Follow the Drinking Gourd

When the sun goes back, and the first quail calls
Follow the drinkin' gourd
For the old man is a-waitin'
For to carry you to freedom
You follow the drinkin' gourd

Oh, the river bank will make a mighty good road
The dead trees will show you the way
You see your left foot, your peg foot
You're travelin' on
You just follow the drinkin' gourd

Follow the drinkin' gourd
Follow the drinkin' gourd
For the old man is a-waitin'
For to carry you to freedom
You follow the drinkin' gourd

Follow, follow, follow, follow
Follow the drinkin' gourd
Follow the drinkin' gourd

Lord, I'm a-goin' to freedom
Well hallelujah I'm a-goin' to freedom
Follow the drinkin' gourd

-"Peg Leg Joe", arranged by Bob Jones

This is another song sung by my barbershop chorus. I enjoy it particularly because it conveys a haunting, yet hopeful feeling. Follow the Drinking Gourd is a song about the underground railroad, with "Peg Leg Joe" telling the slaves in the south how to get to the free lands in the north. Most of the song is of Peg Leg Joe giving directions to the slaves, with the last stanza being of the slaves expressing their joy at going to freedom.
The directions given by Peg Leg Joe are mostly a form of code, so that if the meeting of the slaves was detected, it could be shrugged off more easily, and the underground railroad would remain safe. "Following the drinking gourd" refers to following the big dipper, or traveling north, leading to the land of freedom. The "old man a' waitin' to carry you to freedom" means that if the slaves follow the path laid out for them, they will meet Peg Leg Joe, who will guide them. Along the way, there would be several indicators to show that they were going in the right direction. In the dead trees beside a river, there would be the marks of Peg Leg Joe's feet, which had a peg leg in place of a right foot, leading to the phrase "you see your left foot, your peg foot / you're travelin' on".
Follow the Drinking Gourd is full of subtle nuances that are difficult to pick up unless you already understand the context the song is in. However, even if one does not understand the lyrics, it's still a fascinating song to hear.

Shall I Compare Thee

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 

-William Shakespeare

This was another poem recommended to me by my teacher, and it is another sonnet by Shakespeare. Compared to the previous love poem by Shakespeare I analyzed, this poem is much more direct in its approach. When in Disgrace had a subtler feel to it. Nowhere was there a line describing the virtues of the poet's lover, and there was no excessive hyperbole expressing or comparing the love the poet feels. In Shall I Compare Thee, the poet immediately describes the lover as being more lovely and temperate than a summer's day. The entire purpose of this poem is to ascribe virtues to the lover; indeed, the title of the poem is "Shall I Compare Thee", suggesting the lover will be compared to many positive things.
The theme of the poem clearly is that of attributing virtues to the lover of the poet. The lover is described as being more lovely and temperate than a summer's day, and with those features lasting eternally, whereas the summer eventually fades and wanes. Her beauty is described as being so eternal that even when she dies, she will live on in the memories of other people.
Shall I Compare Thee is very direct in its meaning. The phrases are neither subtle nor vague, making their meanings and intentions very clear. While this may reduce the depth and power of the ideas conveyed by the poem, it makes it efficient and effective at presenting its ideas.
This poem was simple and pleasant to read; the themes and concepts presented by it were not difficult to comprehend, and the simple rhyme scheme was enjoying to encounter.

Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand

Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere) arranging
a window, into which people look (while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here) and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and from moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there) and

without breaking anything.

-E.E.Cummings
This is another poem recommended to me by my teacher, and it shares various traits with the other poem by E.E.Cummings poem I analyzed, making it interesting, if slightly difficult, to read. Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand uses obscure enjambment, which appears to have no particular purpose or pattern, either in line length or rhyme scheme. It also has a random use of capitalization, capitalizing words which are not proper nouns, or capitalizing words which were not capitalized before.
In addition, the poem uses the word "perhaps" in unnecessary and seemingly random ways. The phrases "Spring is like a perhaps hand", and "while/people stare carefully/moving a perhaps/fraction of flower here" have no particular reason to include the word "perhaps", and these two examples share no similarities in its placement, except for being after the word "a", and being before a noun. The poem also uses parentheses in unnecessary ways; they seem to be there only for the sake of being there. The three instances in which they appear do not seem to share any similarities, except for ending before the last word of a line, two of them ending on the last line of a stanza.
The theme of the poem is that spring changes things in nature without removing anything. The "hand arranging a window" is a metaphor, with "hand" representing spring, "window" representing nature, and "arranging" representing the change, without removing anything. In other parts of the poem, there are mentions of change and movement, but never removal.
Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand is much like E.E.Cummings' other works, which have an underlying meaning, but seem to have been written to be as strange as possible.

