Question

Can someone please explain the poem called The Courtin' by James Russel Lowell? I am supposed to describe how the society in which the young people lived, using inference drawn from reading the poem. I have a hard time understanding this poem.

Answer 1

God makes sech nights, all white an' still
Fur 'z you can look or listen,
Moonshine an' snow on field an' hill,
All silence an' all glisten.
Zekle* crep' up quite unbeknown 5
An' peeked in thru' the winder,
An' there sot Huldy* all alone,
'ith no one nigh to hender*.
A fireplace filled the room's one side
With half a cord o' wood in - 10
There warn's no stoves (tell* comfort died)
To bake ye to a puddin'.
The wa'nut logs shot sparkles out
Towards the pootiest,* bless her,
An' leetle flames danced all about 15
The chiny on the dresser.
Agin the chimbley crook-necks hung,
An' in amongst 'em rusted
The ole queen's-arm* thet Gran'ther Young
Fetched back from Concord busted 20
The very room, cox she was in,
Seemed warm from floor to ceilin'.
An' she looked full ez rosy agin
Ez the apples she was peelin'.
'Twas kin' o' kingdom-come* to look 25
On sech a blessed cretur,
A dog rose blusin' to a brook
Ain't modester nor sweeter.
He was six foot o' man, A-l,
Clear grit an' human natur 30
None couldn't quicker pitch a ton
Nor dror a furrer* straighter. But long o' her his veins 'ould run
All crinkly like curled maple,
The side she breshed felt full o' sun 35
Ez a south slope in Ap'il.
She thought no v'ice had sech a swing
Ez hisn in the choir;
My! when he made Ole Hunderd* ring,
She knowed the Lord was nigher. 40
An' she'd blush scarlit, right in prayer,
When her new meetin'-bunnet
Felt somehow thru' its crown a pair
O' blue eyes sot upun it.
Thet night, I tell ye, she looked some! 45
She seemed to've gut a new soul,
For she felt sartin-sure he'd come,
Down to her very shoe sole.
She heered a foot, an' knowed it tu,
A-raspin' on the scraper- 50
All ways to once her feelin's flew
Like sparks in burnt-up paper.
He kin' o' l'itered on the mat
Some doubtfle o' the sekle,*
His heart kep' goin' pity-pat 55
But hem went pity Zekle.
An' yet she gin her cheer a jerk
Ez though she wished him furder,
An' on her apples kep' to work
Parin' away like murder. 60
"You want to see my Pa, I s'pose?"
"Wal . . . no . . . . I come dasignin'-
"To see my Ma? She's sprinklin' clo'es
Agin tomorrer's i'nin'." To say why gals acts so or so, 65
Or don't, 'ould be presumin';
Mebby to mean yes an' say no
Comes nateral to women.
He stood a spell on one foot fuss,
Then stood a spell on t'other, 70
An' on which one he felt the wust
He couldn't ha' told ye nuther.
Says he, "I'd better call agin";
Says she, "Think likely, Mister";
Thet last word wingspaned him like a pin, 75
An' . . . . Wal, he up an' kist her.
When Ma bimeby upon 'em slips,
Huldy sot pale ez ashes,
All kin' o' smily roun' the lips
An' teary roun' the lashes. 80
For she was jes' the quiet kind
Whose nature never vary,
Like streams that keep a summer mind
Snowhid in Jenooary.
The blood clost roun' her heart felt glued 85
Too tight for all expressin',
Tell mother see how melters stood,
An' gin 'em both her blessin'.
Then her red come back like the tide
Down to the Bay o' Fundy; 90
An' all I know is they was cried
In meetin'* come nex' Sunday.

Answer 2

Well I don't know if I could explain it, however I would ask you, what does it bring to mind when you read it?

Answer 3

Courtship, old days,

Answer 4

I have a hard time understanding all the slang.

Answer 5

I interpret that as uneducated rather than a slang. As I read it conjures images of a mountain cottage, hillbillies, the south.

Answer 6

Yeah but I am supposed infer what society was like during this time relating to young people

Answer 7

If you assume that they are not isolated from society but in fact a representation then you can take the impressions you get about them and project that upon the society they live in.

Answer 8

So they were treated like adults, and the word 'teen' was not even in the dictionary.... Is that what you mean?

Answer 9

Not exactly. What I mean is that, using my impressions, when I read this I see a family of hillbillies. So if I assume that this family is not isolated from their society but are in fact representative of it, then I would infer that they are from a time when most of the population was poor and uneducated. The images of a small cabin with a wood stove to heat it makes me think of days before electricity and most likely running water. So I would take that last bit and infer that this society was closer to the early settlers of the US than that of today.

Answer 10

Wow OK, I think I got it. Thanks alot

Answer 11

Sure thing, hope it helped.