Lonrsome Words: The V d Pottics of the OU English Lament

.ad the Mricm-Aenericam Blues Song

Margaret Gillian McGcachy

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requircments

for the degrec of Doctor of Philosophy
Graduate Department of English
University of Toronto

O Copyright by Margaret Giiiian McGeachy 1999

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 Lonesome Words: The Vocal Poetics of the Old English Larnent
and the Afncan-American Blues Song

Doctor of Philosophy, 1999

Margaret Gillian McGeachy
Graduate Department of English, University of Toronto

The tenth-century Old English larnent and the twentieth-century Afncan-Arnerican blues

song each speak the language of a poetic tradition distinct in its history and culture, yet

the voices are remarkably similar in their emotive expression of persona1 and social

struggle. For modem reader-listeners, removed in time and space from the origins of

both poetries, these voices are inunediate yet elusive, truthhl yet mysterious. This study

juxtaposes the texts of Old English laments and of blues songs, and their respective

critical reception, in order to explore the features that characterize the vocal poetics of

each. With the terrn "lament" 1 include the so-called "elegy" and passages found within

narrative poems. The blues texts in this study were recorded during the 1920s and 1930s.

In Chapter One, 1 propose that the poet of the lament, like the blues singer,

optimized particular features, such as the first person speaker and certain formulas, to

simulate performance within the text itself. 1 argue that the texts evoke performance with

inherent call-and-response techniques. Against a background of scholarship pertaining to

the "orality" of Old English poetry, Chapter Two investigates the role of the formula in

the context of blues recording with a case study of Robert Johnson's lyrics. In Chapter

Three 1 explore the formula-generated themes of exile and imprisonrnent in the laments

and blues songs of male speakers. When the movement of exile and the stasis of

confinement interact within the text, the speaker enters an interior realm and directly
engages in persona1 psychological struggle, and ultimately enacts release. Chapter Four

discusses the reception of both poetrïes by their second audience. 1 compare and discuss

the anthology of poetry contained in the Exeter Book to the 1952 Folkwavs Antholow of

American Folk Music as vehicles for the reception of unfamiliar yet poetically attractive

texts. The lament and the blues Song are each recontextualized by the anthology, and,

thus, reinterpreted in a new setting.

David Townsend: your love of Old English inspired and nurtured this thesis-1 thank

you. Roberta Frank and Ted Chamberlin: for your expertise. guidance. and constant

encouragement--1 thank you. David Galbraith: for sharing your music collection and

your knowledge of blues and popular culture. and for introducing me to the Centre for

Re formation and Renaissance Studies--1 thank you.

1 am gratefiil for the financial assistance provided by the Social Sciences and

Humanities Research Council. the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, and the

University of Toronto Graduate Department of English. The CRRS has provided me

with an intellectual home dwing my years at U of T; for this I thank Konrad Eisenbichler.

For their valuable critique of my writing dong the way. I express special thanks to

Michael Milway, Dylan Reid, Laura Hunt, Karen Sawyer, Andy Bethune, and Richard

Raiswell. Also. 1 am grateful to John Valenteyn of the Toronto Blues Society for the use

of his blues iibrary.

Hoyt Greeson: you introduced me to the world of medieval literature--1 thank you.

Mark McDayter: you kept me Company on the blues highway--1 thank you. Stephen

Pender. Casie Herrnannson, Andy Scheil, Yvome Pelletier, Rob Norquay: for your

friendship--1 thank you. Joyce and Don BretzlafE for always being there for me--1 thank

you. Mom and Dad (Barbara and John McGeachy), Annie Langdon. Robert McGeachy:

for your support and encouragement--1 thank you.

Kim Herbener: for your love and care--1 thank you.

 Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter One: Captivated Performance

Call-and-Response
Locating "1"
Locating Experience

Chapter Two: Recording the Formula

The Formula and Old English Schoiarship
Case Study: TweIve Recordings of Robert Johnson
The Recording Context
The Blues Formula
"Kind Hearted Woman Blues"
"Rarnblin' On My Mind"
"When You Got A Good Friend"
"Come On In My Kitchen"
"Phonograph Blues"
"Cross Road Blues"

Chapter Three: Jailbreak

The Lonely Speaker
The Road
The Prison
Release

Chapter Four: Anthologizing Sorrow

The Exeter Book Anthology
The Folkwavs Antholow o f Arnetican Folk Music

Conclusion 224

Appendis: A Formulait Analysis o f Robert Johnson's Recorded Blues 230

"Kind Hearted Woman Blues" 23 1
"Rambiin' On My Mind" 235
" When You Got A Good Fnend" 238
"Corne On In My Kitchen" 242
"Phonograph Blues" 248
"Cross Road Blues" 253
Table A 258

Works Consulted 259

 Introduction

Strange yet familiar, the lonely voices of the Old English larnent and the Afncan-

American blues cal1 beyond the walls of the text, captivahg audiences, engaging

listeners in a dialogue of longing. Although the lyrics of each poetry speak the language

of a poetic tradition that evolved within a distinct history and culture, the voices are

remarkably similar in their emotive expression of personal and social struggle. For

m o d e m reader-listeners, removed in tirne and space h m the origins of both poetries,

these voices are immediate yet elusive, truthful yet rnysterious. Of the laments, Stanley

B. Greenfield writes,

Their appeal is understandable: they treat of universal relationships, of

those between man and woman (the Wife's Lament. The Husband's

Message. Wulf & Eadwacer) and between man and tirne (The Ruin, J
'&

Wanderer. The Seafarer, Deor), in a hauntingly beautifid way, with an

element of mystery and riddling that is particularly attractive to an age that

has taken to its hem the poetry of John Donne.'

Of the blues, Richard Wright observes,

Millions in this our twentieth century have danceci with abandonment and

sensuous joy to jigs that had their birth in sufkring: I'm alluding to those

. .
"The Old English Elegies," Continuations and Beeiluiinns: Studies in Old Endi&
Literature, ed. Eric Geraid Stanley (London: Thomas Nelson, 1966) 142.
 2

m e s and lyrics krown under tht rubric of the blues, thosc starkly brutai,

hauntiag folk songs crcated by millions of nameless and iflitcratc

Amerkm Negroes in thcir confuscd wanderings over the Amcrican

southland and in theu intrusion d o the northem Amcrican industrial

cities2

The blues, Wright continues, is "a foxm of exuberantiy mclancholy folk song" that is

"fantastically paradoxical" in its emergenct, against "al1 logical and historicai odds," as a

significantly influentid music.' Paradox abounds in the study of blues and of the Old

English larnents; at many Ievels, restriction aad M o m inter~cct:the formula constrains

yet facilitates verbal expression; the h e d mediums of writing and audio record capture

"oral" performance; i n t d anguish imprisons the physically fret speaker. At the

crossroad of these texts, contradiction exists as both the source and the essence of the

vital power behind their lonesame words.

This study juxtaposes the texts of Old English lamcnts and of blues ~ongs,m d

their respective critical nxeption, in order to explore the feahirts that charactcrize the

vocal poetics of each. My discussion allows each to inform the other in two main artas

of investigation. The fkst concerm fomal aspects that promote communicPtion with aa
audience. Chapta One treats rn~o-elementsnich as the fïrst pmon spcakm d l y r i d

. .
Foreword, Blues F e l m : M ~ ~ Q ~lnD&t Q Blue% by Paul Oliver (1960;
Cambridge: Cambridge UP,1990)xiii.

Foreword xiii.
discontinuity, while Chapter Two examines the role of formula within the vocal text. The

second area focuses on the formula-generated themes that characterize both poetries. In

Chapter Three, 1 conduct a close comparative reading of the construction and interaction

of the themes of exile and imprisonment. Chapter Four discusses how the voices of blues

and the Old English laments were heard and read by a second audience.

iMy Old English texts include those poems Old English scholars have

conventionally identified as the "elegies." Most comrnonly studied under the heading

"elegy" are The Wanderer. The Seafarer, Deor. Wulf and Eadwacer. The Wife's Lament,

The Husband's Message, and The Ruin. OAen added to the list are Resignation and The

Riming Poem. Al1 of these poerns are preserved in the Exeter Book (MS 35011, generally

believed to have been produced in the second half of the tenth century.' 1 have chosen the

term "lament" over "elegy" in response to two separate but related critical dilemmas.

First, cntics ofien complain about the imprecision of the term "elegy": the poems do not

eshibit classical elegiac metre nor do they have much in common with English pastoral

elegies.' Three of the poems refer to themselves as a "giedd" (Wife's Lament 1a, Wulf

George Philip Krapp and Elliott Van Kirk Dobbie, The Exeter Book, ASPR 1 (New
York: Columbia UP, 1936) determine "the second half of the tenth century" (xiii);
Bernard J. Muir, The Exeter Antho1o.w of Old Enelish Poetrv, v. 1 (Exeter: U of Exeter P,
1994) offers "circa 965-75" (2); Patrick W. Conner, Anelo-Saxon
- Exeter: A Tenth-
Centurv Cultural Historv (Woodbridge: Boydell P, 1993) proposes ''B950 x 970"
(76)-

Anne L. Klinck, The Old Endish Elegies: A Critical Edition and Genre Study
(Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's UP, 1992) 1 1. Kiinck explains that the laments
have been described as "elegiac" since the nineteenth-century, and have some thematic
affiniries with "later English elegies of a broader kind, for exarnple with Gray's
Elew, ...and even with Tennyson's In Memoriam" (1 1).
and Eadwacer 19, and "sodgied" in Seafarer lb). but the word recun in various literary

contents--riddles, biblical parables, glosses--making it impossible to translate a ~ c u r a t e l y . ~

Klinck States,

Giedd, which cuts across the modem distinctions between Song and

speech, fact and fiction, prose and verse, means a relatively extended

utterance, of an artistic kind, with a narrative content and an instructive

exemplary value.'

Hence, the poems themselves give us little help. The second dilemma centers around Our

uncertainty of whether the poems actually represent a separate genre.' The "elegies,"

Green field observes, "by no means form a homogeneous g r ~ u p ;each

' ~ exhibits a poetic

styIe, an attitude, and method al1 its own. But what they do have in comrnon is nicely

summed up and defined by Greenfield:

the Old English elegy as a relatively short reflective or dramatic poem

embodying a contrasting pattern of loss and consolation, ostensibly based

upon a specific persona1 experience or observation, and expressing an

The Concise Ando-Saxon D i c t i o n q offers for "giedd: "song, poem, ...saying,

proverb, riddle : speech, story, tale, narrative : account, reckoning, reason, ..."

Old English Elecies 245.

9 . J . Timmer, "The Elegiac Mood in Old English Poetry," Enelish Studies 24

( 1942). systematically eliminates al1 buttwo poems, concluding "we cannot speak of Old
English elegies except in the case of The Wife's Lament and Wulf and Eadwacer" but, he
says. "we are certainly justified in speaking of an elegiac mood in Old English poetry"
and should not "confine ourselves to the nine poems mentioned here" (41).

