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
O clarifies why the speaker left the swimming hole
O explains how the swimming hole was created
provides details about the change in the speaker's life