Poetry Thursday

I have decided to institute my very own Poetry Thursday as an excuse to post a poem I like once a week, just because.

A Negro Love Song

Seen my lady home las' night,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Hel' huh han' an' sque'z it tight,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Hyeahd huh sigh a little sigh,
Seen a light gleam f'om huh eye,
An' a smile go flittin' by —
Jump back, honey, jump back.

Hyeahd de win' blow thoo de pine,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Mockin'-bird was singin' fine,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
An' my hea't was beatin' so,
When I reached my lady's do',
Dat I could n't ba' to go —
Jump back, honey, jump back.

Put my ahm aroun' huh wais',
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Raised huh lips an' took a tase,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Love me, honey, love me true?
Love me well ez I love you?
An' she answe'd, "'Cose I do"—
Jump back, honey, jump back.

-Paul Laurence Dunbar

A lot of people either don't appreciate Dunbar at all, or only read the poems he wrote in standard English. Some people say that the poems he wrote in dialect were pandering to a white population that would pay for harmless, quaint, non-threatening poetry by a black man. I don't know if that is true or not, so I ignore the question and listen to the music. It is absolutely important that you read this poem out loud to hear the rythym of it. I was lucky enough to catch a reading of this poem on NPR last year, but now I can't find it.