'' Greenfield, "Old English Elegies" t 43.

 attitude towards that e~perience.'~

1 propose. however, that our conception of a "poem" severely limits the possibilities in

the study of this distinctive poetic form. Ln other words, for us, a poem has a definite

beginning and ending, marked visually (or aurally) by space. Needless to Say, modem

editions of Old English poetry reformat Anglo-saxon manuscripts by demarcating each

poern with a title and margins of white space. The Anglo-saxon view of poetic structure

and genre might not have been so rigid; like the "giedd," the "elegy" makes appearances

in other contexts, notably within long narrative poems. The "elegiac" quality of "The

Lament of the Last Survivor" (& 2247-66), the larnent of the father for his dead son

(Beo 2444-63a), and the lament of Guthlac's disciple (Glc B 1348-79) is ofien

acknowledged, but rarely (if at all) studied in conjunction with the Exeter "elegies"."

The tenn "lament" expands the conventional view of the Old English "elegy" by

including passages such as these with the discrete "poems" of the Exeter Book.

Specifically, in this study, 1 treat the laments of Satan found in the narrative poem Christ

and Satan of the Junius 11 manuscript alongside The Wanderer, The Seafarer, Deor, The

Wife's Lament, and Wulf and Eadwacer."

'O "Old English Elegies" 143.

For example, see Greenfield, "Old English Elegies" 142 and Klinck 12.

l2 Most studies of Satan's speeches focus on the topic of exile; for example, see David
J. Johnson. "Old English Religious Poetry: Christ and Satan and The Dream of the Rood,
Com~anionto Old Endish Poetrv, ed. Henk Aerstsen and Rolf H. Bremmer, Jr.
(Amsterdam: VZJ UP, 1994) 159-87. However, Leonard H. Frey's article "Exile and
Elegy in Anglo-saxon Christian Epic Poetry." JEGP 62 (1963): 293-302, discusses XST
as an "expansive demonstration of exile-elegaic conditions" (299).
 6

Of the laments' historîcal context, wc h o w vcry iittlc. The donation of the Exeter

Book by Bishop Leofnc to Exeter Cathedra1 places pocms such as The Wanderer withùi a

monastic, literary en~iroamait.'~

Apart h m this, wc have to rcly on the texts
themselves. Like d l Old English poctry, the compositional stnicturc of the lament is

based on half-line verbal units, governed by me-, and joined within a line by

al li teration. Followers ofthe Parry-Lord oral-formulait school view the prtsence of

formulas in the poetry as evidence of oral composition; howevcr, the paucity of histoncal

information makes the thcory impossible to prove. My discussion througùout this thesis

is based on the assumption that the formulait nature of the lamcnts strongly suggcsts a

conneetion to an oral tradition; whilc the issue of writtcn or oral composition will be

addressed in Chaptcr Two through a case snidy of blues lyrics, my main interest is in the

role of formula in performance.

The blues texts that spealc throughout this study wcrt recorded during the 1920s

and 1930s. Uniike that of Old English poetry, the history of blues is ment and well-

known; in fact, the genre's participation in AIncan-Amcrican oral tradition continues

today with performers such as B.B.King. It is believcd that the blues developd around

the turn of the century h m a combination of field holiers, work songs, songster ballads,

l 3 See George Philip Krapp and EUiot Van Kiric Dobbie, cds., me
,k-
ASPR 3 (New York: Columbia UP,1936) ix. As for the Junius 1 1 manuSctipi, aothing is
known of its provenance befon its ownership by Franciscus Junius in the 17th ccntury;
see Krapp, ed., The JyniiiS Manuscriab ASPR 1 (New York: Columbia UP. 193 1) ix-xi.
 7

religious songs, and African-derived music.14 Blues were performed before an audience

in elaborate settings such as traveling tent-shows and city cabarets, as well as in the

informa1 context of the street-corner, juke-joint, and house Party. In 1920, the

unexpected success o f Mamie Smith's record featuring "That Thing Called Love" and

"You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" initiated what quickly became a thriving industry

of blues and gospel recording.15 Over the next hventy years, the major cornpanies issued

thousands o f recordings k n o w as "race records," Iisted in segregated catalogues and

marketed to the African-Arnerican population. In the early years, blues were recorded

mainly by female singers, of whom the most farnous are Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and

Bessie Smith. Their style of blues, known as "classic" or "vaudeville" blues, was

' Robert Palmer, D e e ~Blues (New York: Penguin, 1981) 43. Abbe Niles, "The
Story of the Blues," Blues: An Antholow, ed. W.C. Handy (1949; New York: Da Capo,
1990), States that the blues developed from "the work songs, love songs, devil songs. the
over-and-overs, slow-drags, pats, stomps, and, decidedly, the spirituals. They were at
first caIled by several of these narnes, but by 1910 (there is no substantial evidence of an
earlier date) they had achieved enough of a separate status to be hown specifically as 'the
blues' among many Southem Negroes" (20). According to Howard W. Odum and Guy B.
Johnson, Ne.mo Workadav Songs (Chape1 Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1926), W.C.
-

Handy "is credited with having published the first blues (Memphis Blues, 1910) and with
having had much to do with their popularization" (19).

l5 For a history of blues recording see Robert M.W. Dixon and John Godrich,
record in^ the Blues (London: Studio Vista, 1970). Technically, Smith's songs were not
blues, having been onginally intended for Sophie Tucker; the record was listed with no
special attention to the artist's race, but "the black press proclaimed 'Mamie made a
recording' and sales were unexpectedly high" (Dixon and Godrich, Recordinq 9). Smith
was called back to record "Crazy Blues," for which advertising was specifically targeted
at an Afncan-Amencan audience.
The production o f "race records" peaked in 1928, but plummeted during the
Depression years. Sales gradually climbed to a second peak in 1938, but then declined
suddenly and finally with WWII.
 8

accompanied by a band. Mer 1925, the "country" (sometimes called "folk'? blua of

male singers, such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, bccame popular. These singcn typically

perfomed alone, accompanying themselva on ph. During the late 1930s. audiences

turned to a new form of piano-bascd "city" blucs. Throughaut the "race record" years,

blues recordings were purchascd predominantly by African-Americans, and w m

regarded fint and foremon as entertainment. Raiph Ellison emphasizes chat the texts of

blues recordings wcre also a fonn of folldore.l6

The many musical and regional styles of blues makes the genre as a whole

difficult to define." Musically, the '%lues note'' identifies the g a r e ; Harry Oster

explains,

The singer "womes" the third and oftcn the seventh ancilor the fifth of the

scale, wavering between flat and natural. The same effect appears in the

accompuiimcnt, readily aecomplished on a guitar by pushing the strings

sideways and distorting the pitch, or by sliding a hard object dong the

strings so that pitches not in the Eur~peanscalc are sounded and notes arc

l6 "BIues People," &dow and Act (1953; New York:Vintage Books, 1995) 2567.

l7 The conceni for classification of blues appears to diffa bawecn fican-Amcriam

and white writers. Some of the tuncs prcscnted in W.C. Handy's 1926 mes:
Antholonv (NewYork: Da Capo, 1990) would wt k classifiai as ''blues" todiy. LÎter,
Albert Murray's the Blua (New York:McGraw-Hill, 1976) trca!s the music of
big-band and jazz musicians, nich as Dukc Ellington and Count Basie, as blues. For a
usefûl guide, and example of categoriEation prscticts of the second audiaice, ste
Bt ackwell Guide to Rfcorded ai. Paul Oliver (Mord: Basil Blachvell, 1989).
organized chronologically and rcgionally.
Like the Old English lament, blues lyrics are based on the half-line, but blues "rarely

conforms to a tight metric structure."" A blues line consists of nvo half-lines, between

which the singer typically pauses, emphasizing the caesura. Lines are linked by rhyme,

so that. in general, the core of the blues stanza is the rhyming couplet. Although there are

many stanza forms, the most common is the 2AA stanza in which the opening line of the

couplet is repeated (but is rarely identicai aurally): for example:

1's up this mornin' blues walkin' like a man

1's up this rnomin' blues walkin' like a man
Womed blues give me your right hand.'O

Blues lyrics exhibit high formula density which reflects the improvisationai character of

the genre. However, as will be seen, the notion of "orality" is complex in the context of

recording.

For modern audiences, much of the attraction of the Old English Iaments and of

blues lies in their mystery of time and place. Throughout rny discussion, 1 distinguish

between the "original" audience and the "second" audience of both the lament and the

blues song. In general, 1 consider the original audience to comprise those people who

'""Blues as a Genre," Genre 2 (1969): 260. For a musical analysis of blues see Niles
17-20, and, more recently. Jeff Todd Titon, Earlv Downhome Blues: A Musical and
Cultural Analvsis (1977; Chape1 Hill: U of North Caroiina P, 1994) 137-74.

l9 Michael Taft, Blues Lwic Poetrv: An Antholoq (New York: Garland, 1983) ix.
For a discussion of metre in blues, see John Bamie, "Oral Formulas in the Country
Blues," Southern Folklore Ouarterlv 42 (1978): 39-52.

'O Robert JOhnson, "Preachin' Blues," Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordines,

Columbia, 1990.
 10

expenenced the poetry first-hand in its initial historical, social, and cultural context, and

directly participated in its creation and evolution. The second audience consists of reader-

listenen who live outside the original historical or cultural context of the poetry. The

listener-readers of the second audience receive (and often reinterpret) the tradition

second-hand, and participate in the preservation and transmission of the poetry (in the

case of blues, long after the originai audience has tumed to new forms).

To be specific about the original audience of the Old English larnent is

impossible. but 1 will speculate that it heard poetry in theme and mood similar to that of

The Wife's Lament and Deor in a secular social setting (as opposed to a monastic

environment), and probably (but not necessarily) before the Exeter Book was written.

The second audience of the laments includes al1 readers (and listeners) living after the

completion of the Exeter Book.

The original audience of blues comprised predominantly southern, rural African-

Americans who performed and listened to blues on record and in live performance

settings in the 1920s and 1930s. The significance of Afiican-American history cannot be

overlooked in the study of blues, and the historical context of blues is well documented

elsewhere." For this reason, 1 do not attempt a historical reading of blues lyrics in this

study; however, it is important to emphasize the point introduced above by Richard

Wright: during the years in which thc'race records" were produced, the Great Migration

took thousands of southern blacks north in search of employment and refuge fiom the

"For exarnple, Paul Oliver, Blues Fe11 This Mornine: Meaning in the Blues (1960;
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990) discusses blues within their historical context.
political and social injustices of the Jirn Crow system. The theme o f travel and

disillusionment is significantly informed by this event. The history behind blues played

an important role in its reception by the second audience. Ln contrast to the demographics

of the initial listeners, the typical member of blues's second audience is urban, white,

male, and middle-class.

