So regarded, it is a most remarkable and
hopeful production."
[Illustration: PAUL LAWRENCE DUNBAR, THE NEGRO POET.]
We reproduce here one of Dunbar's dialect poems entitled
WHEN DE CO'N PONE'S HOT.
Dey is times in life when Nature
Seems to slip a cog an' go
Jes' a-rattlin' down creation,
Lak an ocean's overflow;
When de worl' jes' stahts a-spinnin'
Lak a picaninny's top,
An' you' cup o' joy is brimmin'
'Twel it seems about to slop.
An' you feel jes' lak a racah
Dat is trainin' fu' to trot--
When you' mammy ses de blessin'
An' de co'n pone's hot.
When you set down at de table,
Kin' o' weary lak an' sad,
'An' you'se jest a little tiahed,
An' purhaps a little mad--
How you' gloom tu'ns into gladness,
How you' joy drives out de doubt
When de oven do' is opened
An' de smell comes po'in' out;
Why, de 'lectric light o' Heaven
Seems to settle on de spot,
When yo' mammy ses de blessin'
An' de co'n pone's hot.
When de cabbage pot is steamin'
An' de bacon good an' fat,
When de chittlin's is a-sputter'n'
So's to show yo' whah dey's at;
Take away you sody biscuit,
Take away yo' cake an' pie.
Fu' de glory time is comin',
An' it's proachin' very nigh,
An' you' want to jump an' hollah,
Do you know you'd bettah not,
When you mammy ses de blessin'
An' de co'n pone's hot?
I have heerd o' lots o' sermons,
An' I've heerd o' lots o' prayers;
An' I've listened to some singin'
Dat has tuck me up de stairs
Of de Glory Lan' an' set me
Jes' below de Mahster's th'one,
An' have lef my haht a singin'
In a happy aftah-tone.
Pages:
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149