Hallelujah

I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your name on the marble arch
But love is not a victory march
It's a cold and very broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the word in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well, really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't try to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

-Leonard Cohen, arranged by Deke Sharon

Hallelujah is another of the songs sung by my chorus. It's one of the most difficult songs we have, because the lyrics are not clear enough in meaning to convey emotion without analyzing the song before performing. As such, the first few times we tried to sing through it, we did not do very well, as few of us had any idea of what the song might mean; we were just singing the notes and words, with no emotion behind them.
All the verses of this song follow the rhyme scheme AACBBC, assuming the word "you" is pronounced "yah", followed by the chorus, which is CCCC. This rhyme scheme helps the verse end on a stronger, more powerful sound; up-tunes might have a rhyme scheme of ABAB or ACBC, which keeps the rhythm going, and maintains a steady tempo. The AACBBC rhyme scheme has the C lines at the end of several other rhymes. This makes them seem more important and more powerful, making the verse end with a stronger feeling.
Hallelujah is a very spiritual song, "hallelujah" referring to happiness and a higher power. The song is filled with the awe that the poet feels as he discovers spirituality. The first verse concerns the poet first discovering their own faith. "Not caring for music" refers to the lack of faith of the poet, while the "baffled king composing hallelujah" refers to the amazement of the poet first discovering their own spirituality (hallelujah).
The second verse refers to the spirituality of love and sexuality. "I know this room, I've walked this floor" refers to the poet having been in a sexual relationship before, while the latter part of the verse refers to love not being just a happy drive, but a difficult and spiritual journey.
The third verse is about the poet realizing there is spirituality in everything we say and do. "Taking the word in vain" is about misusing the higher power, but the poet goes on to say that there is power and spirituality in everything, regardless of what it is, or what it sounds like.
The final verse concerns the poet describing their attempts to connect with their spirituality. The first part of the verse says that whatever mistakes they may have made, they were not made because of malice. The latter part of the verse explains that despite their mistakes, they will remain faithful to their spirituality.
Hallelujah is a song full of awe and wonder. Regardless of how difficult it is to understand the emotion involved, the emotion conveyed is powerful and impressive.

When In Disgrace

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee--and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings. 

-Shakespeare 

This was one of the poems recommended to me by my teacher. In the analysis of this poem, I don't intend to interpret the individual lines of the poem from Elizabethan English into more modern English, as the lines themselves are quite easy to understand in themselves. Instead, I intend to interpret the meaning of the entire poem, as well as the interesting and original aspects of the themes expressed in it.
When I first read it, I was interested in the idea of the poem, how the poet is doing badly, and how he wishes he had the life of the rich and prosperous people he sees. Yet, his thoughts of the person he loves make him think his life is not so bad after all, and he then laughs at the idea of having the life of the others.
Upon reading it several more times, I realized just how interesting and original this love poem is. It manages to express the love the poet feels for the person, without using hyperbole, or extensive or obscure metaphor. The love felt by the poet it not expressed in an incredibly direct manner; the theme of the poem is, "Your love makes me happier than other people with their riches.", yet nowhere does it directly say that. Instead, it allows the reader to come to the conclusion themselves, without making it hard to come to that conclusion. The poem expresses the idea contained within it by being neither aggressive and direct, or vague and confusing. This, in my opinion, makes it a powerful and original love poem.

Nobody Loses All The Time

i had an uncle named
Sol who was a born failure and
nearly everybody said he should have gone
into vaudeville perhaps because my Uncle Sol could
sing McCann He Was A Diver on Xmas Eve like Hell Itself which
may or may not account for the fact that my Uncle

Sol indulged in that possibly most inexcusable
of all to use a highfalootin phrase
luxuries that is or to
wit farming and be
it needlessly
added

my Uncle Sol's farm
failed because the chickens
ate the vegetables so
my Uncle Sol had a
chicken farm till the
skunks ate the chickens when

my Uncle Sol
had a skunk farm but
the skunks caught cold and
died so
my Uncle Sol imitated the
skunks in a subtle manner

or by drowning himself in the watertank
but somebody who'd given my Unde Sol a Victor
Victrola and records while he lived presented to
him upon the auspicious occasion of his decease a
scrumptious not to mention splendiferous funeral with
tall boys in black gloves and flowers and everything and

i remember we all cried like the Missouri
when my Uncle Sol's coffin lurched because
somebody pressed a button
(and down went
my Uncle
Sol

and started a worm farm)

-E. E. Cummings 

I found this poem among those recommended by my teacher. Looking at it, I had difficulty understanding what it meant, until I worked my way around the enjambment, and I finally comprehended.
This poem describes how the poet's Uncle Sol managed to fail in every single one of his ventures, yet finally succeeding after he died. Uncle Sol seems to be a desperate character, trying to adapt to the circumstances as best he can, and getting frustrated with failure each time; when a vegetable farm does not work, he tries a chicken farm, then a skunk farm, then killing himself when nothing works out. However, Uncle Sol's body finally succeeds in "making a worm farm". The poem's underlying theme seems to be that eventually, everyone will succeed in something.
I found this poem's enjambment to be... a nightmare to interpret around. The enjambment doesn't restrict itself to pertaining to a specific sentence; it's not uncommon with this poem to find two phrases both part of the same line. It meant that isolating one pre-enjambment sentence or phrase was incredibly difficult for me. Eventually, I was able to work my way around, and figure out where the phrases start and end.
The enjambment in this Nobody Loses All The Time is even more confusing to me, when the enjambment appears to serve no particular purpose, other than to make it a poem. The intervals of enjambment seem highly random; no rhyme scheme is discernible, and the length of the lines varies greatly.
I found this poem amusing and entertaining, albeit confusing and frustrating to comprehend at times.

Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair

I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Borne, like a vapor, on the summer air;
I see her tripping where the bright streams play,
Happy as the daisies that dance on her way.
Many were the wild notes her merry voice would pour.
Many were the blithe birds that warbled them o'er:
Oh! I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Floating, like a vapor, on the soft summer air.

I long for Jeanie with the daydawn smile,
Radiant in gladness, warm with winning guile;
I hear her melodies, like joys gone by,
Sighing round my heart o'er the fond hopes that die: --
Sighing like the night wind and sobbing like the rain, --
Wailing for the lost one that comes not again:
Oh! I long for Jeanie, and my heart bows low,
Never more to find her where the bright waters flow.

I sigh for Jeanie, but her light form strayed
Far from the fond hearts round her native glade;
Her smiles have vanished and her sweet songs flown,
Flitting like the dreams that have cheered us and gone.
Now the nodding wild flowers may wither on the shore
While her gentle fingers will cull them no more:
Oh! I sigh for Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Floating, like a vapor, on the soft summer air.

-Stephen Foster

This is another song that I first found as a barbershop arrangement. As well as singing in a quartet, I sing counter-tenor in a barbershop chorus, which for a few years competed with a slightly modified arrangement of this poem for contests. The arrangement was so beautiful that it was one of the first poems I thought of to analyze.
The rhyme scheme of Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair is quite simple; the even numbered lines of a stanza rhyme with the lines before them. Guile with smile, die with by, etc. It creates a simple format which makes the poem simple to read, giving more emphasis on the lyric and emotion of the poem.
This poem concerns the love the poet felt for Jeanie, and the memories he has of her. In the first stanza, the poet speaks of Jeanie, and describes the love he felt for her in the ways he saw her. Every metaphor is used to describe an aspect of her beauty. The second stanza describes the loss the poet feels without Jeanie, as well as his sadness. The reference to the "fond hopes that die" suggest that the poet's feelings for Jeanie were never particularly realistic, one definition of "fond" being that of foolishness. The third stanza still concerns his feelings of loss, but the sadness is not as pronounced.
In contrast to I Don't Know When You Stopped Loving Me, which had more feelings of sadness, love, and loss, Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair has the love and loss without quite so much blatant sadness. In this poem, particularly in the third stanza, the sadness is hidden behind the happy memories of Jeanie the poet has.
Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair is an intricate poem full of emotion, which changes in manner and intensity as the poem goes on. It forms a beautiful poem that makes an even more beautiful song.

I Don't Know When You Stopped Loving Me

I'll spend tonight alone
Yesterday you said goodbye
Said you didn't love me anymore
And we were through

You think I might have known
What could be the reason why you left
You're still the darling I adore
But now there's nothing I can do

I don't know when you stopped loving me
And lord only knows I don't know why
Was it something I did or did not do
That caused you to say goodbye?

I gave you my heart and you tore it apart
I thought it was love we were making
But now I can see that you never loved me
And my heart is breaking

I don't know how I'll stop loving you
And heaven knows I don't know when
So I guess I'll go on loving you
Till then

-Paul Olguin

This poem is actually the lyrics to the barbershop song I Don't Know When You Stopped Loving Me, which was written, composed, and arranged by Paul Olguin. I sing bass in a barbershop quartet; the tenor of the quartet knows Paul Olguin, and managed to get a copy of the music for us to sing. I enjoyed singing the song so much that I felt I simply had to use it for one of my poems.
The rhyme scheme of the poem is not extensive; the introduction (first two stanzas) have no rhyme scheme at all, while the the third and fourth stanzas have rhyming in the last words of the second and fourth lines. The fifth stanza has rhyming between the first and third lines, and the second and fourth lines. This would normally be supplemented by the music that accompanies the poem, making the lack of rhyme unnoticeable.
The poem concerns the feeling of longing, love, and loss felt by the poet, who had just been cut off by their lover. The poet feels so attached to the lover that they are not even certain that they will ever get over them. The relationship seems to have ended suddenly, as the poet is unknowing of why the lover left. The relationship also seems to have been going very well, which confuses the poet even more, as well as giving the poet a stronger feeling of loss.
This poem is most likely the prettiest ballad I have ever heard. It conveys feelings of sadness, love, and loss, while not being angry or particularly contemptuous. It is a beautiful poem and song, which I enjoy singing and listening to.

Madness of analysis.

Salutations! My name is Ezra Parker, and I will be analyzing a variety of poems, some of which I found on my own, others that have been suggested to me by peers and instructors. I am part of a barbershop chorus, and a barbershop quartet, so many of the poems I find on my own are arrangements of songs I sing.

Prepare yourself for a torrent of insanity, mixed with a hearty dose of madness, and oh, yes, analysis.

--Ezra

Disclaimer: The blogger accepts no responsibility for any madness or insanity caused by the content of the blog posts. Viewer discretion is advised.