In Chapter One, I propose that the poet of the lameni, tike the blues singer,

optimized particular features, such as the first person speaker and certain formulas, to

simulate performance within the text itself. ï h e text seeks to compensate for the physical

distance between the poet-singer and the reader-listener, and, in the absence o f the poet,

engage the audience in a kind of textual call-and-response. For the second audience of

both the larnents and the blues, lack of contact and expenence within the social and

historical context of the texts results in interpretive diffkulties.

Chapter Two features a case study of the country blues of Robert Johnson to assist

in the investigation of the role of formula within the anomalous performance context of

recording. The case study explores not only how Johnson utilizes an established tradition

of forrnulaic composition but also how he consciously revises and refines the tradition.

WhiIe careful preparation and rehearsal are evident in the first take o f each Song, the

revisions exhibited in the altemate take bear witness to "spontaneous" composition.

Throughout, 1 show how formulas generate the themes that characterize blues, and

provide a parallel forrnulaic analysis of the twelve recordings with supporting evidence in

the Appendix (229-257).

C hapter Three explores the formula-generated themes of exile and imprisonment

 12

in the laments and blues songr, of male speakers. In the texts, the speaker is consistently

separated frorn society through a formulait construction of isolation. This displacement

takes place on the road in blues and the "wræclast" (exile-track) in the lament, both

associated wi th movement and, I argue, poetic creation. Working against the speaker's

physical mobility is the irnagery of confinement. Imprisonrnent immobilizes the speaker

physically and forces hirn to turn inwards. The process enacts an imaginative and

psychoIogical retease.

Chapter Four discusses the reception of both poetries by their second audience. I

compare and discuss the anthology of poetry contained in the Exeter Book to the 1952

Folkwavs Antholow of American Folk Music as vehicles for the reception o f unfamiliar

yet poetically attractive texts. The lament and the blues Song are recontextualized in the

anthologies. and, thus, reinterpreted in a new setting. The new contexts reveal much

about the second audience and its approach to "traditional" art.

The English of both poetries offers a point of contact in the areas of transcription.

Despite George Philip Krapp's claim in 1924 that "Many of the characteristics of Negro

English which are assumed to be the peculiar property of the Negroes are merely archaic

survivais of good old English,'"' the dialect and idioms of southem, rural blues singers

sornetimes present difficulties for the blues transcriber similar to those encountered by

translators of Old English. Moreover, the often poor condition o f blues records results in

audio interference somewhat parallel to the visual impediment o f stains and holes in

" "The English of the Negro," The Amencan Mercuw 2.5 (1924): 190-5.
 13

Anglo-saxon manwripts. My tmnmiptions of the Old English are takm h m Krapp

1
and Dobbie's An 1 .
h ~oetilating,
1maintain lexical compounds

and word order as much as possible without distorthg Modern English syntax. At times,

my translations alter the punctuation offercd by KrPpp and Dobbic. For the blues texts, I

rely, for the most part, on Michacl Taft's &a

compilation of "over two thousand commercially recordcd songs sung by ova thme

hundred and fi@ singer^."^ However, the lyrics of Robert Jobruon arc rcprcscnted by

my own transcriptions made fiom Pobert Johnson: The Com~lettRccodnpb.24

In creating a space in which the blues song and the Old English lamcnt can cal1
and respond to each other, this study seth to transccnd the rigid boundarics that limit out

perceptions of both poeûies. The lamcnts illuminate the naturc of the second audience's

reception of blues; like the laments, blues sangs hide as much as thty rcvcal. in retum,

blues shed light on the role of fixed texts within an "oral" tradition. The history of blues

record production and rweption suggest possibilities for the uthowu aspects of

composition, performance, and transmission of the Old English lamcnt. Togethet, the

vocal poetics of the Old English lamcnt and the Anican-Amcrican blues rong spcak to us

the lonesome words of displacement, desue, suffering, and stnrggle.

* Taft,Anthology ix.
2' Columbia, 1990.
 Chapttr One

Captivated Performance

The poetry of both the Old English lament and the Mcan-American blues Song employs

the private and persona1 meditative techniques of the lyric, but with the purpose of

establishing communal experience with a public audience. Anyone who has heard B.B.

King knows that blues is a performance art, distinct not only in form but a h in the

interaction between singer, Song, and audience. King's work uses, revises, and updates

the language and conventions of pre-WWn blues which were perfomed live in various

informa1 settings. Although we do not h o w if the Old English lament was performed,

rnany interpret the recmence of formulas in the poetry as evidence of a prior existence

within an oral tradition.' At some point in their respective histones, the vocaiity and

rhythm of both poetries were captureci by mechanical means: the lament on parchment,

the blues Song on shellac. The technology of writing and audio-recording rernoved the

text bom a context of live performance, significantly affecting the nature of its content

and form. in the absence of visual cues and spontaneous aural response, the text itself

becornes paramount in bndging the performer and the audience. My focus in this chapter

is the textual construction of a performative space in which singer and Listener interact.

The first-person speaker of both petries is central to the dynamic process of interaction:

these speakers are not merely overheard; raîher, they demand attention by directly

The formula and its role in composition and performance is discussed in Chapter
Two.
 15

addressing the poem's audience. Certain phrases take part in rhetorical strategies that

presuppose and engage the audience in the expression of emotional struggle. 1 liken the

process to that of call-and-response heard in the Afi-ican-American oral tradition. 1 also

discuss the speaker's manner of communication. The lyrics of both the blues and the Old

English larnents exhibit a discontinuity arising from the speakers' habit of abruptly

shifiing viewpoint. Modem reader-listeners attempt to cope with this disjunctive

structure by locating (or identimng) the speaker. This practice emphasizes the historical

and cultural distance between the second audience and the text's original listeners. In the

final section. the impact of audience knowledge on the text's ability to maintain its

performative dynamic is explored through a direct textual cornparison between two of

today's favorites: the Old English Deor and Robert Johnson's T o m e On In My Kitchen."

***

The lament and the blues Song are defined by particular formulait phrases and

clusters which construct not only the melancholy associated with each but also its mode

of communication. The seemingly restrictive forma1 conventions of both genres contain

the chaos of emotion and desire, providing a protected space in which the speaker is

allowed to express thoughts unacceptable in any other public forum. The Wanderer states

his awareness of the social decorurn of reticence:

. . . Ic to sobe wat
pæt bit, in eorle indryhten beaw
bat he his feralocan fæste binde,
 healde his hordcofan, hycgc swa he wïlle.

(. . . 1, in ûuth, know that it is, in a wanior, a noble virtue that he bind fast
his mind-prison, hold his trtasure-coffa,thinlr as hc will. Wan 1 1b-14)2

Anxiety increases as speahng becornes an oct of defiance, but the act of dirioshg his

"fe@locan" is legitunized within the pocm's conventional prtseatation. The lament and

the blues Song brcak silence with the assertion of personal voict and, tvm more

importantly, through the expectation of a responsive audience. The te- of blues and the

larnents promote dialogue through the use of a first-person speaker and inhant

performative strategies.

The solitary "I" is the speaker of both the iaments and blues iyrics. Blues relies

on the pronoun "I" more than any othcr word, and thc speaker's self-assertionis fUrtber

projected by "My," "Me," and 'l'm," al1 inciuded in the tcn most fizqucntly used words

in blues.3 Likewise, al1 the lament speakers prcscnt themsclvcs in the nrst pason. The

feanue of direct speech in both poetrits is a significant source of the dramatic, emotive

impact of the lyrics. Richard Sanga States, "the words men and womcn utter in statcs of

vivid sensation can, given the nght conte- have a power and pathos that is unmatchcd

Citations of pocms containcd in the Exeter Book an takni h m George Phiiïp

Krapp and E1Iiott Van Kirk Dobbie, eds., The Exeter Boqk (New York: Columbia UP,
1936). Translations arc my own; as much as possible, 1maintain the word order and
compounds of the Old Engiish without distortkg Modem Engüsh syiitax. At times my
translations alter the puacniation o f f d by Knpp and Dobbie.

Michael Taft, Blues LMic Poetrv: A ConeorQppy 3 vols. (New York: Garland,
1 984)of which vol. 3 contains "Ranking Frequeiry List" (3039-55): "my," "me," a d
'Tm"are rankcd, respcctivcly, fiAh, seventh and tath. 'T'occurs 9875 tim# in Taft's
corpus o f over 2000 blues songs.
by any poetic diction".' Through direct speech speakers "assert themselves as charactm

in the world. With direct speech t h m cornes, then, a speakcf, a lioteaa, and, most

Baauw
importantly, an action. The pocm bocomcs a story-the rccord of that a~tion."~

blues songs and the laments arc composed cntirely of direct sp=h6 the telling of the

"story" is in itself the prirnary action of the texts. D k t ~peechallows the action of

telling to be completed by automatically iacorporating the participation of "you," a

receptive audience.

In Afncan-Amcrican orai tradition, dialogue betwecn singer and audience, h o w n

as "call-and-response," is an integral and very cornplex componcnt of verbal and musical

performance. During a livc blues performance, call-and-response occurs betwcen singer

and audience, singer and musical instnunent, and betwtcn the singer's Song and other

songs both within and outside of the blues corpus. At al1 lcvcls, the cxchangc involves

the process of "Signifyin(g)," defined by Hemy Louis Gatcs as "the black trope of tropes,

the figure for black rhetorical figurrs."' In essence, Signifyin(g) i s the "k
play of

language" based on a technique of indirection and dcfcnal of mcming; tcxts, such as

those of blues lyrics, engage in Sigd@~(g)through rhetorical play, verbal dimption,

' "Telling Words: Dirat Speech and Narrative in Four Twenticth-Century Poets
(Lorca, Auden, Borges, Wdcott)," diss., U of Toronto, 1994, 13.

Sanger 23.

Except for the third-pmon speaker o fJ

W 1-5 and 111-115, who introduces and
concludes the poern.

' The Si- Mopkev: A Theow of -ericPpLUg.rv .. .

Crlg~pgl
(New
York: Oxford UP, 1989) 5 1.
 Samuel A. Floyd states that the Afncan-
revision, and intertextual comrn~nication.~

American "culture-based and culture-wise" audience rcsp~ndsto and activeiy critiques a

"Signimn(g) act" during its pafonnance: "Musical Signifyin(g) by the pcrfomm elicits

response and interaction h m a knowlsdgcable and sensitive audience, which paxticipates

by responding either vigorously or caimly to the pdormance?

The church sennon exemplifies anotther o d performance based on call-and-

response; the African-American preacha designs the sermon to elicit active mponse

6om the congregation. The congregation, Bruce A. Rosenberg observes, "is actively

involved in the service. They hum, sing aloud, yell, and join in the sexmon as they

choose, and alrnost aiways their timing is impec~able."'~Furthcr, the "quality of the

congregation appcars to have a grcat effcct upon the sermon, influcncing the prcachcr's

timing, his involvement in his delivery, and sornetimes cven the length of the

Gates 48-54. Signifyin(g) is embodicd by the traditional character the Signifying

Monkey, the Afncan-Amcrican cousin of the Yoruba Esu-Elegbara. Gates explains that
in black vemacular, "one does not signify something; rather, one signifies in wme way"
(54). The term encompasses vhous types of verbal ntual, including boasting and the
cornpetitive insult ritual known as "the dozens" (in many respects vcry similar to
medieval "flyting"); for a survey of definitions of Signifyin(g), s t e Gates 68-88.

