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Open Poetry #37
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Sambo's Wrath
| Open Poetry #37 |
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Sambo's Wrath |
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Ratleader
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass 
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Sambo’s Wrath He wouldn’ fit an’ wouldn’ try, wouldn’ tell ol’ Massa’ why; dat Sambo wun’t a lazy cuss, but he wun’t like de res’ of us an’ he no house boy, dat be true, dem pickle toes too hard t’ shoe an’ Mamsa you know fo’ a fack she nevah like de way he ack! Po’ Massa’ thought he’d got a weed, come thistle from a niger seed. He saw too much an’ sho’d ‘em young he wouldn’ keep no civil tongue, nor use de side-do’ like he should when he brang eggs nor kindlin’ wood. So f’um de start we had to figga’ he be field han’ when he bigga’ or maybe Massa’ squeeze de trigga’ of he shotgun on dat boy…. Den sho’ ‘nuf dey come de day dey sent him f’um de house away; dey tol’ us why dey close de latch, dey caught him in de melon patch, but we all knowed it wud’n dat he was jus’ doom’ an dat was dat. Sambo jus’ smile becuz’ he knew dey wu’nt a blame thing dey cud do, dat melon patch, it jus’ one part an’ losin’ house boy be’d de start. He nev’ah cuss, he didn’ balk jus’ stah’ted hummin’ while he walk down to de barn, he’d sleep dere now wit’ Massa’s hoss an’ dem ol’ cow, an’ hafta learn t’hoe ‘n pick de rows’a cotton an’ be quick cuz head boy, roun’ him like a sash he carry him one nas’sy lash. But Sambo sing de live-long day an he cud’ hear de house-folk say dat dah’kie’s soudin’ mighty glad ah’ guess dat fiel’ work ain’ so bad. Now while de evenin’ wearin’ thin he switch f’um doo-dah-day to hymn, an’ when de house-folk’ time fo’ bed, good night ol’ Sambo, dey all said, but he’d lef’ dat hoss’ saddle on, an’ come de mornin’, Sambo gone. |
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| © Copyright 2006 Ed Ratledge - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Ratleader
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass |
This is the poem, that this poem was about: /pip/Forum94/HTML/002176.html I got it back! ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº> ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº> |
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Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049California |
Ed...you already know I love this. You did such a super job on dialect. I couldn't do that if you paid me. This: "Now while de evenin’ wearin’ thin he switch f’um doo-dah-day to hymn, an’ when de house-folk’ time fo’ bed, good night ol’ Sambo, dey all said, but he’d lef’ dat hoss’ saddle on, an’ come de mornin’, Sambo gone." A wonderful story!! Enjoyed the way you told it more than the original!  |
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suthern
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723Louisiana |
To pick a favorite part would be to repeat the entire poem... You told a fantastic story... kept true to a difficult dialect... and rhymed so smoothly it all seemed effortless!!! *S* Magnificent work, my friend! I'm so glad you got it back! *S* |
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Ratleader
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass |
I do owe a better explanation of this poem's genesis.... It’s really from a story told me by an old friend (aka friend who is old!) named Jester Hairston…. http://www.a-cappella.com/catalog/artists/cat_jester-hairston.html ….about the old spirituals and how they were used to carry messages about freedom….. I still remember the words he closed it with: “ …white folk sayin’ “Oh listen, all the darkies are happy”….and in the mornin’, eight darkies are GONE!” I loved that story, then and now...because I know it's true. ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº> ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº> ______________Ratleader______________ |
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Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049California |
Thanks for the explanation, Ed. How interesting!! I only remember the story of Little Black Sambo when I was read it as a child. |
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Ratleader
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass |
Yep, and even in the first grade, I thought they were obtuse....my best friend Billy Falk....didn't have anything in him like that kid, what was he going to think, hearing it.... ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº> ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº> |
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OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Glad you found it! Brilliantly done! Though a South African, I can hear the accent in its full musical ring! Here, too, during the Apartheid (pronounced apart-hate - most non-South African journalists get that wrong) days, apparently there were messages in the songs, which was particularly clever here, as most whites understand little if anything of any of the black languages - and just about every African black is born with the singing voice of a nightingale - and so singing was a natural form of expression and so the Apartheid monsters were probably not suspicious (or not much) of the songs! - Owl |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
And I had to literally shut my doors and MAKE the family leave me be to appreciate this... Dialect is always diff'cult--but I did read this aloud to me, and I'm trying to pinpoint an area, and I can't, but it is very very well done. It sho'nuff made me think alot too. And such a combo is like a poetry supersize meal. With the stuff I've been reading on the road lately, my mind is wandering jumbled with possibilities--I picked up Howard Zinn again, and Tenant Farmers of the American South, so trust that I appreciate how very difficult it is to write dialect without resorting to cliche'. I appreciate your sources of inspiration, and trust I'll consider this as an educational source as well. |
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Toerag Member Ascendant
since 1999-07-29
Posts 5622Ala bam a |
Rat...truly an amazing piece... |
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