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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About The Rivals
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