James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922.
Why Adam Sinned
“I
’Bout Adam in da scripchuh long ago.
Da lady folks all ’bused him, sed, he knowed it wus’n right
An’ ’cose da men folks dey all sed, “Dat’s so.”
I felt sorry fuh Mistuh Adam, an’ I felt like puttin’ in,
’Cause I knows mo’ dan dey do, all ’bout whut made Adam sin:
An’ teach him right fum wrong an’ show him
Things he ought to see.
I knows down in my heart—he’d-a let dat apple be
But Adam nevuh had no dear old Ma-am-my.
He nevuh knowed no pickaninny life.
He started in a great big grown up man, an’ whut is mo’,
He nevuh had da right kind uf a wife.
Jes s’pose he’d had a Mammy when dat temptin’ did begin
An’ she’d a come an’ tole him
“Son, don’ eat dat—dat’s a sin.”
An’ teach him right fum wrong an’ show him
Things he ought to see.
I knows down in my heart he’d a let dat apple be,
But Adam nevuh had no dear old Ma-am-my.