Skip to main content

Frances E.W. Harper's "Advice to Girls"


Advice to Girls  / Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, 1868

Nay, do not blush! I only heard
You had a mind to marry;
I thought I’d speak a friendly word,
So just one moment tarry.

Wed not a man whose merit lies
In things of outward show,
In raven hair, or flashing eyes,
That please your fancy so.

But marry one who’s good and kind,
And free from all pretense;
Who without a gifted mind,
At least has common sense. 
####30


Slave Marriage  /Anonymous

Dark an’ stormy may come de wedder;
I jines dis he-male an’ dis she-male together.
Let none, but Him dat makes de thunder,
Put dis he-male an’ dis she-male asunder. 
I darefore’ nounce you bofe de same.
Be good, go’long, an’ keep up yo’ name.
De broomstick’s jumped, de worl’s not wide.
She’s now yo’ own.  Salute yo’ bride!

Note: if you have a problem with dialect try reading it out loud #####30



Dearest   / Robert C. O. Benjamin, 1883

I have loved thee fond and truly,
In years that have passed away,
And I love thee now as dearly
As upon our bridal day. 

Yea, my heart is more thine own, dear,
For I know thy priceless worth;
Of all, thou art the dearest,
On this beautiful, bright earth.

In time of fiercest struggling,
When cheerless was my life,
Thy, loving smile has armed me
To conquer in the strife. 

The voice of sweet encouragement
Has nerved my fainting soul.
And brought me sweet contentment,
And saved and made me whole. 

So I love thee fond and truly, dear,
And shall ever love thee so,
Until the messenger of death
Has struck his fatal blow. 
########30

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lavinia Bell, A Story to Pass On (Part 1)

Born in Washington DC   / Enslaved in Texas   /   Interviewed in Canada 1861 I was going over newspaper and magazine interviews, 1827-1863 in collection edited by John W. Blassingame.   Lavinia Bell’s story is particularly touching in her determination to be free at all costs yet disturbing in the raw violence to which she was subjected.   Born free in Washington she was stolen as an infant and enslaved in Galveston, Texas.   As the property of William Whirl, his wife, Polly, taught Lavinia to be a performer, “taught to dance, sing, cackle like a hen, or crow like a rooster…”   About the age of 13 or 14, she was sent to the cotton field an exposed to a different level of bondage. In the Galveston, Texas cotton field the Whirl's laboring slaves were exposed to the relentless sun naked, their hair shaved close to their heads, and receiving fifty lashes daily, whether they worked or not.   Bell reported that “they were also compelle...
1 comment
Read more

A King Day Quiz

1.      Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,  graduated from Morehouse with a degree in Divinity.    True   False 2.      Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.,  pastored what church in Montgomery, Alabama? 3.      According to Rev. Ralph Abernathy the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South.    True   False 4.      Name one of the girls killed in 1963 at the 16 th Street Baptist Church bombing, Birmingham, Alabama? 5.      At the time of his assassination, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his advisors were planning what campaign? 6.      Of the following women which one was not part of in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s: Pauli Murray, Ella Baker, Diane Nash, Septima Poinsette Clark, Fannie Lou Hamer, Sojourner Truth 7.      What does SNCC stand for?   ...
6 comments
Read more

Can You Complete or Answer These Folk Saying/Superstitions?

     Blood is thicker than ----    Apple  don’t fall to far from the ---      Right hand itching means you gonna get ---      What are you supposed to do with hair after combing it?      Don’t wash clothes on New Year’s Day because---      You have a son till he marries a wife;   You have a daughter ---       I laugh and joke, but ---       What does it mean to jump the broom?       There’s no fool like an --- fool       Eye itching mean ---- coming       Bonus: It’s good luck to eat what on New Year’s Day We would like to welcome the new viewers and commentators who joined us yesterday, particularly those from Canada.   Know that we welcome your comments   water; tree; $; burn ...
3 comments
Read more