Living
Temperance Rhyme
From Negro Folk Rhymes (1922)
Whisky nor brandy hain't no friend to my kind.
Dey killed my pō' daddy, an' dey troubled my mind.
Sometime he drunk whisky, sometime he drunk ale;
Sometime he kotch de rawhide, an' sometime de flail.
On yon'er high mountain, I'll set up dar high;
An' de wild geese can cheer me while passin' on by.
Go 'way, young ladies, an' let me alone;
For you know I'se a poor boy, an' a long ways from home.
Go put up de hosses an' give 'em some hay;
But don't give me no whisky, so long as I stay.
For whisky nor brandy hain't friend to my kind;
Dey killed my pō' daddy, an' dey troubled my mind.
Cite this poem
MLA
Thomas W. Talley (collector). “Temperance Rhyme.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/talley/324/.
Chicago
Thomas W. Talley (collector). “Temperance Rhyme.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/talley/324/.
Read this poem with the Codex →