Edgefield Pottey Dave Drake

Dave's Green Christmas

Samuel J. Hardman

“nineteen days before Christmas Eve

lots of people after it's over, how they will greive”

Dave inscribed his prophetic Christmas couplet on a storage jar dated 6 December 1858. This work was widely published with the odious suggestion that it was merely a holiday poem, which it certainly is not. I provided a copy of the couplet to a well-known literary critic for comment on its possible meaning. The critic said the couplet made no sense. I was shocked by the reaction to a work so easily understood.

The couplet may be scanned as follows:

/ ^ / ^^ / ^ /

/ ^ / ^ ^^^ / ^ / ^^ /

There is a long pause in the second line before reaching Dave’s dramatic conclusion: something terrible will happened near Christmas Eve, something that will cause lots of people to grieve. Hence, the rhythm of the second line.

The model and inspiration for Dave’s prophetic Christmas couplet is an old English proverb: “a green Christmas makes a fat churchyard,” or “a green Christmas makes a hungry churchyard.” I think that Dave was the first African American poet to use the old English proverb as the model and inspiration for a poem. However, he was not the only African American poet to do so.

During the 1850s, South Carolina winters were quite warm, which increased the mosquito population and therefore epidemics of yellow fever. There were yellow fever epidemics in South Carolina in 1852, 1854, 1856, and 1858. The epidemic of 1858 lasted well into November, perhaps longer; hence, Dave’s grim, propheti couplet.

Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s parents were slaves, and it is likely that he first heard the old English proverb about a green Christmas from them. He, too, used the old English proverb as the model and inspiration for a poem, A Christmas Folk Song, which first appeared in a collection of his work in 1913. Dunbar did not wish to publish his poems in the plantation style, Negro dialect; however, he was encouraged to do so by white readers and his publishers. I have provided a simplified version of Dunbar's poem with the original.

A Christmas Folk Song

(Negro dialect)

Paul Lawrence Dunbar

1872-1906

De win’ is blowin’ wahmah,

An hit’s blowin’ f’om de bay;

Dey's a so't o' mist a-risin'

All erlong de meddah way;

Dey ain’t a hint o’ frostin’

On de groun’ ner in de sky,

An’ dey ain’t no use in hopin’

Dat de snow’ll ’mence to fly.

[The wind is blowing warmer,

And it's blowing from the bay;

There’s a sort of mist a-rising

All along the meadow way;

There’s not a hint of frosting

On the ground nor in the sky,

And there is no use in hoping

That the snow'll commence to fly.]

It’s goin’ to be a green Christmas,

An’ sad de day fu’ me.

I wish dis was de las’ one

Dat evah I should see.

[It’s going to be a green Christmas,

And sad the day for me.

I wish this was the last one

That ever I should see.]

Dey’s dancin’ in de cabin,

Dey’s spahkin’ by de tree;

But dancin’ times an’ spahkin’

Are all done pas’ fur me.

Dey’s feastin’ in de big house,

Wid all de windahs wide--

Is dat de way fu’ people

To meet de Christmas-tide?

[There’s dancing in the cabin,

There’s sparking by the tree;

But dancing times and sparking

Are all done past for me.

There’s feasting in the big house,

With all the windows wide--

Is that the way for people

To meet the Christmastide?]

It’s goin’ to be a green Christmas,

No mattah what you say.

Dey’s us dat will remembah

An’ grieve de comin’ day.

[It’s going to be a green Christmas,

No matter what you say,

There’s us that will remember

And grieve the coming day.]

Dey’s des a bref o’ dampness

A-clingin’ to my cheek;

De aih’s been dahk an’ heavy

An’ threatenin’ fu’ a week,

But not wid signs o’ wintah,

Dough wintah’d seem so deah--

De wintah’s out o’ season,

An’ Christmas eve is heah.

[There’s this a breath of dampness

A-clinging to my cheek;

The air’s been dark and heavy

And threatening for a week,

But not with signs of winter,

Though winter would seem so dear--

The winter’s out of season,

And Christmas eve is here.]

It’s goin’ to be a green Christmas,

An’ oh, how sad de day!

Go ax de hongry Chu’chya’d,

An' see what hit will say.

[It’s going to be a green Christmas,

And oh, how sad the day!

Go ask the hungry Churchyard,

And see what it will say.]

Dey’s Allen on de hillside,

An’ Marfy in de plain;

Fu’ Christmas was like springtime,

An’ come wid sun an’ rain.

Dey’s Ca’line, John, an’ Susie,

Wid only dis one lef’;

An’ now de curse is comin’

Wid murder in hits bref.

[There’s Allen on the hillside,

And Martha in the plain;

For Christmas was like springtime,

And come with sun and rain.

There’s Caroline, John, and Susie,

With only this one left;

And now the curse is coming

With murder in its breath.]

It’s goin’ to be a green Christmas--

Des hyeah my words an’ see:

Befo’ de summah beckons

Dey's many 'll weep wid me.

[It’s going to be a green Christmas--

Just hear my words and see:

Before the summer beckons

There's many will weep with me.]

Critical Remarks:

Dear Mr. Hardman,

This is a fine reading of Dave’s Christmas poem, and I’m particularly

taken with how you read it in relationship to Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

--James A. Miller

George Washington University

23 September 2008.

Dear Mr. Hardman,

Thank you for sending me your interpretation of Dave’s Christmas poem.

Your ideas are quite intriguing--a very fresh approach to this interesting

1858 work. Before hearing from you, I had not known of the old saying

about a green Christmas. It certainly throws light on Dave’s stunning

coupling of celebration and sadness.

--Leonard Todd

22 September 2008.

Where is All My Relation, edited by Michael A. Chaney:

“The Christmas couplet has received little critical attention, [;] it is his second holiday poem, written only seven months after the first, on July 4, 1859.”

This statement is quite untrue. My reading of Dave's Christmas couplet was published before Carolina Clay and was accepted by general readers and critics. Further, I provided Michael A. Chaney with a copy of my reading of Dave's Christmas couplet (with permission to publish, as written, before Where is All My Relation was written.

Further, it is a gross error to suggest that Dave's Fouth of July and nineteen days before Christmas Eve are “holiday poems.” Those who say so know little about Dave and his work.