| And I sailed off on my own | J |
| Leavin' him and her alone | J |
| Sign'd aboard a tramp for 'Frisco leavin' them in Bu'nos Ayres | I |
| - | |
| When I met him in a twelvemonth he was goin' to the deuce | K |
| For she's blacken'd all the good in him she'd play'd him fast and loose | K |
| And she'd gone off with a Dago who was lettin' dollars fly | L |
| And she'd left my mate to drink his precious soul away and die | L |
| - | |
| Well I talk'd and talk'd him over and we sign'd aboard 'The Rover ' | - |
| It was just like good old times until we shor'd at Rio Bay | M |
| Then the hand of Fate show'd plain brought us face to face again | N |
| With the woman and the Dago who had taken her away | M |
| - | |
| We were sittin'in a cafe when the couple came along | O |
| She simply smil'd and pass'd us by then vanish'd in the throng | O |
| My mate jump'd up to follow but I wouldn't let him stir | A |
| And later on a waiter brought a note that came from her | A |
| She pretended she regretted | P |
| What she'd done and that she fretted | P |
| For the wrong that she had done him and she wanted to atone | J |
| There was so much to explain | Q |
| Would he meet her once again | N |
| After midnight in her garden she would watch for him alone | J |
| - | |
| 'Course he went but unbeknown to him I follow'd on behind | R |
| I watch'd and saw the shadows of two figures on the blind | R |
| The woman and the Dago and I heard the Dago shout | S |
| They quarrell'd and the woman scream'd and then a shot rang out | S |
| My mate dash'd thro' the curtain | C |
| And I follow'd makin'certain | C |
| That my little gun was ready case I had to make a stand | T |
| There I saw the Dago dead | U |
| With a bullet thro' his head | U |
| And the woman standin' near him with a shooter in her hand | T |
| - | |
| Before the Civil Guard came in my mate had snatch'd her gun | C |
| And he ask'd them to arrest him for the thing he hadn't done | C |
| I tried madly to explain things but they shook their heads at me | G |
| And the woman let them take him so that she might get off free | G |
| In the court I sat and heard her | A |
| Tell them all he'd done the murder | A |
| And I pray'd she might be stricken into some shape | V |
| He was sentenc'd for his life | W |
| But out there corruption's rife | W |
| And I brib'd and brib'd until at last I manag'd his escape | V |
| - | |
| Then I stow'd him on a hooker sailin' far from woman's wiles | X |
| And he's workin' his salvation out amongst the South Sea Isles | X |
| And the woman's there at Rio and she's weavin' of her spell | Y |
| With a crowd of fools awaitin' her commands to burn in hell | Y |
| Whilst the whitest man I know | Z |
| Runs a Christy minstrel show | Z |
| Buyin'pearls from dirty niggers 'neath a blazin tropic sun | C |
| And he'll cuss'em and he'll smile | E |
| But he's thinkin' all the while | E |
| Of the penance that he's workin'out for things he hasn't done | C |
John Milton Hayes
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About The Whitest Man I Know
The Whitest Man I Know is a poem by John Milton Hayes. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
Write your comment about The Whitest Man I Know poem by John Milton Hayes
Best Poems of John Milton Hayes