Mis' Lulu Sez - a Collection of Dialect Poems by Louise Bennett. Printed by the Gleaner Co. Ltd. (no date, but there is an ad for 1949 Model cars) 5 1/2" x 8" 185 pages plus ads Paperback. Cover design by Eric Coverley. Blue paper covers are discolored to brown on the spine. there is a 3/4" long hole in the spine. The very bottom of the spine has separated from the book. Some wrinkling to the spine appears from publication. There is also some cracking. Water stains to the covers.. A vertical crease on the front cover. Book has a bit of a bend. Paper is a bit tanned with no effect on paper flexibility. A little bit of wear on the tips of the pages. Otherwise, no previous owner markings. No tears, folds or creases to pages. Binding is tight with no looseness to pages. Not ex-library, not remaindered and not a facsimile reprint. For sale by Jon Wobber, bookseller since 1978. II07a
"Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley or Miss Lou OM, OJ, MBE (7 September 1919 – 26 July 2006), was a Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, and educator. Writing and performing her poems in Jamaican Patois or Creole, Bennett worked to preserve the practice of presenting poetry, folk songs and stories in patois ("nation language"),[2] establishing the validity of local languages for literary expression.
Bennett wrote several books and poetry in Jamaican Patois, helping to have it recognized as a "nation language" in its own right. Her work influenced many other writers, including Mutabaruka, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Yasus Afari, to use it in a similar manner.[2][12] She also released numerous recordings of traditional Jamaican folk music and recordings from her radio and television shows including Jamaican Folk Songs, Children's Jamaican Songs and Games, Miss Lou’s Views (1967), Listen to Louise (1968), Carifesta Ring Ding (1976), and The Honorable Miss Lou. She is credited with giving Harry Belafonte the foundation for his 1956 hit "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" by telling him about the Jamaican folk song "Hill and Gully Rider" (the name also given as "Day Dah Light")
Bennett was married to Eric Winston Coverley, an early performer and promoter of Jamaican theater, from 30 May 1954 until his death in August 2002.[5][15] Together, Bennett and Coverley had a son, Fabian." - wikipedia
"Noh Lickle Twang
Me glad fe se's you come back bwoy,
But lawd yuh let me dung,
Me shame o' yuh soh till all o'
Me proudness drop a grung.
Yuh mean yuh goh dah 'Merica
An spen six whole mont' deh,
An come back not a piece betta
Dan how yuh did goh wey?
Bwoy yuh noh shame? Is soh you come?
Afta yuh tan soh lang!
Not even lickle language bwoy?
Not even little twang?
An yuh sista wat work ongle
One week wid 'Merican
She talk so nice now dat we have
De jooce fe undastan?
Bwoy yuh couldn' improve yuhself!
An yuh get soh much pay?
Yuh spen six mont' a foreign, an
Come back ugly same way?
Not even a drapes trouziz? or
A pass de rydim coat?
Bwoy not even a gole teet or
A gole chain roun yuh t'roat.
Suppose me las' rne pass go introjooce
Yuh to a stranga
As me lamented son wat lately
Come from 'Merica!
Dem hooda laugh afta me, bwoy
Me could'n tell dem soh!
Dem hooda sey me lie, yuh was
A-spen time back a Mocho.
Noh back-ansa me bwoy, yuh talk
Too bad; shet up yuh mout,
Ah doan know how yuh an yuh puppa
Gwine to meck it out." - jamaica-land-we-love.com/miss-lou-poems.
This poem might not be in this book, but I had to put it here to give you an example of the flavor of what Louise Bennett wrote. I would not be surprised if some or many of the poems in this book are not available anywhere else..