Part 11 (2/2)

_Well, I ain't goin' to study war no mo', Well, I ain't goin' to study war no mo', Well, I ain't goin' to study war no mo'._

Well such a shoutin' an' prayin'

Down by the riverside.

Well I goin' to meet my sister, Down by the riverside.

Well the brothers got to shoutin', Down by the riverside.

Said the old singers: ”Some o' dese mornin's, hope I'll see my mother, hope I'll jine de ban', hope I'll walk bout Zion, Talk wid de angels, Talk my trouble over” while they looked ”away to hebben”. Now the negro sings:

Gwine to weep, gwine to mourn, Gwine to git up early in de morn, Fo' my soul's goin' to heaven jes' sho's you born, Brother Gabriel goin' to blow his horn.

Goin' to sing, goin' to pray, Goin' to pack all my things away, Fo' my soul's goin' to heaven jes' sho's you born, Brother Gabriel gwine ter blow his horn.

”Pray come an' go wid me” sings the Christian, for ”I'm on my journey home to the New Jerusalem”. If refused he says, ”Now don't let me beg you to follow me, for I'm on my journey home”, and finally he sings, ”Well, brother come an' go wid me.” If the sinner needs other exhortation he may listen to the mixed song ”Dry bones goin' to rise ergain”, in which there is first warning, then hope of glory.

Some go ter meetin' to sing an' shout, _Dry bones goin' ter rise again_; Fore six month deys all turned out, _Dry bones goin' ter rise again_.

_O little chillun, O little childun, O lit'le childun, dry bones goin' rise ergin._

Talk erbout me but taint my fault, Dry bones goin ter rise ergin; But me an' G.o.dermighty goin' walk an' talk, Dry bones goin' ter rise ergin.

Ef you want ter go to heaven when you die, Dry bones goin' rise ergin; Jes' stop yo' tongue from tellin' lies, Dry bones goin' ter rise ergin.

In the old plantation song Ezekiel was represented down in a valley ”full of bones as dry as dust” and

He gib de bone a mighty shake, Fin' de ole sinners too dry to quake,

Death for the Christian is _shouting_: death for the sinner is _doom_.

”When I git to heaven, goin' shout on my knees” gives an accurate picture of what the negro conceives to be happiness. But he not only expects to shout while on earth and when he gets home, but even when he dies. For says he,

My mother dies a shoutin', an' I goin' die shoutin', too, Yes, my mother died a shoutin' an' I goin' die shoutin', too.

My mother died a shoutin', my mother died a shoutin', Yes, my mother died a shoutin' an' I goin' die shoutin', too.

Still his mother is not the only one who has died shouting; he sings in the same way of _father_, _preacher_, _brother_, _sister_ and others; the slave song included ”_Missus_” and ”_Marster_” or ”_Ma.s.sa_”. But shouting must not be all. The negro and his brothers, sisters, mother are all to die ”_mournin'_”, and ”_prayin'_”. In ”Join de Heaven wid de Angels” the rich voice of one or two leaders and the swelling chorus produce an effect scarcely surpa.s.sed.

O join on, join my Lord, _Join de heaven wid de angels_; O join on, join my Lord, _Join de heaven wid de angels_.

What kin' er shoes is dem you wear?

_Join de heaven wid de angels_; Dat you kin' walk upon de air, _Join de heaven wid de angels_.

Oh, G.o.d don't talk like a nat'al man, Join de heaven wid de angels; He talk to de sinner, he understan', Join de heaven wid de angels.

I'm Baptis' bred an' I'm Baptis' bo'n, Join de heaven wid de angels; An' when I die dey's a Baptis' gone, Join de heaven wid de angels.

Jes' so de tree fall jes' so it lie, Join de heaven wid de angels; Jes so de sinner lib' jes' so he die, Join de heaven wid de angels.

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