Negro Folk Rhymes Wise and Otherwise

NEG RO FOLK RH YMES Wi s e a nd Other wis e WIT H A ST UDY BY T HOMAS W. T ALLEY OF FISK U NIVERS ITY 1mmgaoth T H E MACMILLAN COMPANY 1 9 2 2 All ri h t: r eserv ed , g INT RODUCT ION Of the making of books by individual authors there is no end ; but a cultivated literary taste among the exceptional few has rendered almost im - possible the production o f genuine folk songs . The s o of o o o o of pectacle , theref re, a h m gene us thr ng partly civilized peo ple dancing to the music of crude instruments a nd evolving ou t of dance-rhythm a lyrical or narrative utterance in poetic form is sufli ciently rare in the nineteenth century to chal Ne o Folk Rh me lenge immediate attention . In gr y s is to be found no incons iderable part o f the musical and poetic life - records o f a people ; the compiler o to presents an arresting volume which , in additi n its is being a pioneer and practically unique in field , as nearly exhaustive a s a sympathetic understand ing of o s and o of the Negr mind , careful re earch , lab r s so of s love can make it . Profe r Talley Fi k Uni versity h as spared himself no pains in collecting and piecing together every attainable scrap and fragment o f secular rhyme which might help in adequately ' o interpr eting the inner life of his wn people . V INTRODU CTION o r s Being the express ion of a race in , j u t emerging to s so s from bondage , the e ngs may at fir t seem Of some readers trivial a n d almos t wholly devo id as o o appear literary merit . In phr e l gy they may c an d s o a rude , lacking in that elegance fini h rdin rily associated with poet ic excellence ; in imagery they - o are at times exceedingly winter starved , medi cre , s s o no common , drab, carcely ever ri ing ab ve the s o oo happy environmen t o f the singer . The utl k is fo r os one o f upon life and nature , the m t part , imaginative simplicity and child - like nai vete; super stitions crowd in upon a wo rldly wisdom that is an o o s elementary, practical , d bvi u ; and a warped oo d o o and cr ked human nature , evel ped and f stered ow e . by circumstances , sh s frequ ntly through the lines ? What else might be expected At the time when these rhymes were in pro cess of being created the conditions under which the American Negro lived and labored were not cal culated to inspire him with s f Re a de ire or the highest arti sti c expression . str icted o w s , cramped , b und in un illing ervitude , he looked about him in his miserable little world to see whatever o f the beautiful or happy he might s o d is find ; that which he di c vere pathetically slight , is t k but , such as it , it served o eep alive his stunted -so d os d r artist ul un er the m t a verse ci cumstances. vi INTRODUCTION H e saw sw s b sk or ob the eet pink under a lue y, s o s a a as erved the fading vi let and the roses th t f ll , he passed to a tryst under the o ak trees of a forest , and wrought these things into h is songs of love and Frie les w s w om tenderness . nd s and o ther i e ithout c panionship he lived in imaginatio n with the beasts — and bir ds of the great out-of doo rs ; he knew per ’ son ll oo b a y Mr . C n , Brother Rab it, Mr . Possum and their associates of the wild ; Judge Buzzard a nd Sister Turkey appealed to his fancy as offering ma ter ial for what he supposed to be poetic treatment . Wherever he might find anything in his lowly posi o ti n which seemed to him truly useful or beautiful , he seized upon it an d wove about it the sweetest i song he could sing . The result s not so much poetr y of a high order a s a valuable illustration of rs s o f s - s s the pe i tence arti t impul e even in slavery . so of s o -so s ow In me the e f lk ng , h ever , may be found certain qualities which give them dignity and w ' h o . o s r h t rth They are , when pr perly pre ented , y o s mical to the p int of perfection . I my elf have heard many of them chanted with and Without the o of s s acc mpaniment clapping hand , tamping feet , o f and swaying bodies . Unf rtunately a large part o their liquid melody and flexibility o f movement is lost through confinement in cold print ; but when Vl l INTRODUCTION they are heard from a distance on quiet summer o s o nights or clear Southern m rning , even the m st ISc fastidious ear is satisfied with the rhythmic PU os of o which o f them . That path the Negr character r can never be quite adequately caught in words o transcribed in mus ic is then augmented and intensi o o fied by the peculiar quality o f the Negr v ice , rich o s d c o in overt ne , quavering, weir , caden ed , thr bbing f Or s w with the sufferings o a race . perhap that ell as fo r o developed sense of humor which h , m re than e d s l so rows f s a c ntury , ma e ance tra r bearable ind fuller expressio n in the lilting turn of a note th an in the flashes of wit which a bundantly enliven the of s o is n pages thi v lume . There o e lyric in par ticular w d s o f i s hich , in evi ent incerity feel ng, imple f d a n a o f and una fecte grace , d regul rity form , appeals to me a s having intrinsic literary value ’ ’ ’ Sh e h u a n sh e ss g me , ki me , ’ ’ Sh e w h an d rung my an crie . ’ Sh e said I wu s d e sweetes thing r d r d Dat eve live o d ie . ’ ’ ’ Sh e h u she ss g me an ki me . ’ Oh H ea ben ! De touch 0 her han " Sh e said I wu s d e pu ttiest thing ’ In d e s 0 o hape m rtal man . viii INTRODUCTION ’ o o I t ld her dat I l ve her , Dat my love wu s bed -cord strong ; ’ ’ x s Den I a ed her w en he d have me , ’ ’ “ ’ ” An she j es say, G o long ! There is also a dramatic quality about many of s s oo the e rhyme which must not be overl ked . It has long been my observation that the Negro is oss ss r f o ho not p e ed by natu e o c nsiderable , t ugh as s yet highly developed , histrionic ability ; he take delight in acting ou t in pantomime whatever he r i n ot may be relating in song o story. It s sur s n to - s or i inat pri ing, the , find that the play rhyme , g “ “ ” o s se ing fr m the call and re pon , are really little d ramas when presented in their proper set “ ” s ting . Caught By The Witch would not be in ff if on r w e ective , a da k night , it ere acted in the — vicinity of a graveyard ! And one ballad if I — may be permitted to dignify it by that name called “ ” Promises o f Fr eedom is characterized by an u n ado rned nar rative style and a dramatic ending which are associated with the best English folk s s ballads . The singer tell imply and , one feels, with a grim impersonality of how his mistress promised to set him free ; it seemed a s if sh e would — “ ’ ” never die but she s somehow gone ! His master s om likewi e made pr ises , 1x INTRODUCTION ’ Y es ole o s o s , my M s er pr mi e me ; “ ” ’ But his papers didn t leave me free . ’ ’ A dose of pizen he pped im along . ’ ’ May d e Devil preach is fu ner l song . The manner of this conclusion i s strikingly like “ ” S o s d Edw that of the c tti h balla , ard , The curse of hell frae me sall ye beir , Mither , Mither , s e The curse of hell frae me all ye b ir , Sic cou nseils ye gave to me O. In both a story o f cruelty is suggested in a single d artistic line a nd ended with startling , ramatic b s a ruptne s . tw so ob In fact , these o ngs pr ably had their ultimate o ri gi n i n n ot widely diss imilar types of i s so s t .

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