When Malindy Sings
by Paul Laurence Dunbar

G’WAY an’ quit dat noise, Miss Lucy —
Put dat music book away;
What’s de use to keep on tryin’?
Ef you practise twell you’re gray,
You cain’t sta’t no notes a-flyin’
Lak de ones dat rants and rings
F’om de kitchen to be big woods
When Malindy sings.

You ain’t got de nachel o’gans
Fu’ to make de soun’ come right,
You ain’t got de tu’ns an’ twistin’s
Fu’ to make it sweet an’ light.
Tell you one thing now, Miss Lucy,
An’ I’m tellin’ you fu’ true,
When hit comes to raal right singin’,
‘T ain’t no easy thing to do.

Easy ‘nough fu’ folks to hollah,
Lookin’ at de lines an’ dots,
When dey ain’t no one kin sence it,
An’ de chune comes in, in spots;
But fu’ real melojous music,
Dat jes’ strikes yo’ hea’t and clings,
Jes’ you stan’ an’ listen wif me
When Malindy sings.

Ain’t you nevah hyeahd Malindy?
Blessed soul, tek up de cross!
Look hyeah, ain’t you jokin’, honey?
Well, you don’t know whut you los’.
Y’ ought to hyeah dat gal a-wa’blin’,
Robins, la’ks, an’ all dem things,
Heish dey moufs an’ hides dey faces
When Malindy sings.

Fiddlin’ man jes’ stop his fiddlin’,
Lay his fiddle on de she’f;
Mockin’-bird quit tryin’ to whistle,
‘Cause he jes’ so shamed hisse’f.
Folks a-playin’ on de banjo
Draps dey fingahs on de strings–
Bless yo’ soul–fu’gits to move em,
When Malindy sings.

She jes’ spreads huh mouf and hollahs,
“Come to Jesus,” twell you hyeah
Sinnahs’ tremblin’ steps and voices,
Timid-lak a-drawin’ neah;
Den she tu’ns to “Rock of Ages,”
Simply to de cross she clings,
An’ you fin’ yo’ teahs a-drappin’
When Malindy sings.

Who dat says dat humble praises
Wif de Master nevah counts?
Heish yo’ mouf, I hyeah dat music,
Ez hit rises up an’ mounts–
Floatin’ by de hills an’ valleys,
Way above dis buryin’ sod,
Ez hit makes its way in glory
To de very gates of God!

Oh, hit’s sweetah dan de music
Of an edicated band;
An’ hit’s dearah dan de battle’s
Song o’ triumph in de lan’.
It seems holier dan evenin’
When de solemn chu’ch bell rings,
Ez I sit an’ ca’mly listen
While Malindy sings.

Towsah, stop dat ba’kin’, hyeah me!
Mandy, mek dat chile keep still;
Don’t you hyeah de echoes callin’
F’om de valley to de hill?
Let me listen, I can hyeah it,
Th’oo de bresh of angels’ wings,
Sof’ an’ sweet, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,”
Ez Malindy sings.

Notes to Make the Sound Come Right
Four Innovators of Jazz Poetry

By T. J. Anderson III

Traces the jazz impulse in contemporary African American poetry.

In “When Malindy Sings” the great African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar writes about the power of African American music, the “notes to make the sound come right.”

In this book T. J. Anderson III, son of the brilliant composer, Thomas Anderson Jr., asserts that jazz became in the twentieth century not only a way of revising old musical forms, such as the spiritual and work song, but also a way of examining the African American social and cultural experience.

He traces the growing history of jazz poetry and examines the work of four innovative and critically acclaimed African American poets whose work is informed by a jazz aesthetic: Stephen Jonas (1925?–1970) and the unjustly overlooked Bob Kaufman (1925–1986), who have affinities with Beat poetry; Jayne Cortez (1936– ), whose work is rooted in surrealism; and the difficult and demanding Nathaniel Mackey (1947– ), who has links to the language writers. Each fashioned a significant and vibrant body of work that employs several of the key elements of jazz.

Right: Paul Laurence Dunbar

Anderson shows that through their use of complex musical and narrative weaves these poets incorporate both the tonal and performative structures of jazz and create work that articulates the African journey.

From improvisation to polyrhythm, they crafted a unique poetics that expresses a profound debt to African American culture, one that highlights the crucial connection between music and literary production and links them to such contemporary writers as Michael Harper, Amiri Baraka, and Yusef Komunyakaa, as well as young recording artists—United Future Organization, Us3, and Groove Collection—who have successfully merged hip-hop poetry and jazz.

Source: http://www.uapress.com/titles/fa04/anderson_notesound.html

Link back to the Poetry Wednesday tour on Laurita’s page

deletereply gileson wrote on Jun 23, ’09 This is not fair! How can I get any work done when the Duke and BB King and Bird are filling my head with great music? The NPR station here in Little Rock plays this music every Mon thru Fri from about 10 PM to 6 AM, Some nights I lie in bed with a book and this music playing and before I realize what is happening, the NPR Morning Edition comes on (at 6:00 AM). Good thing I don’t require more than about 4 hours of sleep out of 24. Thanks for this great music! Tim

deletereply instrumentalpavilion wrote on Jun 23, ’09 The music compliments this poem wonderfully Laurita…no need t worry. Thanks for the post! : ) Fred

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jun 23, ’09 gileson said How can I get any work done when the Duke and BB King and Bird are filling my head with great music? I’m glad you enjoy it, Tim !

deletereply caffeinatedjo wrote on Jun 23, ’09 Exquisite, that’s what this page is! Love the way he uses the natural dialect/spelling to make his poetry sound so authentic.

deletereply skyerider wrote on Jun 23, ’09 Pulled me in and floated me away for a bit…