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Plantation echoes

Chapter 19: SLEEP.
By Elliott Blaine Henderson
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Poetry

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.

SLEEP.

Sleep!
Cums de solemn night,
An’ de day’s tuck flight!
Not er bird ner coon
Am er whis-lin’ choon.
Sleep!
Sleep!
Slo’ de hours slip ’long
To de brooklet’s song,
In de sof deep hush
Cums de star’s sweet blush.
Sleep!
Sleep!
In er lonesum tone
Ez he creep erlone,
Cums de cricket call
Fum de vine clad wall.
Sleep!
Sleep!
Up de hillside steep
Now de moon take creep!
Th’ew de cab’n loft, gleam
On er coon in dream.
Sleep!