by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)
Seen my lady home las' night
Language: English
Seen my lady home las' night, Jump back, honey, jump back. Hel' huh han' an' sque'z it tight, Jump back, honey, jump back. Hyeahd huh sigh a little sigh, Seen a light gleam f'om huh eye, An' a smile go flittin' by -- Jump back, honey, jump back. Hyeahd de win' blow thoo de pine, Jump back, honey, jump back. Mockin'-bird was singin' fine, Jump back, honey, jump back. An' my hea't was beatin' so, When I reached my lady's do', Dat I could n't ba' to go -- Jump back, honey, jump back. Put my ahm aroun' huh wais', Jump back, honey, jump back. Raised huh lips an' took a tase, Jump back, honey, jump back. Love me, honey, love me true? Love me well ez I love you? An' she answe'd, "'Cose I do" -- Jump back, honey, jump back.
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Text Authorship:
- by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "A Negro Love Song", appears in Majors and Minors, first published 1895 [author's text checked 1 time 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 William Levi Dawson (1899 - 1970), "Jump back, honey, jump back", published 1923 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by James Gilroth , "Seen my lady home las' night" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (b. 1941), "A Negro Love Song", 1994, from Common Ground: An Operatic Songfest, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Simon Sargon (b. 1938), "A Negro Love Song", 1965 [ soprano and piano ], from Jump Back, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-27
Line count: 24
Word count: 139