The Rivals Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCAADDEEFFGHIIJJ KKLLGGJJJJLLMMJJNNOP MMQQJJJLLJJKKRRCCSSL LQQAAAQQLLTTNNUUNNQQ LLAAQQVVLLQQVVWWKKQQ JJXX'T was three an' thirty year ago | A |
When I was ruther young you know | A |
I had my last an' only fight | B |
About a gal one summer night | B |
'T was me an' Zekel Johnson Zeke | C |
'N' me 'd be'n spattin' 'bout a week | C |
Each of us tryin' his best to show | A |
That he was Liza Jones's beau | A |
We could n't neither prove the thing | D |
Fur she was fur too sharp to fling | D |
One over fur the other one | E |
An' by so doin' stop the fun | E |
That we chaps did n't have the sense | F |
To see she got at our expense | F |
But that's the way a feller does | G |
Fur boys is fools an' allus was | H |
An' when they's females in the game | I |
I reckon men's about the same | I |
Well Zeke an' me went on that way | J |
An' fussed an' quarrelled day by day | J |
While Liza mindin' not the fuss | K |
Jest kep' a goin' with both of us | K |
Tell we pore chaps that's Zeke an' me | L |
Was jest plum mad with jealousy | L |
Well fur a time we kep' our places | G |
An' only showed by frownin' faces | G |
An' looks 'at well our meanin' boded | J |
How full o' fight we both was loaded | J |
At last it come the thing broke out | J |
An' this is how it come about | J |
One night 't was fair you'll all agree | L |
I got Eliza's company | L |
An' leavin' Zekel in the lurch | M |
Went trottin' off with her to church | M |
An' jest as we had took our seat | J |
Eliza lookin' fair an' sweet | J |
Why I jest could n't help but grin | N |
When Zekel come a bouncin' in | N |
As furious as the law allows | O |
He 'd jest be'n up to Liza's house | P |
To find her gone then come to church | M |
To have this end put to his search | M |
I guess I laffed that meetin' through | Q |
An' not a mortal word I knew | Q |
Of what the preacher preached er read | J |
Er what the choir sung er said | J |
Fur every time I 'd turn my head | J |
I could n't skeercely help but see | L |
'At Zekel had his eye on me | L |
An' he 'ud sort o' turn an' twist | J |
An' grind his teeth an' shake his fist | J |
I laughed fur la the hull church seen us | K |
An' knowed that suthin' was between us | K |
Well meetin' out we started hum | R |
I sorter feelin' what would come | R |
We 'd jest got out when up stepped Zeke | C |
An' said Scuse me I 'd like to speak | C |
To you a minute Cert said I | S |
A nudgin' Liza on the sly | S |
An' laughin' in my sleeve with glee | L |
I asked her please to pardon me | L |
We walked away a step er two | Q |
Jest to git out o' Liza's view | Q |
An' then Zeke said I want to know | A |
Ef you think you 're Eliza's beau | A |
An' 'at I 'm goin' to let her go | A |
Hum with sich a chap as you | Q |
An' I said bold You bet I do | Q |
Then Zekel sneerin' said 'at he | L |
Did n't want to hender me | L |
But then he 'lowed the gal was his | T |
An' 'at he guessed he knowed his biz | T |
An' was n't feared o' all my kin | N |
With all my friends an' chums throwed in | N |
Some other things he mentioned there | U |
That no born man could no ways bear | U |
Er think o' ca'mly tryin' to stan' | N |
Ef Zeke had be'n the bigges' man | N |
In town an' not the leanest runt | Q |
'At time an' labor ever stunt | Q |
An' so I let my fist go bim | L |
I thought I 'd mos' nigh finished him | L |
But Zekel did n't take it so | A |
He jest ducked down an' dodged my blow | A |
An' then come back at me so hard | Q |
I guess I must 'a' hurt the yard | Q |
Er spilet the grass plot where I fell | V |
An' sakes alive it hurt me well | V |
It would n't be'n so bad you see | L |
But he jest kep' a hittin' me | L |
An' I hit back an' kicked an' pawed | Q |
But 't seemed 't was mostly air I clawed | Q |
While Zekel used his science well | V |
A makin' every motion tell | V |
He punched an' hit why goodness lands | W |
Seemed like he had a dozen hands | W |
Well afterwhile they stopped the fuss | K |
An' some one kindly parted us | K |
All beat an' cuffed an' clawed an' scratched | Q |
An' needin' both our faces patched | Q |
Each started hum a different way | J |
An' what o' Liza do you say | J |
Why Liza little humbug dern her | X |
Why she 'd gone home with Hiram Turner | X |
Paul Laurence Dunbar
(1)
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