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by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)

Florida Night
Language: English 
Win’ a-blowin’ gentle so de san’ lay low,
San’ a little heavy f’om de rain,
All de pa’ms a-wavin’ an’ a-weavin’ slow,
Sighin’ lak a sinnah-soul in pain.
Alligator grinnin’ by de ol’ lagoon,
Mockin’-bird a-singin’ to be big full moon.
‘Skeeter go a-skimmin’ to his fightin’ chune
(Lizy Ann’s a-waitin’ in de lane!).

Moccasin a-sleepin’ in de cyprus swamp;
Need n’t wake de gent’man, not fu’ me.
Mule, you need n’t wake him w’en you switch an’ stomp,
Fightin’ off a ‘skeeter er a flea.
Florida is lovely, she’s de fines’ lan’
Evah seed de sunlight f’om de Mastah’s han’,
‘Ceptin’ fu’ de varmints an’ huh fleas an’ san’
An’ de nights w’en Lizy Ann ain’ free.

Moon ‘s a-kinder shaddered on de melon patch;
No one ain’t a-watchin’ ez I go.
Climbin’ of de fence so ‘s not to click de latch
Meks my gittin’ in a little slow.
Watermelon smilin’ as it say, ‘I’ s free;’
Alligator boomin’, but I let him be,
Florida, oh, Florida ‘s de lan’ fu’ me –
(Lizy Ann a-singin’ sweet an’ low).

Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Simon Sargon (b. 1938), "Florida Night", 1965 [ soprano and piano ], from Jump Back, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2021-02-09
Line count: 24
Word count: 181

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