When Malindy Sings Comments

I also remember my mother reciting this poem with such expression and using the broken language correctly. My mother was from Acamac County Virginia and her school encouraged students to memorize and recite for (at that time) , Negro History Week Programs. She also could recite the with 'Jump, Back Honey, Jump Back.

I also remember my mother reciting this poem with such expression and using the broken language correctly. My mother was from Acamac County Virginia and her school encouraged students to memorize and recite for (at that time) , Negro History Week Programs. She also could recite the with 'Jump, Back Honey, Jump Back.

I used to know this poem by memory. This is, of course, one of Dunbar's dialect poems. If one were to go very deeply in analizing this poem, they would come up with a countless amount of interpretations. It shows the natural talent bestowed upon certain people, regardless of class, gennder, age, or race. The Miss Lucy character, most likely one placed in a higher status due to her race does not have the natural ability to sing as Malindy does. Though, she attempts to sing well by using a music book, the narrator tells her to put it away and 'what's the use to keep on trying if you practice till you're gray? ' Malindy is blessed with a beautiful voice that comes easily to her without training. It seems to come straight from nature and nature itself pauses because her music is almost celestial (not the line of the mockingbird that stops singing) . This is quite a lyrical poem and one imagines what such a voice sounds like through Dunbar's words. You almost beg the poem to have some sort of an audio. A very majestic piece.

My mother used to recite this poem at various social functions when I was a child. It brings back beautiful memories.