"Ring Shout! Literary Studks, Histoncal Studies, and Black Music ïnquby,"
Journal 11.2 (199 1) 275. Floyd applies the theoretical approachcs of Gaies and Sterling
Stuckey to Afncan-American music, and coins the term "Caiï-Respo~~~t~~ to "convey the
dialogical, conversational character of black music. Its processes includc the
Signiwn(g), troping practices of the early cails, cries, whoops, and hollers of euly A6ro-
American culture,..." (276-7). Floyd's theory is fiilly developed in Powa of R u
Music: Intemretiqg Its History m ca to the U&td S- (New York: Oxford UP,
1995).

'O The Art o f the AmcJrican Fok (New York: Oxford UP, 1970) 35.
perfomance."' ' The blues singer bomws the techniques of the prcacher in an attempt to

achieve a similar type of response h m the audience, and, at the same time, audience

response infiunices the singer's continued performance."

In her study of women blues singers, Angela Y. Davis statcs,

The blues in performance m e s space for spontaneous audience response

in a manner that is similar to religious testifling. h t as the sermon lacks

vitality when no rcsponsc is forthcorning h m the wngrcgation, so the

blues performance falls flat without the anticipated affirmations of the

audience. l3

Davis argues that the dl-and-rcsponse mcchanism of blues performance is of particular

importance in women's blues in that it provides a didogic venue for female listeners. In

the 1920s, blues was "one of the only armas in which workingchss black women could

become aware of the deeply social cbaracter of their pmonal experimces."" Many of

*' Rosenberg, & 35.

l2 Traditionally, the occupations of blues singer and prcacher werc pmeivcd as

antithetical: one prtaches for the devil while the othcr prcaches for God. However, msny
blues singers did have religious prr~fhingexpcrience, such as Rev. Rubin Lacy who
recorded b l u a in the late 1920s. For a discussion of inter-rclationrhip of blues singing
and religious preachùig, and the "prodigal-son pattern" of the ''refoxmed bluesman" story
see Charles Keil, Urban B l u e (1966; Chicago: Uof Chicago P, 1991) 143-8.

Blues Lepcies u l a c k -F
..
C e e 'Ma W-.
6 .B . R
Bi 1lie Holiday (New York: Panthcon, 1998) 55. Davis Gews the blues of the early
women recording artists as a site in which fcminist consciousness cmaged Tbrough the
songs of singers such as Gertrude "Ma" Rpwy and Bgsie Smith, womm could assert
their autonomy, gmder, Sexuality, and desires withui an oral tradition.

Id Davis 55-6.
 20

the blues of Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and Bessie Smith take the form of advice songs

directed at a female audience; Davis provides the following example recorded by Rainey:

1 want al1 you women to listen to me

Don't trust your man no further than your eyes can see
1 trusted mine with my best fiend
But that was the bad part in the end?

Even when heard on record, the listener is included as a member of "an imagined

community of women," and is invited to respond.16 "Listen to me" and "Let me tel 1 you"

are common phrases in blues songs," which, along with the speaker's advisory role, were

passed on to the country blues of male singers. For instance, ten years afier Rainey's

"Trust No man," Bo Chatman recorded "Bo Carter's Advice" which begins,

Now, listen here men : what Bo Carter Say for you to do

Says dont you never let none of these old trifling women : man never wony you.
(ChatB- l9)'*

The "Listen to me" formula o f blues corresponds with the openers "Hwzt!"

'' "Trust No Man," Blues Leeacies 57.

'" Blues Legacies 57-8.
'- The most common variations of "Listen to me" include: "NOWlisten here
(baby/folks/mama)," usualIy found as a first half-line, and "listen to my song," utilized
mainly in the second half-line.

'"Lyrics transcription in Michael Taft's Blues L y i c Poetrv: An Antholow (New

York: Garland, 1983). Throughout my dissertation, blues transcriptions are taken fiom
Taft's anthology unless otherwise indicated. Taft does not transcribe repeated lines, and
indicates the caesura with a colon. To identiw the song and artist, I cite Taft's reference
in parentheses; (ChatB- 19) refers to Bo Chatman's "Bo Carter's Advice"found on page 56
of TaR's Antholow. Bo Chatman was also known as Bo Carter.
(Listen!) and "we gefiunon" (we have heard) of Old English poetry.19 Two variations are

employed in Deor (14b and 2 la), a lament thaî, notably, also features a counseling

speaker who punctuates each exemplum of suffixing with the consolatory re- "Pæs

ofereode, pisses swa mæg" (That passed over, so rnay this). The advisory role occurs

elsewhere in the laments; for instance, the speaker of the Seafarer slips into the role of

preacher in the latter portion of the poem. Here, he uses the homiletic "Uton we hycgan"

(Let us consider, 1 17a) to engage his audience.20 in Wulf and Eadwacer, the speaker's

, directs a waming to Eadwacer,

16a)
emphatic "Gehyrest bu...?" (Do you hea...?

enigmatic in its reference to a whelp, a wolf, a wood, and a riddle. Meanwhile, the

Wanderer offers much advice on how to becorne wise."

l9 According to John D. Niles, "Toward an Anglo-Saxon Oral Poetics," De Gustibus:

Essay for Alain Renoir, ed. John Miles Foley (New York: Garland, 1992), one feature of
oral heroic poetry is "Invocation of the act of listening, either through direct address to an
imagined audience or through asides (such as '1 have heard tell' or 'so the story goes') that
unite speaker and listener a s participants in a common oral tradition that has, as one of its
functions, the purpose of imaginative communion with one's ancestors" (369).

'O The 'Uton we" formula occurs throughout the Vercelli homilies, for example:

"Vton we nu for6 tilian" (Let us now, henceforth, saive, XI.46); *Wton nu gehealdan
geome" (Let us now zealously keep, XIX.84);"Won us nu ealle be geomof*(Let us now
be al1 the more eager, XX.19);"Uton, men ba leofestan, geome leornian eadmodnesse"
(Let us, most dearly beloved, eagerly learn humility, XXI.8). Text cited from Paul E.
Szarmach, ed., Vercelli Homilies ix-xxiii (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1981).
The association between hornily and lament in SgC and in suggests that the
lament was perfonned before an audience; the Anglo-saxons may have considered the
Iament as a secular-poetic counterpart to the sermon.

' For example, lines 64-7:

forbon ne mag wem#an wis wer,acr he age
wintra &el in woruldrice. Wita sceal gebyldig,
ne sceal no to hatheort ne to hrædwyrde,
ne to wac wiga ne to wanhydig, ...
 While it c m be arguai that counseling of the mader is a cornmon purpose

encountered throughout Old English poeay and prose, the laments prescnt widom in a

very distinct fashion. The prescnce of the fïrst-person speaker is Mmediate, personal,

and, hence, p o w d l ; the effect is one of performance. mst S m offas a glimpse

of how at l e s t one Old Engiish poet perccivcd the lament as a distinct and effective vocal

fom, and applied it to a liteiary context. Within this homiletic narrative poem, Satan

expresses his condition of exile and imprisomncnt tbrough Iammt. Part 1 féatures the

perfomance of five larncnts, cach clcarly dcmarcatcd as a selfcontainad tcxt by a

narrator who introduca and closes the speechesU The introduction of Satan empbasizcs

his presence as a speaker.

CleopaC) &me se alda ut of htiie,

wricad wordcwedas wercgan m r d t ,
eisegan stehc: . . .

(Then the ancicnt one crics out h m hell,

uttm worddeclarations, with accursed speech,
with drtadfiil voice: ... 3436a)

Satan himself will step forward and directly express himself. The anticipation of the

(Therefore, a man cannot become wisc bcforc h t has a sharc of winters in the
world. The wise one m a t be patient, m u t not be too hot-heuteci nor too hasty of
speech, nor too weak in battlc nor too raMess,...)

For example, the narrator prefaces the second lament with "Eft mrdaden (Again
spoke, 75a); the second and thgd lament arc seppnted by "Swa se waega gast wordm
sæde" (mus the accurscd spirit in words told, 123); bawcen the third and forirth is "ba
gyt fmla cwiOde fima htrdt" (Th- yet keeper of sins said more, 159).
My citations of mm S a m arc h m George Philip Knpp, ai.,
Manuscript, ASPR 1 (New York: Columbia W.193 1) 135-58. Translations of the tcxt
are my own.
 23

action of speech--Of telling--builds with the accumulation of speech words--"cleopab,"

"wriced," and "wordcwedas," "reorde," "stehe." Satan, who, in turn, is conscious of an

audience, begins with the rhetorical question "Hwær com engla drym, / be we on

heofnum habban sceoldan?" (To where has the glory of the angels come, that we in

heaven should have had? 36b-7). in this speech, Satan uses a collective "we" (41a and

Ma) in his recognition of the tonnent he and his fellow demons suffer. Call-and-response

is immediately apparent when he is answered, within the poem, at lines 53-64 by the

"arole gastas" (terrible spirits, 5 la)." Satan then shiRs to the persona1 "1" in the next

three larnents, retuming to "we" only in his final lament. Robert Emrnett Finnegan finds

the effective use of ciassical rhetorical devices in Christ and Satan, especially in the

larnents of Satan:

When, for example, we discover that one of the most powerful sections of

the poem, the "Ealas" which comprise Satan's Iament in lines 163-171.

exhibits in its structure the rhetorical figures prole~sis,h v ~ t e r o l o w ~

hpozeuxis and anaphora, and that this lament immediately precedes the

poem's first homiletic section, we are justified in supposing that the poet

consciously contrived his lines to make as strong an impact on his

audience as possible, thus to support his following exhortation."

" Similarly, intemal dialogue occurs within some blues songs performed as duets.
Bessie Smith and Clara Smith often teamed up to record songs; Memphis Minnie and her
partner Kansas Joe McCoy are an example of a duet in country blues.

Christ and Satan: A Critical Edition (Waterloo, ON: Wilfiid Laurier UP, 1977) 151.
In other words, the poet used the lament, embelli&ed with rfietorical devices, to ensure

the interest and response of his audience. As Finncgan points out, the idca is suppoited

by the fact that the narrator mua step in to d i r e c t the attention (and soul) of the pocm's

Iisteners.

