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Plantation echoes

Chapter 14: BLISSFUL ANTICIPATIONS.
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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.

BLISSFUL ANTICIPATIONS.

Jes’ gimme summah all de time,
An’ lemme take it easy.
Jes’ lay back in de cloveah beds
An’ dream whah it am breezy.
I doan kyeah fo’ no robe ner crown
Ez long ez I kin wollah ’roun’
An’ nebbah hab to hoe de grown’.
Ha! ha! yo’ thinks Ise lazy!
I’d spawk an’ court Miss Lissy Jane—
Umph! but I’d cut er spluttah!
I’d tell her dis, I’d tell her dat,
Fus’ one thing den er nuddah.
We’d ramble whah de wild flow’rs bloom
Dat fill de air wid sweet scent ’fume
Whah dey’s no clouds an’ dey’s no gloom!
We’d sot de worl’ to fiuttah!
I’d git mah banjo fum de wall
An’ now an’ den go plinkin’!
I’d make de dahky’s heels jes’ itch
To dance ez fas’ es winkin’!
I’d make her sing, I’d make her moan,
I’d sen’ er tone to Gabriel’s throne,
I’d play dem tricks befo’ unknown,
I’d sot de fo’ks to thinkin’!
I kno’ yo’ thinks dis dahky slo’
An’ tawkin’ jes’ fo’ blowin’!
An’ buildin’ castles in de air,
An’ debbilment er sowin’.
It’s jes, prezaxly lak I say,
Jes’ shows Ise ol’ an’ shows Ise gray.
Befo’ de Lawd! it’s almos’ day!
To bed! de chicken’s crowin’!