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Divers Never Gave Nothing To The Poor/Dives and Lazarus
Traditional Spiritual
ARTIST: Robert Emmet Kennedy; More Mellows 1931
SHEET MUSIC:
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1557 England (reference); US versions probably 1700- 1800s; Collected in early 1900s (1916 Sharp).
RECORDING INFO: Divers Never Gave Nothing To The Poor
Kennedy, Robert Emmet. More Mellows 1931
OTHER NAMES: "Lazarus" "Divers and Lazarus"
RELATED TO: "Divers and Lazarus"
SOURCES: Robert Emmet Kennedy's book 1931 More Mellows
NOTES: "Divers Never Gave Nothing To The Poor" found in Robert Emmet Kennedy's book 1931 More Mellows is a spiritual usually know as the ballad "Divers and Lazarus."
A similar version was collected by Cecil Sharp in his EFSSA under the title, "Lazarus" from Mr. and Mrs. Coates in Tennessee in 1916.
Since I do not have the More Mellows book I've included the chorus and one verse of "Divers Never Gave Nothing To The Poor" from More Mellows and added the last verse from Sharp's version. For other versions and detailed information- see versions of "Divers and Lazarus" which follow in this collection.
DIVERS NEVER GAVE NOTHING TO THE POOR- from Robert Emmet Kennedy; More Mellows- 1931
Chorus: Divers never gave nothing to the poor,
Divers never gave nothing to the poor,
Divers never gave nothing to the poor,
He drove poor man Lazarus from his door.
Poor Praying Lazarus at his gate
To help himself unable,
Did for the fragments humbly wait
That fell from his full table,
But not one might would he bestow
Nor pity his condition,
The dogs take pity and licked his sores
More ready to befriend him
This poor man died at the rich man's gate,
Where angel bands attended;
Straightway to Abraham's bosom flown,
Where all his sorrows ended.
This rich man died and was buried too.
O but this dreadful station
With Abraham and Lazarus both in view,
He landed in damnation.
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