The narrator carefully sets up the second lament by dramatizing Satan's prcsence

as a perfoxmer with theatrical flourishes:

EA reordade odre side

fmnda aldor. Wacs ba forht agen,
s d a n he k s wites worn gefelde.
He spearcade, &me he sprcocan ongan
fjm and atrc; ne big swelc ficgcr dream
donne he in witum wordum in*

(The fiends' chief spoke again a second tirne. we] was thcn fcarfiil ancw
since he felt the magnitude of this punishment. He sparked when he bcgan
to spcak with fhc and poison; it is not such fair joy when he in rnisery
uttered with words: ... 75-80)

Here, Satan's act of speech is visualized with the unique vcrb "spearcade" (sparked, 78a):

he speaks with "fire and poison." His words are not only aurally powerfiil but also

construed as visible objects; the effict increases interest in prcparation for the direct

connection Satan will make with the audience in the speech. As a mode of

communication, the elaboratc artifice of the lament hcightcns the contrast betwem Satan's

speech and the more natural patterns of Christ's speech sccn in Parts II and III. The

lament is appropriate in tone and topic for the voice of the exilai Sahn, aud the p e t may

have counted on its attractive cmotive power to muse responsc in the poan's audience-

In contrast to Satan's lameats, those found in the Exeter Book are like blues

records in that the tcxts exist opart h m a barrative cbntcxt. Only n e W h cornes
to us with what appears to be a short introduction (lines 1-7), quite similar to that of

Satan's speeches. Nevenheless, the voicc of both the lamcnts and blues exhibits a

strategy of self-introduction, initiating a ''Caii" to a pmupposod rtsponsive listener,

examples include the following lines drawn f b m cach corpus:

I've got the blues, and it's al1 about my honey man
I've got the blues, and it's al1 about my honcy man
What makes me love him I sure dont understand.=

Ic pis gicdd wrece bi me ful geomorrt

mime s y l k sia.

(I uttcr this speech about mysclfl fidl of somw,

my own joumey. WL, 1-2a)

The speakers of Busic Smith's 'Woney Man Blues" and The Wifc's -1 declarc thcir

need to communicate private expcricace, to crcatc a "blues" of personal stniggle. In

Smith's stanza, the phrase "I've got the blues" demonstrates the usage of one of the most

frequently occurring formulas in the corpus, identifiai as not the blues? The phrase is
particularly significant in its multiple fiinctions. The announcement 1 eot the b l u a
introduces and asserts the first-pcrson speaker?the "r'whose insistcnce on m d h g hcr

"blues"-her persona1 distress ah n rong-simultantously nmnes both topic and genre.

In this self-reflcxive capacity, the formula is commonly used, as above, in the opcning

line of a blues Song. The utterancc of the highly familiar J not the b l u a immaliatcly

establishes an abstract pcrforrnativc stage h m which the speaker calls out to an unseen

25 Davis 290.

26 AS is my practice in Chapter Two, foxmulas are underlinad.

audience, and introduces appropriate expectations. 1 eot the blues invokes or "keys" the

interpretative frame of blues perf~rmance.'~Robert Johnson's employment of the formula

in his "Cross Road Blues" emphasizes the idea of communication:

You can run, you can run tell my fiiend Willie Brown
You can nin, you can nin tell my fiiend Willie Brown
That 1 got the crossroad blues this momin', Lord
babe, I'm sinkin' d ~ w n . ' ~

From the isolated location of the crossroad. the speaker asks his listener to transmit his

blues--his distress embodied by his song--to his fiiend Willie Brown. The request

high lights active audience participation in the b'blues" of the speaker and perfonner.

The speaker of the OId English Wife's Lament calls in a similar manner; she

announces herself, her "giedd," and the sorrow that defines both. The above lines

illustrate a collocation that recurs throughout the larnents, in which, Anne L. Klinck

States, "words for the self combine with verbs of intention and narration in the

introduction of the ~peaker."?~

A sirnilar cluster begins The Seafarer--

Mæg ic be me sylfum sodgied wrecan,

sibas secgan, hu ic geswincdagum
earfoahwile oft browade
bitre breostceare . . . .

(1 can about myself a truth-speech utter, j o m e y s tell, how 1 in toil-days

O fien suffered hardship-times bitter breast-care.. .. 1-4a)

'-Richard Bauman, Verbal Art as Performance (Prospect Heights, iL:Waveland P.

1977) 9-2 1.

'' Robert Johnson: The Corndete Recordings, Columbia, 1990.

'> The Old Enelish Eleeies: A Critical Edition and Genre Studv (Montreal and
Kingston: McGill-Queen's UP, 1992) 227.
--and The Wanderer:

Oft ic sceolde ana uhtna gehwylce

mine ceare cwiban.

(OAen 1 had to alone speak my cares at each dawn. 8-9a)

The subject of the laments is the speaker's own self: 1 speak ("cwiban," "secgan") about

myself ("be me sylfum"). The collocation also appears in Deor-"Pct ic bi me sylfum

secgan wille" (That, 1, about myself, will Say, 35)-and in Resimation: "Ic bi me tylgust /

secge bis sarspel ond ymb sib s p ~ c e (1,

" about myself, resolutely tell this sad-story and

about my journey speak, 96b-7). The speaker of Resimation names the genre of his

speech--he tells a "sarspel" (sad-story), while the Wife and the Seafarer create a "giedd,"

a term that defies modem genre cla~sifications.~~

As in The Wife's Lament, the

collocation identifies the psychological and emotional topic of the laments: the Seafarer

wi ll tell of how he siiffered bitter "breostceare" (anxiety in the breast or heart, S 4a),

and the Wanderer must speak of his "ceare" (wony, Wan 9a). The "sib" (journey. a
Za. S 2a. Rse 97b) and "sod" (tnith, 1b, Wan 1 1b) are hther elements of the

collocation which, as will be seen in Chapter Threc, are intimately associated with

personal anxiety and its communication. The larnent's cal1 is nicely accommodated by

the written text which, as transmitter, connects the distant. unseen speaker with the

reading listener.

30 The speaker of W&E refers to "uncer giedd (our song?, 19). For a discussion of
the "ziedd," see Klinck 244-5. The word appears in a variety of literary contexts;
possible translations include: song, poem, saying, proverb, riddle, speech, story, tale, and
narrative.
 The introductory clusta of the Old Engiish lament fùnctions in a similar manncr

to the formula 1 not the b l u a in creating an intimate yet public place in which the

speakers not only assert themsclves as subjective nimators but al- themselver as

subjects. Klinck observes,

In contrast to the epic ic n c f i i e d d s or WC nefiwion/hMdon,

announcing what is wefl known and public, the formula which

characterizes elegy signals a private revelation. Like the riddle, it

emphasizes a personal identity, but with ref-ce to mental and verbal

faculties Imên. d e ; sec- wrccan), whcrcas the characteristic riddie

formula introduces its speaker with jc eorq or jc wes, a ciiffermicc which

reflects the elegy's prcoccupation with psychology, as opposcd to the

riddle's with physical

Private revelation is also the main preoccupation of blues, literaiized in the formula 1

woke UD this morning, a phrase su familiar that it fùnctions as the "Once upon a t h e " of

blues." Typically employed in the first line of a song, J woke m o m anticipates

' Old English El- 228. The distinction ktwecn the epic and the lament p d l e l s
the basic difference betwec~lthe third-person narrateci, public baüad and blues song.

* For an analysis of the 1woke fomula sec Michad Taft, 'The Lyrics of Race
Record Blues, 1920-1942: A Semantic Approach to the Structural Analysis of a
Fomulaic Systcm," dis., Mernorial U of Newfolmdiand, 1977,563-85. Taft points out
that the phrase "in the Momùig*' is uxd in black folk prtaching 4 t h its association to the
Last Judgement (4 10). Tht spiritual ''Grtat Gcttin' Up Momhg" describes the Last
Judgement.
1 woke UD and m ablues what Baumm d h "speciil
formulas," that, üke "Once upon a the,'' fiinction as a "maricmof spccific genres'' (21).
a realization-the lover is gone, the blues have arrived, it's time to leave town:

Woke up this moming : found something wrmg

M y loving babe : had caught that train aud gone. (McCoC-1)

I woke up this momin' fcelin' 'round for my shoes

Know by that 1 got these old waikin' blues')

As in blues, moming is a significant time for personal expression in the lammts: the

Wanderer utters his womes at dawn (lb), and the Wifc suffexs 'thtceare"(dawn-anxiety,

7b). The explicit use of daybreak as a setting in both petries emphasizes the state of

change and psychological upheaval, and the recognition of that stotc. Daybrcak also

becomes a rnetaphor for artistic creation., an awakcning capturcd and presmted by the act

of utterance.

in summary, the attractive power of blues and the Iaments iies within their ability

to actively invuke the reader-listener in the expression of cmotiod stniggle. ï h e texts

do more than convey the message of an unsecn singer-pet to a distant audience; they

simulate the dynarnics of live performance by incorporathtg call-and-response strategies

within the message of the text. Central to the creation of a texnial performative space is

the intemal "r'who directly engages an extemal "you." In the prucess, both poetries

exhibit, at a litexal level, a paradox within the pmentaîion of an isolaicd

although the "I" is alone, cut off h m society in somc ambiguously distant place, he or

she not o d y spcaks but does so with confidence of k i n g h d . This contradiction is

I3 Robert Johnson, 'Wakhg Blues," -

.
The fonnulaic construction of isolation is discusssd in Chnptcr Thrcc.
fundamental to the premise of the utterance of persona1 distress; the circumstance of

isolation activates and intensifies self-awareness and the need to reach a sympathetic

listener. The involvement of the audience in the expression of desire and disappointment

is a prime factor contributing to the intensity generated by both blues and the laments.

***

Locatiog "1"

Despite the immediacy of the speakers' dramatic presence, the "1" of blues and the

laments eludes specific identification and location in time and space. Western

conceptions of dramatic monologue are fnistrated by the speakers' habit of abruptly

switching topics and voice, causing disruption to any sense of thematic development or

narrative progession. This constant shifting of perspective strains the modem reader's

notion of structural unity; as a result (especially on paper), the voice of "1" appears

splintered and disconcerted. Atternpts to locate the speaker as a means of uniQing

seemingly disjunctive texts have led to debates amongst scholars: while blues listeners

argue the issue of autobiography, Old English readers dispute the number of speakers

within certain laments.

The structural complexity of The Wanderer produces the effect of multiple voices.

