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FOLK POEMS
Selections
of Native American, Spanish American, EuroAmerican and African American
folk poems were available to readers in the nineteenth century and were
often standardized for a largely EuroAmerican audience. Many of these
works were changed by the processes of transmission but also by the processes
of cultural adaptation, especially when a dominant-culture transcriber
sought to "standardize" traditional works. It is important to
remember that these are poems as they appeared in nineteenth-century anthologies.
Love-Song (Winnebago)
Whomsoe'er look I upon
He becomes love-crazed;
Whomsoe'er speak I unto,
He becomes love-crazed;
Whomsoe'er whisper I to,
He becomes love-crazed;
All men who love women,
Them I rule, them I rule,
My friend;
Whom I touch, whom I touch,
He becomes love-crazed.
[AP]
Song After Rain (Hopi)
Corn-blossom maidens
Here in the fields,
Patches of beans in flower,
Fields all abloom,
Water shining after rain,
Blue clouds looming above.
Now behold!
Through bright clusters of flowers
Yellow butterflies
Are chasing at play,
And through the blossoming beans Blue butterflies
Are chasing at play.
[AP]
Ballad of Our Lady*
On the bank of a clear spring
An Angel sat weeping
To see that soul forever damned
Which he had had in keeping.
Said the Virgin to that Angel,
Weep not, Angel strong,
With my Son I will entreat
That this soul shall have pardon.
O,
Son who art called Beloved
Son of my heart, but one,
By the milk of my breasts maternal
Grant you this soul pardon.
Mother
who art called Beloved,
Mother of my heart, but one,
Why for so great an offender,
Art thou asking pardon?
Son
that I call Beloved,
Son of my heart, to me
While he was minding his sheep
He prayed me a rosary.
Mother
that art called Beloved,
Mother of my heart, the same,
If this soul thou so desirest,
Go pluck it from the flame.
All
pitiful the Virgin went
To Hell's infernal fire
And by her holy scapulary
She won to her desire.
Went
the Devil then envenomed
And close to Heaven came,
Lord that soul thou gavest me,
Thy Mother robs from the flame.
Now
quit you, quit you, Lucifer,
Thy treachery let be,
That which my Mother does is well,
And is vouchsafed by me.
[AP]
*A
velorio or service of song and prayer is performed in fulfillment of a
vow; an altar is erected and honor is paid to the saint to whom the vow
is directed. Canciones are sung on these occasions.
The Buck and The Doe*
The buck and the doe,
Set out for Sante Fe,
To buy for their little fawns
Sugar and caf‚.
The buck and the doe,
They went to Santa Fe.
The doe wanted sugar,
And the buck, caf‚.
The
buck and the doe
They argued all the way;
The doe all night
And the buck all day.
The
buck and the doe
They walked with anxious care,
For fear that the hunters
Would take them in a snare.
The
buck and the doe
They went to Santa Fe,
To buy for their little fawns
Sugar and caf‚.
[AP]
*A
Spanish American children's poem, similar in popularity to the Anglo-American
poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Numerous versions appeared in
Texas and California.
The Cactus
Haughty lady, discard that look
So like a cactus the wind has weathered;
With patience, time, and a little hook
Even the green fruit may be gathered.
Observe tht remnant of a tree
Which a green Providence has fathered;
Time has no gift of sympathy
And winter's favors leave all withered.
Observe
your cactus of the plains,
Proud of its drouth, so long unwatered.
But what avail the arrogant rains
When, for its sweets, the trunk is shattered.
Haughty
lady, discard that look
So like a cactus the wind has weathered;
With patience, time, and a little hood
Even the green fruit may be gathered.
[AP]
Young Charlotte
Now Charlotte lived on the mountain side
In a bleak and dreary spot;
There was no house for miles around
Except her father's cot.
And yet on many a wintry night,
Young swains were gathered there;
For her father kept a social board,
And she was very fair.
One
New Year's eve as the sun went down,
Far looked her wishful eye
Out from the frosty window pane
As merry sleighs went by.
