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Plantation echoes cover

Plantation echoes

Chapter 43: HI, MISTAH DAHKY.
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.

HI, MISTAH DAHKY.

Hi, mistah dahky!
De hoein’ time’s er cumin’—
Loafin’s nearly obeah
Fo’ er fiddlin’ an’ er drummin’,
Dancin’ wid de ladies
An’ er steppin’ lak er racer,
Drinkin’ Tom an’ Jerry
An’ sum burbon fo’ er bracer.
Hi, mistah dahky!
Bin er ’joicin’ all de wintah?
Spawkin’ wid de ladies
An’ er cuttin’ quite er splintah?
Dressed up lak er peacock
Hyah all pawted in de middle,
Shakein’ lak er wilier
Jes’ er prancin’ to de fiddle?
Hi, mistah dahky!
See de sun er gittin higher?
Pohin’ down de heatin’
Lak er Sodom an’ Gomire.
Showers am er fallin’
An’ de gawden craps er sproutin.
Hi, mistah dahky!
In yo’ soul is yo’ er doubtin’?
Hi, mistah dahky!
Mo’ den singin’ an’ er prayin’,
De Mastah am requirin’
In dis worrul while yo’s er stayin’,
Spendin’ all yo’ time
Shoutin’, knockin’ down de benches,
Beddah take mo’ time fo’
Hoein’, fixin’ up yo’ fences.
Hi, mistah dahky!
Am de meadows lookin’ temptin’?
Lak er bed er feddahs
Make yo’ dream lak Israel kemptin’?
Sympathizin’ wid yo’
But de fo’ks is dun er sowin’.
Hi, mistah dahky!
Now de nex’ thing am de hoein’.
Hi, mistah dahky!
In yo’ soul will yo’ be singin’
When yo’ see de millins
On de runnin’ vines er clingin’?
Sugah co’n er tasslin’
An’ de punkins tarnin’ yallah,
Seasonin’ an’ er sweetenin’
Gittin’ meely, gittin’ mellah.