The poem begins with what seems to be the voice of an external narrator: lines 1-7

introduce the "anhoga" (solitary one, l a), and announces "Swa cwæd eardstapa" (So

spoke the earth-stepper, 6a). The Wanderer himself appears to speak lines 8 to 1 10, but at

line 29b he shiAs fiom the fint-person account of his own hardships and distress to an
objective third person obsenation of exiie: "Wat se @ c m & I hu s l i m bi6 sorg to

geferan" (He knows who expcriences it how cruel sorrow is as a cornpanion, 29b-30).'5

At Line 57, the Wanderer rcnim~to the first-person voice and bcguiJ his new subject of

the transience of life; but "I" is soon displaccd within the mcditation on destruction and

min by "He" of line 88, who reflects upon the '*ealsteal" (wall-foundation, 88a) and

"acwid" (speaks, 91b) the following cmphatic ubi sunt passage of 92- 110. The namitor's

voice reappears to close the pomi with "Swa cwd5 snottor on mode" (So spoke the one

wise in min& 1 1 1a), echoing the introductory phrase of line 6a Many have pondered:

exactly who is speaking what? 1s the "eadstapa," the exile of iines 29b-57, the

contemplating wise man of 88-1 10, and the "mottor on mode" d l the syne speaker or do

they represmt différent character~?~~

In his 1965 article, John C. Pope suggtsts that the lack of "stage directions" to

guide the reader through the abrupt vocal shifts in me W a n d m is due to thc rtcording

of an oral performance, "in too nakedly a poetic fo~n."~'He opposes prcvious

35 A similar shifi in perspective occurs in with lines 42-47a Niles, Toward,"

identifies a "high toleration for narrative inconsistencies or anomalies" as a style fcaturt
of an oral poetic tradition (370).

36 See Lois Bragg, The Imic SDeakcn of OId EapliSh Pocgy (London and Toronto:
Associated UPs, 199l), esp. 121-38; aiso Klinck 108, 118, 123-4, 126; Pauiine E. Head,
Rmresentation and Des@: Traciqg a Hennmcutics of 0- P m (Albany: Statc
U of New York P, 1997) 28-9.
A similar question arises with in which an abrupt shiA in voice, abject,
and attitude occurs at 33b and again at 103.

''"Dramatic Voices in
. . W a n d q and nt
Seafarrr." FrpnCiDleniuc: Mcdieval a
Linmistic Sn>dies w n o r of Fmcis Pcabodv eds. J a s B.Bessinger, Jr.
and Robert P. C d (New York: New York UP, 1965) 187. Pope a h treoo
monologue theories by arguing that the pocrn features two distinct "'drarnatic speeches

and an epilogue.'"' The fbt, lines 1-5 and 8-57, belongs to the wandcrtr, and the second,

lines 58-1 10, to the "'think~r."~~

Pope dizanguishes betwten the two voices: "the

wanderer, as a typicdly loyal retauler, belongs to the cotlscrvative aristocratie world in

both life and poetry; the thinker, though he recognizes a native tradition of wisdom, has

moved into the sphm of Biblical and patristïc leaming, with sorne flavor of classical

philosophy.'" In con- to Pope's position, Stanley B. Grrenneld believes a

Wanderer

is best takcn as a monologue by an cthopœic speaker whose account

suggests a pmgrcss in wisdom h m fiitilc h o p of earthiy amclioration ta

realisation that ai1 ]if is Iatnç. This progression is signallai by the pet's

introduction of his speaker simply as a wandncr in the formula Swa c w d

eardsm (line 6) and by his final designaion of him as one wisc in

thought in the parallel formula Swa c w d snottor on m d ç (line 11l)."

In response to Pope, Greenfield argues that the imposition of modem dramatic

Seafarer in the sarne manncr.

'* "Dramatic" 186. The d o n of two speakers in Wpg was put fornard in 1943 by
Bernard F. Huppé,' m e Wandcrct; Theme and Stmcture," JF.GP 42 (1943):516-38, to
which Stanley B. Grcedieid rropondcd with the countervicw of a sole speaker in 'm
Wanderer: A Reconsidcration of Thcme and Stmcture," F.GP 50 (195 1): 45 1-65.

'' Pope 166-7.

41 "The Old En@& Elegies," C o n m d R e P - n .m i n e r :.~ tm- 01-

Literature, ad. Eric G d d Stanîey (London: Thomas NeIson, 1966)147.
expectations on Old English poetry constitutes "aesthetic irrelevance": "lnsistence on a

contemporary standard of 'ciramatic probability' and consistency of character from a lyric

of an age that, so fàr as we know, possessed no drarna, should therefore be tempered.""

The differing perspectives within The Wanderer reside in one figure whose view turns

ouhvard, away fiom the personal, towards the ~ o r l d . ' 'Other

~ writerç have variously

attempted to uni@ the voice(s) of The Wanderer by, for example, giving the speaker an

i d e n t i t ~and
, ~ by re-assessing the poem's genre?

Shi fting viewpoint also characterizes most blues lyrics. Sterling A. Brown writes,

"The biues are often repetitious, inconsecutive, with sudden changes fiom tragedy to

'' "Min, Sylf, and 'Dramatic Voices in The Wanderer and The Seafarer,"' JEGP 68
(1 969): 2 14-5.

3' "Dramatic," 2 19. Further articles addressing the speaker(s) of Wan include: Gerald
Richman. "Speaker and Speech Boundaries in The Wanderer," JEGP 8 1 (1982): 469-79,
and W.F. Bolton, "The Dimensions of The Wanderer," Leeds Studies in English 3
( 1969): 7-34.

Ida ,Masters Hollowell, "On the Identity of the Wanderer," The Old Enelish
Eleqies: New Essavs in Criticism and Research, ed. Martin Green (London and Toronto:
Associated UPs, 1983) 82-95. Hollowell identifies the Wanderer as a "wodbora," a seer
figure who is associated with wisdom and poetry (86-7).
The difficulty of The Wife's Larnent has also led scholars to assign a specific identity
to the speaker and to consider the presence of more than one speaker. For a survey of
interpretations see Jerome Mandel, Alternative Readings in Old English Poetry (New
York: Peter Lang, 1987) 139-73.

" Rosemary Woolf, 'The Wanderer. The Seafarer, and the Genre of Planctus,"
n John C. McGalliard, eds. Lewis E.
Anqlo-Saxon Poetrv: Essavs in A ~ ~ r e c i a t i ofor
Nicholson and Dolores Warwick Frese (Notre Dame: U of Notre Dame P, 1975) 192-207.
If The Wanderer is regarded as planctus, Woolf argues, the speaker is a representative
fictional character "Who will descnbe himself, not through a probing sel f-knowledge, but
rather fiom the point of view of a thoughtful onlooker;" therefore, "the question of
whether there may be more than one speaker within the main body of the [Wanderer's]
monologue becomes irrelevant, no matter how subtly it may be investigated" (1 99).
f a r ~ e .Charley
'~ Patton's "Hammer Blues" (c 1930) illustrates the loosc, almost random,

structure of the countxy blues song:"

Gonna buy me a hiunmer, cany it underneah (through] the tw,

Goma buy myself a hammer, cary it undcnieath the thc,
So when the wind blow, the leaves may fa11 on me.

Go on baby, you can have your way,

Go on baby, you can have your way,
Sister, every dog sure must have his day.

Got me shackled, wearin' a bal1 and ...

They've got me shackled, I'm wearin' m y bal1 and chah
An' they got me ready for that Parchan train.

1 went to the depot, 1 looked up at the board

1went to the depot, 1 lookd up at the board
If bis train has le& well, [it's tearin' off up the mad].

Clothes I buy, baby, honey, you go- 'pm...

You're gonna appreciate honey?al1 cbthes I'11 buy
1 will give you al1 my lovin', baby till the &y 1die.

1 went way up Red River, crawlin' on the ...

1 went up Red river, crawlin' al1 night long
I think 1 heard the p o b Lce boat] when she moanedu

Each stam appears to start anew, defying narrative wuence and complicating the

"The Blues," Phvlon 13 (1952): 292.

47 In his study of Patton's lyrics, John Fahey, W e v Paîton (London: Studio Vista,
1970), States, "the stanzas of each song, taken as a whole, remain disjunctive. Most of
them could be interchangui. A difietence in theu orda would not incmase (or dcaeasc)
their 'rationality"' (62).

Charlev Patton: Foundcr of the Q&a Rlucs 1929-1934. Yazoo, 1989. S q m

brackets indicate words or phrases that are not clear to me. In order to make saisc of the
fint stanza, some transcn'bers, such as Taft, second guess the title and substitute
"hammock" for "hammer." Patton does not finish the first lines of stanzas 3,4, aad 3.
speaker's perspective: the speaker, in him, buys himself a harnmer, addresses his lover,

awaits jail, goes to the tnin station, addrrsses his lover again, and tmvels on the river.

Switching between "I" and "you" and ‘?bey," dong with changes in scene, produces a

fragmented experience. This mamer of linking Jccmuigly unrclated stanzas is typical of

country blues singers of Patton's tirne, and oficn rtsults in a contradictory collocation

within one Song of the diverse attitudes and reactions (sucb as passivity and aggression)

found throughout the corpus of blues. Pauline E. Head's description of the Old English

Wanderer as a succession of %bleaw" through which the "cardstapa" (earth-stepper)

guides the reader applier equaiîy well to the changing landscape of blues text~.'~

Ambiguity arises for listcncrs secking distinction betwccn the perfonner and the

speaker. Over the years, the debate conceming the autobiographical aspect of the blues

"1" has been fueled by statcmcats such as that of Ralph Eiiison: "As a fom, blues is an

aut obiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe expresscd lyri~ally.'~

As will be sten

'O bbRichard Wright's Blues," aadow and & (1953; New York: Vhtagc, 1995) 78-9;
Ellison's statement is made in the fontcxt of a rcview of Wright's B k k BOY,an
autobiographical novel. In 1977, Jcff Todd Titon, Eprlv Do- Blues: A M u s a
and Cultural Analvsk (1 977; Chape1 Hill: U of North Catolina P, 1994) notai, "the
assumption that blues lyrics arc factually autobiographical remaias common in blues
SCho larship" (40). Ralph Eastman, "Country Blues Performance and the Oral Tradition,"
BMR Journal 8 (1988), states, "the rawness and immcdiacy of the best of these fblues]
performances tmded to crcate the illusion in the min& of oudicnces thaî the pafoxmer
was expressing his own intcnsely personal cxperiaice directiy to thcm without the filter
of "Art." ïncxperiniced observm bccame convincd that they wcrc witne-g
spontaneous oral autobiography rather than a perfomance that confonned to a discemible
set of niles. With writers lpproaching these tex& as autobiognphy as well as secking to
apply literaxy criteria and gublishcd European standards of songwriting to a pmduct of
oral tradition, much confiision undcrstandably amse" (163).
in Chapter Two. the formulait compositional sînacture of blues does indeed allow for the

insertion of details that have a personal association and significance for the singer. In

fact, many sïngers name themsclves, a fature iilustrated by the song titlcs, 'bMr.McTell

Got the Blues" and "Mr. Sykes Blues." The aaming of a town, railroad line or specific

train, a par<icularjail, or person enabla the blues singer to pmonalize a formula Such

details are often treated as a source of infornation for biographers. For example, Charley

Patton's"Tom Rushen Blues" (1929) and "Hi@ Sheriff Blues" (1934) are believed to

recount his own expcricncc of being arrc~tcd.~'But restarchcfs who attempt to use such

songs as sources of biographical information cncounter a numbcr of problems; John

Barnie explains,

It is difficult...to establish the exact sequencc of evmts in either song, for although

the subject-matter dernands a narrative trcatment, it is in fact developed through a

series of loosely associative stanzas in Patton's typical manncr. Obscurity is

increased, moreover, by the refercnce to locai personalities who could only have

The f k t thm stanzas of Patton's "High Sheriff Blues**arcas follows:

When the trial's in Belzoni, ain't no use in scrcaming and cryi~gm m .
When the trial's in B c h n i , ain't no use a-scrcamhg and crying mmm
Mister Webb will takc you back to Bcltoni jailhouse [flying].

