Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
Little Brown Baby
1Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,
2 Come to yo' pappy an' set on his knee.
3What you been doin', suh -- makin' san' pies?
4 Look at dat bib -- you's es du'ty ez me.
5Look at dat mouf -- dat's merlasses, I bet;
6 Come hyeah, Maria, an' wipe off his han's.
7Bees gwine to ketch you an' eat you up yit,
8 Bein' so sticky an sweet -- goodness lan's!
9Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,
10 Who's pappy's darlin' an' who's pappy's chile?
11Who is it all de day nevah once tries
12 Fu' to be cross, er once loses dat smile?
13Whah did you git dem teef? My, you's a scamp!
14 Whah did dat dimple come f'om in yo' chin?
15Pappy do' know you -- I b'lieves you's a tramp;
16 Mammy, dis hyeah's some ol' straggler got in!
17Let's th'ow him outen de do' in de san',
18 We do' want stragglers a-layin' 'roun' hyeah;
19Let's gin him 'way to de big buggah-man;
20 I know he's hidin' erroun' hyeah right neah.
21Buggah-man, buggah-man, come in de do',
22 Hyeah's a bad boy you kin have fu' to eat.
23Mammy an' pappy do' want him no mo',
24 Swaller him down f'om his haid to his feet!
25Dah, now, I t'ought dat you'd hug me up close.
26 Go back, ol' buggah, you sha'n't have dis boy.
27He ain't no tramp, ner no straggler, of co'se;
28 He's pappy's pa'dner an' play-mate an' joy.
29Come to you' pallet now -- go to yo' res';
30 Wisht you could allus know ease an' cleah skies;
31Wisht you could stay jes' a chile on my breas'--
32 Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes!
Notes
3-4] san': sand.
you's es du'ty ez me: you's as dirty as me
19] buggah-man: bogey man.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1913), Facsimile in The Collected Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, ed. Joanne M. Braxton (Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia, 1993), pp. 134-35. PS 1556 AI 1993 Robarts Library.
First publication date:
1896
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 1998.
Recent editing: 4:2002/4/3
Rhyme: ababcdcd aeaefgfg hihijkjk lmlmnana
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