In
a village fifteen miles away,
Was to be a ball that night,
And though the air was heavy and cold
Her heart was warm and light.
How
brightly beamed her laughing eye,
As a well-known voice was heard;
And driving up to the cottage door
Her lover's sleigh appeared.
"O
daughter dear," her mother cried,
"This blanket 'round you fold;
It is a dreadful night tonight.
You'll catch your death of cold."
"O
nay, O nay!" young Charlotte cried,
And she laughed like a gypsy queen;
"To ride in blankets muffled up,
I never would be seen.
"My
silken cloak is quite enough,
You know 'tis lined throughout;
Besides I have my silken scarf
To twine my neck about."
Her
bonnet and her gloves were on;
She stepped into the sleigh;
Rode swiftly doswn the mountain side
And o'er the hills away.
With
muffled face and silent lips
Five miles at length were passed
When Charles with few and shivering words
The silence broke at last.
"Such
a dreadful night I never saw.
The reins I scarce can hold."
Fair Charlotte shivering faintly said,
"I am exceeding cold."
He
cracked his whip, he urged his steed
Much faster than before.
And thus five other dreary miles
In silence were passed o'er.
Said
Charles, "How fast the shivering ice
Is gathering on my brow."
And Charlotte still more faintly said,
"I'm growing warmer now."
So
on they rode through frosty air
And glittering cold starlight,
Until at last the village lamps
And the ballroom came in sight.
They
reached the door and Charles sprang out;
He reached his hand for her.
She sat there like a monument
That has no power to stir.
He
called her once, he called her twice;
She answered not a word.
He asked her for her hand again,
And still she never stirred.
He
took her hand in his--O God!
'Twas cold and hard as stone.
He tore the mantle from her face,
Cold stars upon it shone.
Then
quickly to the glowing hall
Her lifeless form he bore;
Fair Charlotte's eyes were closed in death,
Her voice was heard no more.
And
there he sat down by her side
While bitter tears did flow,
And cried, "My own, my charming bride,
You never more will know."
He
twined his arms around her neck,
He kissed her marble brow;
His thoughts flew back to where she said,
"I'm growing warmer now."
He
carried her back to the sleigh,
And with her he rode home;
And when he reached the cottage door
O how her parents mourned.
Her
parents mourned for many a year,
And Charles wept in the gloom.
Till at last her lover died of grief,
And they both lie in one tomb.
[AP;
c. 1830]
Whistling Girls
Gran'ma said, "It's a very queer thing;
Boys must whistle and girls must sing.
"That's how it is," I heard her say.
"The same tomorrow as yesterday."
Gran'ma said when I asked her why
Girls couldn't whistle the same as I,
"Son, you know it's a natural thing
For boys to whistle and for girls to sing."
Gran'ma
said, "'Twould never do;
An' there's a very good reason, too:
Whistling girls an' crowing hens
Always come to some bad ends."
[AP]
Same Train
Same train carry my mother,
Same train, same train,
Same train be back to-morrer,
Same train, same train.
Same train carry my sister,
Same train, same train,
Same train be back to-morrer,
Same train, same train.
Same
train a-blowin' at de station,
Same train, same train,
Same train be back to-morrer,
Same train, same train.
[AP]
Steal Away
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home,
I ain't got long to stay here.
My Lord, He calls me,
He calls me by the thunder,
The trumpet sounds within-a my soul,
I ain't got long to stay here.
Steal
away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home
I ain't got long to stay here.
Green
trees a-bending, po' sinner stand a-trembling,
The trumpet sounds within-a my soul,
Oh, Lord, I ain't got long to stay here.
[AP]
Blue Woman
When a woman blue, when a woman blue,
She hang her head an' cry.
When a woman blue, when a woman blue,
She hang her head an' cry.
When a man gits blue
He grab a railroad truck an' ride.
Gwineter lay my head, gwineter lay my head,
Down on some railroad line.
Gwineter lay my head, gwineter lay my head,
Down on some railroad line.
Let de train roll by
An' pacify my min'.
[AP]
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