Let me tell you folks ho-ow he trcated me tee

Let me tell you f o b h ~ hewtrcated me ete
And he put me in a cell, Lord, it was dark as it could bc.

It was late one evening, Mr. Purvis was standin' Muad mmm
It was late ont evcning, Mr.Pumis was standid 'round mmm
Mr. Purvis told Mr. W e b b to let poor Charlie down.
(Chaflcv Patto~,Yazoo, 1989)
 been known to Patton's immediate circle."

"Tom Rushen Blues" and "Hjgh Shcriff Blues" are mcmbers of a large subgroup of blues

songs that treat the theme of prison, and, as such, the actions and evmts they depict are

blues conventions." Thus, they offa Iittle help to biographm loolcing for extemai facu

within the songs.

Actual autobiograpbical details tend to be supplantai by the ovcrarching

formu1aic "autobiography" of blues. Demis J a m t t argues that the blues system of

formula creates a fictional speaker, a "blues persona," who ernbodies "the meanhg of the

blues"; this persona of the "blucsman," is "encodeci in lexical and psychological

traditions which contribute to the gcnrc," and

though the blues artist purports to be teiiing us about himself, he does so

within the highly stylizad, contrived context of music-a meam of

expression which exaggeratcs the elminit of artifice and corrcspondingly

militates against "realism." We arc constantly rcminded by the music tbat

we are listmuig more to a contrivance than a c~nfession.~

Even when a blues singer miploys original matcriai, the lyrics arc shrped in accordance

with the conventional fomulaic sûucture, and the singer "subsumes a personal situation

s2
. .
bbCharleyPatton's Jaiihow Blues," Blues UnimtcQ 124 (1977): 22.

'' In Chapta Thrcc 1 argue that the prison thcme tends to impose narrative Iùiearity
and thematic cohesion on lyrics. Regardlas of the singes actual cxpcricw in jaii, the
song's presentation of incameration is formulait.

Y b'TheSinger and the Bluaman: Formulations of Personality in the Lyrics of the

Blues," Southeni Foiklort 42 (1978): 32.
to the requirements of a largcr pmon9ty.'*5 R d Gruvcr also argues agauist the notion

of blues as autobiography; instcad, he vicws blues as dramatic monologue in whkh ''[a]ll

those unnarned I's' . . . are not projections of their -of s& h g but truc literary

creations in the drama of the blues.'- The m e r to the question as to whethcr a blues

Song reflects the singefs actual experience is both y a and no. The world view of the

blues reflects the experience of a particular people with a panicular history. Blues. James

H. Cone writes,

are not propositional tniths &ut black expcxicncc. Rather they arc the

essential ingrdents that de& the of the black expcrience. And

to understand thcm, it is ncccssary to view the blues as a -te . -

of mind rn

relation to the Truth of the black e c n c ç . This is what blues man

Hcnry Townscnd, of St. Louis, has in mind whca ht says: "When 1 sing

the b l u a 1 sing the mith.'"'

Cone goes on to state what has become an axiom amongst listeners: "to sing the blues

56 "The Blues as Dnmatic Monologues," JEMF Ouartcrly 6 (1 970): 3 1. S a Jeff

Todd Titon's respoasc to Gniver in his "Autobiog~phy and Blues Texts: A Reply,"
JEMF Ouarterly 6 (1970): 79-8 1;the debate becornes one of g m r r definition: Titon
argues that autobiography is not "discursive," as Gnivcr States, but is in "fm..dramatic,
imaginative litcraturt," anâ, thus, 'The T of [the blues singds] tatts must be a persona,
even when the lyics do refn to somabiag the singer hns d i d y cxpericncad" (80).
Gruver's rejoindcr a p p a s in 'The Autobiographical Thwry Re-eXZIIIÙIIed," 6
(1 970): 129-30.

Blues: An(1972; Ncw York: Orbis, 1991)

truthfully, it is necessary to experience thc historicd d i t i c s that created them.'"' To its

original audience, then, the blues '7" is inhcrently multiple-both individual and

communal, private and public-spcaking a collective autobiography.

At a fiirther level, the "bluesman" persona is continued outside of the songs by the

singers themselves. Barry Lee Pearson, in his study of the lifc stories told by blues

artists, finds that the autobiographical information given by singcrs during interviews

exhibited "similar corrcsponding topics that appearcd to be characteristic of the blues

musician's tale in gencral.*JgThe persona of the blues 'Y is taken on by many singm in

the construction of a public self: 'Musicians talk about the blues and their own lives as if

they were one and the same, using thcir expericnce to illustrate a point about the blues or

using an example h m the blues to makc a point about their lives.'* Earlier, pre-WWII

blues artists often adoptcd a public persona used by record companics to promote sales:

"classic" women singcrs w m marketad with royal titles, such as "Queen of tbe Blues"

and "Empress of the Blues." A number of male singers extendad the demonic aspects of

their songs to their public self; a well-known exampie is the legend that Robert Johnson

58 Spirituais 103. While undemood, the principle is chnllaiged by members of the

white, middle-class second audience who p d o m blues.

59 Sound So Good To Mc: The Bluesmyr's Storv (Philadelphia: U of Pemuylvania P,

1984) xiii. It is important to note that interviews with blues shgcrs occumd during the
"blues revival" of the 1960s and 705 whea taditional h s t s w a e paformïng beforc a
second audience. Sec also Bennet Siems, "Bmr Robert: The Blucsman and the m c a n
Arnerican Trickster Talc Tradition," 48 (199 1), who discusses the
"artistic oral pcrfomance" (Ml) of the blucsmen's nones in which thcy typically presait
themselves as an escape-artist trickster figure.
 40

received his musical expertise h m the devil at the ~rossroad.~'

Tommy Johnson claimeci

the same story, and Pectic WhePtstnw markcted hirnself as 'The Devil's Son-in-Law."

Blues poetry embracts yct rcjects its owri creator. Although dependent on the

singer for its existence, the blues tcxt is nluctant to promote the existence of its singer u

an individual: autobiographical insertion is welcomed but dinused in its Knice to the

overriding formulait structure. Although the idmtity of a singer WEC Robexi Johnson is

distinguished on record by his voicc and playing style, the '7"of "Cross Road Blues" is

not Johnson, regardles of how uniquely and convincingly Johnson claims that '7" as his

own; it remains the 'T'of the blues traâition.

In the light of blues, the "II"of the lamcnt can be secn as a persona constructd

through formula to cornmunicate with an audience that sharcs the p t ' s world view. The

inherent performative strategies of the laments suggest that, for th& initial audience, the

"autobiography" of each speaker was drawn h m communal expcrimce, and, through its

presentation, the group actively sharcd figurative sccnes of life, various and familiar. The

attempt to impose "logic" on the lamcnt or the blues text by reading intellectual

progression and pinning d o m speakers, intemally or extemally, reveals an uneasy

relationship betwecn oral lyric and audience mernôers who r d first and Liam second

The harmony of these poctries, within which Lies theu '"hth," challenges the borrndarics

that circumscnbe the western litcr;ay experience.

*+*

61Floyd discusses the blues crossroad kgend as a version of the Yoruba myth of
Eshu-Elegbara @owa 734).
Locating Experience

The shifting viewpoint of the laments, and blues, forces the modem reader to make

conceptual adjustments without the aid of extemal information. In her study of

Wanderer, Pauline E. Head explains why the poem's hgmentary structure causes

confusion:

The reader of The Wanderer is "Io0 close" to the characters who describe

their visions; the poem offers no vantage point far enough away fiom the

scenes to allow a wider, more inclusive, view. Like the reader of the

Junius drawings, this reader must provide the narrative links, binding the

separate scenes to each other and to the rest of the p ~ e r n . ~ '

A rnember of the poem's original audience, however, &

J have a "vantage point," that
c

being his or her own cultural and historical fiarne of reference. Cultural knowledge and

experience enable "narrative links" between scenes as the listener intuitively draws from

the meta-narrative of tradition and Iife. The process is evident in the relationship between

the laments of Christ and Satan and the larger narrative poem that contains them. Within

this (probably new and, hence, adficial) context, the modem reader, like the Anglo-

Saxon reader, encounters the lament with background knowledge of Christianity. As a

" Re~resentation34. Head's study of the Junius 1 1 illustrations inform her reading of
The Wanderer: "The Junius drawings do not describe for the viewer a precise physical (or
temporal) position; instead, they allow her or hirn to see from many perspectives....Just as
there is no one viewing position for the reader of the Junius drawings, there is no single
narrative point of view available to the reader of The Wanderer" (27).
 42

result, the anti-linear, motive speeches can be understood; this religious and literary

context identifies and locates the speaker, explains allusions such as those to his fonner

home,and, moreover, subjtcts the speaker and his speech to moral judgcment. in this

case, the experience of the text, for both the elcvcnth- and the twcntieth-century rcadcr

emerges from, and is dictated by, the religious fiamework within which the text h s bem

interpolated.

The mystery of the Exeter laments aises with their displacement h m an extemai

narrative? Our distance firom their on- cultural context is cmphasized by the series

of allusions found in the poem Deor. Without thcir stories, the rcftrences to mytho-

histoncal figures are meaninglcss. But the poem's obscurity does not hinder thc outsider's

involvement in the text; the allusions work bcyond theu historical spccificity to engage

al1 audiences emotionally. In content and technique, &or is strikingly similar to Robert

Johnson's "Corne On In My Kitchen." On the next page, two stanzas of each are

presented in juxtaposition so that the songs might talk to each othm about how the p e t

engages his m e e n and various audiences. Togcther, the texts demonstrate how the

quality of the call-and-response dynamic is determineci by audience knowlcdge.

The stanzaic statements of tmth poemsdistilled, concise, compact and porcable-

glimpse other storics. ' k i r very precision prcsupposes a howledgcable audience, one

that bnngs specific outside expericnce to the tem. in &QL the story bthind Beadohild is

63Main Renoir discusses the coatcxts of history, manuscript, and l i t a ~ r ytraâition in

"Old English Formulas and Thanes as Twls for Contexnial Intapntstion," j k f o d u
Integretation in Old &@,& Lit- cds. Phyllis Rugg Brown, Georgia R o m
Crampton, and Frcd C. Robinson (Toronto: U of Toronto P. 1986) 65-79.
 "Corne On In My Kitchen" (takc 2,11.4-9)

Bcadohilde ne wcs hyre brobra deab When a woman get in trouble everbody throw her down
on sefan swa sar swa hyre sylfre Ping Lookin' for your good fiend iione can be found
pet hm gearolice ongieten hsfde You better come on in my kitchen it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors.
bet hm eacen wacs; afiene meahte
briste gepaican, hu ymb pet sceolde.
)ES o f e r d e , bisses swa meg!

