WISE SAYING SECTION
LEARN TO COUNT
Naught's a naught,
Five's a figger.
All fer de white man,
None fer de Nigger.
Ten's a ten,
But it's mighty funny;
When you cain't count good,
You hain't got no money.
THE WAR IS ON
De boll-weevil's in de cotton,
De cut-worm's in de corn,
De Devil's in de white man;
An' de wah's a-gwine on.
Poor Nigger hain't got no home!
Poor Nigger hain't got no home!
HOW TO PLANT AND CULTIVATE SEEDS
Plant: One fer de blackbird
Two fer de crow,
Three fer de jaybird
An' f[=o]' fer to grow.
Den: When you goes to wuk,
Don't never stand still;
When you pull de grass,
Pull it out'n de hill.
A MAN OF WORDS
A man o' words an' not o' deeds,
Is lak a gyarden full o' weeds.
De weeds 'gin to grow
Lak a gyarden full o' snow.
De snow 'gin to fly
Lak a eagle in de sky.
De sky 'gin to roar
Lak a hammer on y[=o]' door.
De door 'gin to crack
Lak a hick'ry on y[=o]' back.
Y[=o]' back 'gin to smart
Lak a knife in y[=o]' heart.
Y[=o]' heart 'gin to fail
Lak a boat widout a sail.
De boat 'gin to sink
Lak a bottle full o' ink.
Dat ink, it won't write
Neider black nor white.
Dat man o' words an' not o' deeds,
Is lak a gyarden full o' weeds.
INDEPENDENT
I'se jes as innerpenunt as a pig on ice.
Gwineter git up ag'in if I slips down twice.
If I cain't git up, I can jes lie down.
I don't want no Niggers to be he'pin' me 'roun'.
TEMPERANCE RHYME
Whisky nor brandy hain't no friend to my kind.
Dey killed my p[=o]' daddy, an' dey troubled my mind.
Sometime he drunk whisky, sometime he drunk ale;
Sometime he kotch de rawhide, an' sometime de flail.
On yon'er high mountain, I'll set up dar high;
An' de wild geese can cheer me while passin' on by.
Go 'way, young ladies, an' let me alone;
For you know I'se a poor boy, an' a long ways from home.
Go put up de hosses an' give 'em some hay;
But don't give me no whisky, so long as I stay.
For whisky nor brandy hain't friend to my kind;
Dey killed my p[=o]' daddy, an' dey troubled my mind.
THAT HYPOCRITE
I tell you how dat hypocrite do,
He come down to my house, an' talk about you;
He talk about me, an' he talk about you;
An' dat's de way dat hypocrite do.
I tell you how dat hypocrite pray.
He pray out loud in de hypocrite way.
He pray out loud, got a heap to say;
An' dat's de way dat hypocrite pray.
I tell you how dat hypocrite 'ten',
He 'ten' dat he love, an' he don't love men.
He 'ten' dat he love, an' he hate Br'er Ben;
An' dat's de way dat hypocrite 'ten'.
DRINKING RAZOR SOUP
He's been drinkin' razzer soup;
Dat sharp Nigger, black lak ink.
If he don't watch dat tongue o' his,
Somebody'll hurt 'im 'f[=o]r' he think.
He cain't drive de pigeons t' roost,
Dough he talk so big an' smart.
Hain't got de sense to tole 'em in.
Cain't more 'an drive dat ole mule chyart.
OLD MAN KNOW-ALL
Ole man Know-All, he come 'round
Wid his nose in de air, turned 'way frum de ground.
His ole woolly head hain't been combed fer a week;
It say: "Keep still, while Know-All speak."
Ole man Know-All's tongue, it run;
He jes know'd ev'rything under de sun.
When you knowed one thing, he knowed m[=o]'.
He 'us sharp 'nough to stick an' green 'nough to grow.
Ole man Know-All died las' week.
He got drowned in de middle o' de creek.
De bridge wus dar, an' dar to stay.
But he knowed too much to go dat way.
FED FROM THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE
I nebber starts to break my colt,
Till he's ole enough to trabble.
I nebber digs my taters up
Wen dey's only right to grabble.
So w'en you sees me risin' up
To structify in meetin',
You can know I'se climbed de Knowledge Tree
An' done some apple eatin'.
THE TONGUE
Got a tongue dat jes run when it walk?
It cain't talk.
Got a tongue dat can hush when it talk?--
It cain't squawk.
BRAG AND BOAST
Brag is a big dog;
But Hold Fast, he is better.
Dem big black rough hands,
Dey cain't write no letter.
Boast, he barks an' growls loud;
But Bulger, he hain't no shirker.
Dat big loud mouf Nigger,
He hain't never no worker.
SELF-CONTROL
Befo' you says dat ugly word,
You stop an' count ten.
Den if you wants to say dat word,
Begin an' count again.
Don't have a tongue tied in de middle,
An' loose frum en' to en'.
You mus' think twice, den speak once;
Dat [49]donkey cain't count ten.
[49] The somewhat less dignified term was more commonly used.
SPEAK SOFTLY
"Wus dat you spoke,
Or a fence rail broke?"
Br'er Rabbit say to de Jay
[50]W'en you don't speak sof',
Y[=o]' baits comes off;
An' de fish jes swim away.
[50] The last three lines of the rhyme was a superstition current among
antebellum Negroes.
STILL WATER RUNS DEEP
Dat still water, it run deep.
Dat shaller water prattle.
Dat tongue, hung in a holler head,
Jes roll 'round an' rattle.
DON'T TELL ALL YOU KNOW
Keep dis in min', an' all 'll go right;
As on y[=o]' way you goes;
Be shore you knows 'bout all you tells,
But don't tell all you knows.
JACK AND DINAH WANT FREEDOM[51]
Ole Aunt Dinah, she's jes lak me.
She wuk so hard dat she want to be free.
But, you know, Aunt Dinah's gittin' sorter ole;
An' she's feared to go to Canada, caze it's so c[=o]l'.
Dar wus ole Uncle Jack, he want to git free.
He find de way Norf by de moss on de tree.
He cross dat [52]river a-floatin' in a tub.
Dem [53]Patterollers give 'im a mighty close rub.
Dar is ole Uncle Billy, he's a mighty good Nigger.
He tote all de news to Mosser a little bigger.
When you tells Uncle Billy, you wants free fer a fac';
De nex' day de hide drap off'n y[=o]' back.
[51] The writer wishes to give explanation as to why the rhyme "Jack and
Dinah Want Freedom" appears under the Section of Psycho-composite Rhymes
as set forth in "The Study----" of our volume. The Negroes repeating
this rhyme did not always give the names Jack, Dinah, and Billy, as we
here record them, but at their pleasure put in the individual name of
the Negro in their surroundings whom the stanza being repeated might
represent. Thus this little rhyme was the scientific dividing, on the
part of the Negroes themselves, of the members of their race into three
general classes with respect to the matter of Freedom.
[52] The Ohio River.
[53] White guards who caught and kept slaves at the master's home.