by James Weldon Johnson (1871 - 1938)
Brer Rabbit, you's de cutes' of 'em all
Language: English
Once der was a meetin' in de wilderness, All de critters of creation dey was dar; Brer Rabbit, Brer 'Possum, Brer Wolf, Brer Fox, King Lion, Mister Terrapin, Mister B'ar. De question fu' discussion was, "Who is de bigges' man?" Dey 'pinted ole Jedge Owl to decide; He polished up his spectacles an' put 'em on his nose, An' to the question slowly he replied: "Brer Wolf am mighty cunnin', Brer Fox am mighty sly, Brer Terrapin an' 'Possum -- kinder small; Brer Lion's mighty vicious, Brer B'ar he's sorter 'spicious, Brer Rabbit, you's de cutes' of 'em all." Dis caused a great confusion 'mongst de animals, Ev'y critter claimed dat he had won de prize; Dey 'sputed an' dey arg'ed, dey growled an' dey roared, Den putty soon de dus' begin to rise. Brer Rabbit he jes' stood aside an' urged 'em on to fight. Brer Lion he mos' tore Brer B'ar in two; W'en dey was all so tiahd dat dey couldn't catch der bref Brer Rabbit he jes' grabbed de prize an' flew. Brer Wolf am mighty cunnin', Brer Fox am mighty sly, Brer Terrapin an' Possum -- kinder small; Brer Lion's mighty vicious, Brer B'ar he's sorter 'spicious, Brer Rabbit, you's de cutes' of 'em all.
Text Authorship:
- by James Weldon Johnson (1871 - 1938), appears in Fifty years & other poems, first published 1917 [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Brer Rabbit, you's de cutes' of 'em all", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-23
Line count: 28
Word count: 208