Farmer Stebbins On The Bowery Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BBCCDD EEFFGG HHIJKK LLKKMM NNFFOO NNPPFF QQRRSS TTUUVV WWXXYY ZZA2A2B2B2 ZZC2C2BB D2D2E2E2F2F2 G2H2I2I2TT J2J2G2XBB ZZJ2J2J2J2 J2 K2K2

DEAR COUSIN JOHNA
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We got here safe my worthy wife an' meB
An' then I looked the village through to see what I could seeB
I rode upon the cur'us track with stations all up stairsC
I walked through Wall Street all its length an' saw no bulls or bearsC
I patronized a red nosed chap with manners very queerD
Who hadn't had a thing to eat for somethin' like a yearD
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I saw the road commissioners to work upon a bridgeE
A million times as large as that we built at Tompkins' RidgeE
I'm told that they are makin' it though maybe that's all funF
To use the coming century an' hope to get it doneF
When who should up an' grasp my hand with face of genuine joyG
But Cousin Jeroboam Jones my cousin's oldest boyG
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I had not seen him years an' years no wonder he looked strangeH
His face an' form in some respects had undergone a changeH
But then there wasn't a chance of doubt that that was him becauseI
If not how should he ever know that I was who I wasJ
We brushed our old acquaintance up an' soon was at our easeK
A wanderin' all about the place as cozy as you pleaseK
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It's nicer far in foreign towns than 'tis to be aloneL
To walk with one whose blood proceeds from sources near your ownL
A sim'lar temp'rature of heart a sort of family easeK
Enables you to work your tongue as lib'ral as you pleaseK
And so I found myself quite soon uncommonly at homeM
Describin' all my business through to Cousin Jerobo'mM
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He listened very docile like an' hadn't much to sayN
But what he did was vent'red in a satisfact'ry wayN
He'd severed somewhat from his kin an' sort o' lost the runF
But he recalled the Stebbinses when mentioned one by oneF
An' takin' him inside an' out our family scarcely ownsO
A relative more relishin' than Jeroboam JonesO
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He's teacher in a Sunday school he told me by the wayN
Which has a room above a store that's open every dayN
For if he says we come across a child that needs our careP
We cannot wait till Sunday comes we join 'em then an' thereP
An' if you want to see the way our worthy cause is runF
Come in an' take a little look our 'social's' just begunF
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The scholars hadn't come as yet the Superintendent thoughQ
Was sittin' at a table like an' bowed extremely lowQ
An' heard the praise on poor old me my cousin had to tellR
An' said he joyed to meet a friend of one he loved so wellR
An' I talked back an' for a time our converse did not ceaseS
A regular three cornered gush of friendship love an' peaceS
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An' then he showed me how they run their grab bags an' all suchT
We have the same at home you know although not near so muchT
An' then he had some val'ables on numbers that you sawU
With figures correspondin'ly in envelopes to drawU
I gin him fifty cents to help a cause I dearly holdV
An' drew a velvet hymn book with a clasp resemblin' goldV
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My cousin pressed my hand with some congratulatin' jokesW
And said Ah me the Stebbinses was always lucky folksW
But after all their shrewdness is the thing that lets them winX
Which made me proud though I didn't see just where the shrewd came inX
But buyin' a five dollar book at that unheard of priceY
An' helpin' of the cause meanwhile was unsuspected niceY
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Whereat the Superintendent said You're lucky I allowZ
I'll have to charge five dollars for a chance to draw here nowZ
Whereat my cousin Jeroboam remarked If 'tisn't wrongA2
I'll buy a draw for Cousin Steb to help the cause alongA2
I shook my head but he would do't an' sure as I'm aliveB2
I drawed a good ten dollar bill for Cousin Jones's fiveB2
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Whereat the Superintendent said You're lucky men I vowZ
A hundred dollars I must charge for every drawing nowZ
An' fingerin' the envelopes one opened just a grainC2
And I discerned the number uncommon black and plainC2
An' on the other number by glancin' I could seeB
Five good crisp hundr'd dollar bills a waitin' there for meB
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To make four hundred dollars clear an' help the children tooD2
Was somethin' that would surely seem desirable to doD2
With an unfailin' eagle eye a heart that swelled with hopeE2
I watched an' saw the very place he put that envelopeE2
I winked at Cousin Jeroboam I counted out the cashF2
An' drawed an' had that card revealed almost as quick as flashF2
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Oh sakes the second figure I had what I hadn't seenG2
A tail that made a of it 'twas NumberH2
An' on them figures on the board there nothin' was in factI2
Except a little pamphlet like an anti gamblin' tractI2
Which hadn't any money wuth an' won't be good for muchT
Except to keep my older boys from playin' cards an' suchT
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Now Cousin Jeroboam Jones was buried in surpriseJ2
An' walked a half a mile with me an' helped philosophizeJ2
An' says You come some other day we'll try that thing aginG2
We come 'thin part of one of it the next time we shall winX
Then nearin' to a corner he took kindly leave o' meB
Because of some new scholars there that he must go an' seeB
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I give you this experience John but please don't tell it nowZ
Let Tompkins take the chestnut horse an' sell the brindle cowZ
An' gather up what cash besides I have a lyin' looseJ2
An' send the whole of it to me for my immediate useJ2
Do everything concerned in this in soft secretive tonesJ2
Direct it to New York in care of Jeroboam JonesJ2
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A SJ2
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A few days and the following one arrivedK2
Which shows Sin's triumph sometimes is short livedK2

William Mckendree Carleton



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Farmer Stebbins On The Bowery is a poem by William Mckendree Carleton. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.



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