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Plantation echoes

Chapter 13: THE COON’S SERENADE.
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About This Book

A short collection of poems written in a period phonetic dialect that evokes rural plantation life and folk-song rhythms. The pieces range from playful and humorous to plaintive and reflective, depicting work, home, music, seasonal change, and communal gatherings through repetition, colloquial idiom, and musical cadence. Many poems adopt a performative voice and narrative vignette form to capture local speech and sentiment. Several passages employ slang and stereotyped language rooted in their historical moment, which modern readers may find offensive.

THE COON’S SERENADE.

In de lonesum ub de night
When de moon’s er shinin’ bright,
Coon er sotin’ on er stump
Picks de banjo, plinkertee plump!
Sof’ly floats de mournful ’frain
’Cross de dewy, grassy main—
Plinktee! plinktee! plinkertee plump!
Picks de coon erpun de stump!
Ebbry win’ an’ ebbry breeze,
Ebbry twig erpun de trees,
Echoes wid de plinkertee plump!
Ub de coon erpun de stump!
Plinktee! plinktee! plinkertee plump!
Picks de coon erpun de stump!
Ez de night glides slo’ly on,
An’ de moon slips down fo’ dawn,
An’ de veil draps fum de skies,
An’ de worl’ opens its eyes,
Dies erway de plinkertee plump!
Ub de coon erpun de stump!
Plinktee! plinktee! plinkertee plump!
Stops de coon erpun de stump