Negro Folk Rhymes (1922) ("lemonade" rhyme)

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NEGRO FOLK RHYMES
Wise and Otherwise
with a study
by Thomas W. Talley
New York: The MacMillan COmpany
1922

Pg. 10:
STAND BACK< BLACK MAN
Oh!
STAN' back, black man,
You cain't shine;
Yo' lips is too thick,
An' you hain't my kin'.

Pg. 63:
DON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS
DON'T ax me no questions,
An' I won't tell you no lies;
But bring me dem apples,
An' I'll make you some pies.

Pg. 113:
DOES MONEY TALK?
DEM whitefolks say sat money talk.
If it tak lak dey tell,
Den ev'ry time it come to Sam,
It up an' say: "Farewell!"

Pg. 114:
I'LL EAT WHEN I'M HUNGRY
I'LL eat when I's hungry
An' I'll drink when I'se dry;
An' if de whitefolks don't kill me,
I'll live till I die.

In my liddle log cabin,
Ever since I'se been born;
Dere hain't been no nothin'
'Cept dat hard salt parch corn.

But I knows what's a henhouse,
An' de tucky he charve;
An' if ole Mosser don't kill me,
I cain't never starve.

Pg. 153:
HERE I STAND
HERE I stan', raggity an' dirty;
If you don't come kiss me, I'll run lak a tucky.

Here I stan' on two liddle chips,
Pray, come kiss my sweet liddle lips.

Here I stan' crooked lak a horn;
I hain't had no kiss since I'se been born.

Pg. 159:
ASPIRATION
IF I wus de President
Of dese United States,
I'd eat good 'lasses candy,
An' swing on all de gates.

Pg. 163:
THE END OF TEN LITTLE NEGROES
TEN liddle Niggers, a-eatin', fat an' fine;
One choke hisse'f an' date lef' nine...

Pg. 171:
DEEDLE, DUMPLING
DEEDLE, deedle, dumplin'! My boy, Pete!
He went to bed wid his dirty feet.
Mammy laid a switch down on dat sheet!
Deedle, deedle, dumplin'! My boy, Pete!

Pg. 186:
DON'T SING BEFORE BREAKFAST
DON'T sing out 'fore Breakfast,
Don't sing 'fore you eat,
Or you'll cry out 'fore midnight,
You'll cry 'fore you sleep.

Pg. 207:
LEARN TO COUNT
NAUGHT'S a naught,
Five's a figger.
All fer de white man.
None fer de Nigger.

Ten's a ten,
But it's mighty funny;
When you cain't count good,
You hain't got no money.

Pg. 209:
INDEPENDENCE
I'SE jes as innnerpenunt as a pig on ice.
Gwineter git up ag'in if I slips down twice.
If I cain't git up, I can jes lie down.
I don't want no Niggers to be he'pin' me 'roun'.

Pg. 211:
DRINKING RAZOR SOUP
HE'S been drinkin' razzer soup;
Dat sharp Nigger, black lak ink.
If he don't watch dat tongue o' his,
Somebody'll hurt 'im 'for' he think.

He cain't drive de pigeons t' roost,
Dough he talk so big an' smart.
Hain't got de sense to tole 'em in.
Cain't more an' drive dat ole mule chyart.

Pg. 244:
"Here's yo' col' ice lemonade,
It's made in de shade,
It's stirred wid a spade.
Come buy my col' ice lemonade.
It's made in de shade
An sol' in de sun.
Ef you hain't got no money,
You cain't git none.
One glass fer a nickel,
An' two fer a dime,
Ef you hain't got de chink,
You cain't git mine.
Come right way,
Fer it sho' will pay
To git candy fer de ladies
An' cakes fer de babies."