Paul Laurence Dunbar
Ante Bellum Sermon - Part II
Now dahs othahs dat b'lieve lak Pher'oh
But dey calls de Scriptuah liar
Fu' de Bible says "a servant
Is worthy of his hire"
You cain't git roun' nor thoo it
An' you cain't git ovah it
'Case whatevah place you git in
Dis hyeah Bible too gwine fit
So you see de Lawd's intention
Evah sence de worl' began
Was dat His almighty freedom
Should belong to evah man
But befo' I go much further
I'm gwine to pause agin to say
I'm talkin' 'bout ouah freedom
In a Bibleistic way
But de Moses is a-comin'
An' he's comin', suah and fas'
I kin hyeah his feet trompin'
I kin hyeah his trumpit blas'
But I want to wa'n you people
Don't git too brigity
An' don't git to braggin' 'bout dese things
Jus' wait an' see
An' when Moses wif his powah comes
An' sets us chillun free
We gonna praisе de blessed Mastah
Dat's gin us libеrty
An' we'll shout ouah halleluyahs
On dat mighty reck'nin' day
When we'll be reco'nised ez citizens—
[?] chillun, so let's sing:
Go down, Moses
Go way down in Egypt land
Oh, go down, Moses
Go way down in Egypt land
Tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go
Oh, go down, Moses
Go way down in Egypt land
Tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go