Bans a Killin - Louise Bennett
Aug. 25th, 2011 01:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alee_grrlOriginally posted this morning on ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
poetry, and the lovely azuire asked me to cross post here.
Bans a Killin by Louise Bennett
poetry, and the lovely azuire asked me to cross post here. Bans a Killin by Louise Bennett
So yuh a de man me hear bout! Ah yuh dem seh dah teck Whole heap a English oat seh dat yuh gwine kill dialec! Meck me get it straight, mas Charlie, For me no quite understand – Yuh gwine kill all English dialec Or jus Jamaica one? Ef yuh dah equal up wid English Language, den wha meck Yuh gwine go feel inferior when It come to dialec? Ef yuh cyaan sing 'Linstead Market' An 'Water come a me yeye’ Yuh wi haffi tap sing 'Auld lang syne’ An ‘Comin through de rye'. Dah language weh yuh proud a, Weh yuh honour an respec – Po Mas Charlie, yuh no know se Dat it spring from dialec! Dat dem start fi try tun language From de fourteen century - Five hundred years gawn an dem got More dialec dan we! Yuh wi haffi kill de Lancashire, De Yorkshire, de Cockney, De broad Scotch and de Irish brogue Before yuh start kill me! Yuh wi haffi get de Oxford Book A English Verse, an tear Out Chaucer, Burns, Lady Grizelle An plenty a Shakespeare! When yuh done kill 'wit' an 'humour', When yuh kill 'variety', Yuh wi haffi fine a way fi kill Originality! An mine how yuh dah read dem English Book deh pon yuh shelf, For ef yuh drop a 'h' yuh mighta Haffi kill yuhself! | So you’re the man I hear about! You’re the one that’s made A whole lot of English oaths that say You’re gonna kill dialect! Let me get it straight, Mr. Charlie, For I don’t quite understand – Are you gonna kill all English dialects Or just the Jamaican one? If you’ve examined the English Language, Then what makes you feel inferior when it comes to dialects? If you can’t sing ‘Linstead Market’ And ‘Water come a me yeye’ Then we have to stop singing ‘Auld lang syne’ And ‘Comin through de rye’. The language you are so proud of, Which you honor and respect— Poor Mr. Charlie, don’t you see that It springs from dialects! They've tried to turn it into a language From the fourteenth century – Five hundred years have passed and now They’ve got more dialects than we do! You would have to kill the Lancashire, The Yorkshire, the Cockney, The broad Scotch and the Irish brogue Before you start to kill me! You would have to get the Oxford Book Of English Verse and tear Out Chaucer, Burns, Lady Grizelle And lots of Shakespeare! When you’ve finished killing ‘wit’ and ‘humor’, When you’ve killed ‘variety’, You will have to find a way to kill Originality! And how are you gonna read those English Books there upon your shelf, ‘Cause if you drop a ‘h’ you might Have to kill yourself! |
