Oh! the old swimmin'-hole! When I last saw the place, The scene was all changed, like the change in my face,
The bridge of the railroad now crosses the spot
Whare the old divin'-log lays sunk and fergot.
And I stray down the banks whare the trees ust to be --
But never again will theyr shade shelter me!
And I wish in my sorrow I could strip to the soul,
And dive off in my grave like the old swimmin'-hole.
The poem is structured so that it
O shows the change in the speaker and the swimming hole
clarifies why the speaker left the swimming hole
explains how the swimming hole was created
provides details about the change in the speaker's life