Negro Folk Rhymes Part 21

Ole Ox! Ole Ox! How'd you come up here?

You'se sho' plowed de cotton fields for many a, many a year.

You'se been kicked an' cuffed about wid heaps an' heaps abuse.

Now! Now, you comes up here fer some sort o' College use.

CARE IN BREAD-MAKING

W'en you sees dat gal o' mine, Jes tell 'er fer me, if you please, Nex' time she goes to make up bread To roll up 'er dirty sleeves.

WHY LOOK AT ME?

What's you lookin' at me fer?

I didn' come here to stay.

I wants dis bug put in yo' years, An' den I'se gwine away.

I'se got milk up in my bucket, I'se got b.u.t.ter up in my bowl; But I hain't got no Sweetheart Fer to save my soul.

A SHORT LETTER

She writ me a letter As long as my eye.

An' she say in dat letter: "My Honey!--Good-by!"

DOES MONEY TALK?

Dem whitefolks say dat money talk.

If it talk lak dey tell, Den ev'ry time it come to Sam, It up an' say: "Farewell!"

I'LL EAT WHEN I'M HUNGRY

I'll eat when I'se hongry, An' I'll drink when I'se dry; An' if de whitefolks don't kill me, I'll live till I die.

In my liddle log cabin, Ever since I'se been born; Dere hain't been no nothin'

'Cept dat hard salt parch corn.

But I knows whar's a henhouse, An' de tucky he charve; An' if ole Mosser don't kill me, I cain't never starve.

HEAR-SAY

h.e.l.lo! Br'er Jack. How do you do?

I'se been a-hearin' a heaps o' things 'bout you.

I'll jes declar! It beats de d.i.c.kuns!

Dey's been tryin' to say you's been a-stealin' chickens!

NEGRO SOLDIER'S CIVIL WAR CHANT

Ole [32]Abe (G.o.d bless 'is ole soul!) Got a plenty good victuals, an' a plenty good clo'es.

Got powder, an' shot, an' lead, To bust in Adam's liddle Confed'

In dese hard times.

Oh, once dere wus union, an' den dere wus peace; De slave, in de cornfield, bare up to his knees.

But de Rebel's in gray, an' Sesesh's in de way, An' de slave'll be free In dese hard times.

[32] Abraham Lincoln.

PARODY ON "NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP"

Uh-huh: "Now I lays me down to sleep!"-- While dead oudles o' bedbugs 'round me creep,-- Well: If dey bites me befo' "I" wake, I hopes "deir" ole jawbones'll break.

I'LL GET YOU, RABBIT!

Rabbit! Rabbit! You'se got a mighty habit, A-runnin' through de gra.s.s, Eatin' up my cabbages; But I'll git you sh.o.r.e at las'.

Rabbit! Rabbit! Ole rabbit in de bottoms, A-playin' in de san', By to-morrow mornin', You'll be in my fryin' pan.

THE ELEPHANT

My mammy gimme fifteen cents Fer to see dat elephan' jump de fence.

He jump so high, I didn' see why, If she gimme a dollar he mought not cry.

So I axed my mammy to gimme a dollar, Fer to go an' hear de elephan' holler.

He holler so loud, he skeered de crowd.

Nex' he jump so high, he tetch de sky; An' he won't git back 'fore de fo'th o' July.

A FEW NEGROES BY STATES

Alabammer n.i.g.g.e.r say he love mush.

Tennessee n.i.g.g.e.r say: "Good Lawd, hush!"

Fifteen cents in de panel of de fence, South Ca'lina n.i.g.g.e.r hain't got no sense.

Dat Kentucky n.i.g.g.e.r jes think he's fine, 'Cause he drink dat Gooseberry wine.

I'se done heared some twenty year ago Dat de Missippi n.i.g.g.e.r hafter sleep on de flo'.

Lousanner n.i.g.g.e.r fall out'n de bed, An' break his head on a pone o' co'n bread.