We pet M~dhilde monge gefnignon Ah, the woman I love took from my best fnend
wurdon gmdlcase Geates frige, Some joker got lucky stole her back again
bat hi sa> sorglugu slcp calle binom. You better come on in my kitchen it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors.
h s oferoode, bisses swa mes!

(To Bcaâohild the death of her brothers was

not so painfùl in mind as her own situation,
that she had clcarly perceiveâ she was pregnant;
she w u n e v s able to confidently think how she
should act about that,
That p d away, this so may.

Many of us have herrd that about Methild:

the Geat's desire becarne boundless so that
this somw-love took al1 sleep h m them.
That passai away, this so may.)
provided to us by legend: she is raped by Weland in revenge against her father Niahad."

This infoxmation gives a past and future to the moment of the s t a n u capturing

Beadohild's distress; the enlightnied listcmr cm dip into legmd for some consolation

that her unbom child will becorne the hem Widia In the next stanza, DCOS
I' assumption

that "monge gefhgnon" (many have heard), unfortunately, excludes modem readcrs who

have been infonned, and are uncertain as to whetha "Mzethild" is even a proper

' remahder of the stanza givts us littie help, lcaving what appcars to be a
n m ~ e . ~The

residual of a lost story, provocative in its lexicon ' ' ~ d l c ~ ~"fige,"

c * ' "'sorglufû.'"

Meanwhile, Johnson's "Corne On In My Kitcbea" exhibits fiill-line fonnulas

w hi ch have developed into ready-made stanzas." Although Johnson's subjccts arc not

noble, legendary, or even individuaiizcd, these formulait stanzas emerge h m a socio-

historicai narrative no less significant to his audience than that of legend and epic to

Deor's Iisteners. In its recognition of the forrnulaic nature of blues, today's second

audience may take for m t e d the precise description of ratha wrnplex social

interactions, and hear the stantas as merc generic maicers of hardship. Sccmingly

The story is found in the V8lmdaikviaô (Krapp and Dobbie Li$; sec Klinck 161-2.

65 See Klinck 162-4; Bernard J. Muir, d., The Exeter rbfhplpw of Old
Poetrv. v.2 (Exeter: U of Exeter P, 1994) 568. Anglo-saxon &ers of thc Exeter Book
may not have known "Matbild" tither. Roberta Frank, '‘Germanie Legend in Old
-ein
English Literaturt," C o m n to Old (Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 19%) 88-106 diseusses the relationship bctwccn m r (and o t h a pocms)
and the Anglo-saxon audience. She statcs "It is impossible to know how much more (or
iess) the Anglo-Saxons knew of Gamanic lcgcnd than we do" (103).

66 For various Tt8djIIgs of the "M~thild"stanza sec Ktinck 162-4.

67 This pmcess will bc discussed in Chapter Two.
*
 45

complete, the stanzas demand extrapolation: the all-too-common secnario of social

ostracization of a woman in trouble (whatcver trouble that may be) is not judged but is

lefi open to consideration, and the dcvvtsting coascquences for the woman is likewise

unspoken. The answers to such questions arc lefk to Johnson's original audience who

knew too well the ramifications of the woman's plight. In the next stanza, the concise

description of the love triangle is humourous in its matterof-factness, a quaiity oAm

found in blues. But the humour of the writtm text can be, and oftm is, bmt into pain

through the singds presentation of the Lines. The fazor-edgcd imny of losing both fiead

and lover goes unaddressed within the text.

The allusions of &oc and "Kitchcn" arc sharpcncd with socid implications

known only to the original audience; extemal bowledge enriches and shapes the

interaction between p e t , text, and informed a ~ d i c n c e .Lack

~ of infonnation d i m e s the

fiillness of this relationship, but the cffectiveness of Johnson's and Deor's stanzas is not

entire1y reliant upon outside sources. Each allusioa priontizes intcmal psychological and

emotional distress over extemal narrative detail, and social aniggle anerges as the

primary thematic link between the stanzas. Although any particuiar social significance

initial audiences rnight have applicd to Beadohild is lost to us, hcr distress in itsclf

remains clear. Similady, even beyond its originaî conttxt, "Kitchai" conveys the

thematic link of bttrayal, in the form of fairweaîhct firiends and UIlfaithfûî tovcrs, and the

For a discussion of how ''extrinsicWknowlaigc infonns the tcxt, sec Alain Renoir,
A Kev to Old P
-: The Oral-Fo-c to t heof West-
Germanic Verse (Univasity Park: Pcm~y~vania Statc UP, 1988) gp.23-6.
 46

ovemding distress of alonmess. In both te-, the allusions to human stmggle

foreground disruption and anxiety. The refisai to claboratc upon namative details s m e s

to intensify the seme of upheaval and himioil, rcgardlcss of the audicnceis d e g m of

knowledge. In this, the lamnit and the blues tcxt have the ability to comect with fivther,

Iess experienced audiences.

The lyrics of Deor and ''Kitchtn" arc distinctive within thcir respective c o p r a in

the use of r e m a feature that appears in oniy one othcr Old English poern (the lament

W ul f and Eadwacerj and rarcly in counûy blues. The unUSU8L11ess of the refrain draws

attention to the poet and his attitude towards the tcxt as a creative perfonnative picce:

Deor and Johnson use the refrain to mark the pocms as th&, and assert themseives as

a r ~ i s t sSignificantly,
.~~ the 'T' of Deor names himself and identifia his vocation as scop-

a scop in need of a job. in Johnson's work, the rcfhin is indicative of his trcatment of

blues as a filly developed utforni." As a self-promotional device, the rcnlin s a s off the

stanzas like items in a catalogue, prcsenting a sampla of the pods compositional and

performance abilities, as well as a brochure of fiutha rcpcrtoirc: I can also t e l the story

of Beadohild. Trouble? 1 can sing about trouble.

Within the tcxt, the rcfiain of each song illuminaîes the subtlc mechanisms of the

laments and the blues in gcneral. The refiain fiiactions as a kind of thrtshold o v a which

69 Gilles Deleuze and Félix Gu&, A Thom-: - . .

C
Schizo~hrenia,tr. Bnrn Massumi (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P. 1981): m e mie of
refkain has often k e n wphasized: it is territorial. o temitonai wmblage" (312).

See Chapter Two for a case-study of Johnson's lyrics, which includes 'Kitchen."
the audience crosses h m one allusion to the next. As both borda and bridge, it

separates yet connects each self-contained hgmmt, effectively de-historicizing the

characters by linking their suffcring not only to each othcr but zlso. more importantly, to

the listener. In both texts, the refiain is conscious of its intcrmedlaq' position: Deor's

"Paes ofereode, pisses swa macg!" (That passui over, so may this) diffmtiates and Links
unat**
and "ms."71
Johnson's "You bctter come on in my kitchen, it's goin' to be rainin'

outdoors" distinguishes itself as an inside space apart fkom the outside world of the

stanzas. The kitchm work literaily and mctaphorically as shelter h m hostile weathcr

and society. Deor's optimism is crecttd against the exnotional upheavai of the stanrriln on

either side. Between the emotional chaos of the stanzas, the r e h offm p a w and

shelter, beckoning the listener-reader to come in. The consolation of the refrain attempts

to impose order on the text and provides stnictural stability to the pocm as a whole. But

neither renain promises stability or permanence in itself; rather, thcy emphasize the

cyclical nature of the poems-and of life? Forever open, the songs rehist to conclude, to

T h e antecedents of the statement arc ambiguou: if "that" rcfers to the situation just
described, say 4'that'*of Beadohild, does "this" then rcfcr to the business of Mkbhild?
Or, to Deor's own situation of unemployment? Or, to a situation extemal to the ttxt
known to its original listcner-mader? Jerome Mandel, bbA~dience Response Stratcgies in
the Opening of Deor,'' Mosak 15 (1982), argues that the refrain's lack of rcfcmit includes
the listener in the suffering of the exrmpla: "With (so (ro this) the pod
implies that any misfortune s u f f d by a listencr that is at all similar to the misfortunes
of Welund and Bcadohild can also pass away" (13 1). Also sec Mandel, w t i v ç 109-
34.

"in the cultural manory of African Amcricans, & is cyclic, as is t h e , as is thaf

music-and al1 these elanents syrnboiizc the ring [Le., the ring b u t of tbc slaves] md
contradict Iinear progression" (Floyd, Powa 231).
stabilize, to resolve.

The open-endedness of the reftain speaks to the continua1 intertextual discourse

that occurs arnongst al1 blues songs and al1 larnents. Although the external settings in

which the texts originated are unavailable to the second audience, exposure to the vast,

extant corpus of blues increases the listener's vision as she or he gains familiarity with the

genre's figurative landscape and the various, often conflicting, views of the blues "1."

Although the laments exist in small number, further appearances of the lamenting "1"

within the world of other poems help to extend our view of the persona and the interior

terrain of the larnent. This process makes clear that the scope and vitality of the larnent

and the blues Song reach beyond their mechanical borders, connecting, at various levels,

with many audiences. Both poetries compensate for cultural inexperience in their

treatmen t of the universal--the expression of desire, fear, sorrow, and hope.

***

Through the direct speech of the persona "1," the lyrics of blues and the Old English

larnents similarly construct a site in which the singer-poet and audience interact. The

texts invoke a performance setting intemally by creating a call-and-response dynarnic

with the use of special fomulaic phrases and clusters. The role of the formula in

composition and performance is the subject of the next chapter. Here 1 propose that the

inherent perforrnativity of the Old English lament strongly suggests that this poetic f o m
 49

was performed before an audience." Meanwhile, the confusion the larnmt crcates for

modem readers illuminates the often unacknowledgcd experiential divide between blues

texts and members of their second audience. Al1 audiences fecl the vitality of the lyrics,

but the essence of the interaction between the artia and rcadcr-listener depends upon

historical and cultural proximity to the text In short: the h t audience hcars the "Y as

"we," while the second audience hcars the "r'as 4'they." This diffference in reception

influenceshow each approaches the perfonnative space crtated by the text: the first uses

the site, participating directly in the expression of lifc; the second admires it, appreciating

its method and artistxy. Regardless of approach, the lament and the blues song both

succeed in uniring singer, speaker, and audience in the -on of a '%luesw of emotional

struggle.

" For the consideraiion of performance in the d h g of Old English poetic tex* s e
A.N. Doane, "Editing Old Englisb OraYWrittcn Te-: Problcms of Mahod (With an
..
Illustrative Edition of Cham 4, WID FERSTICE)," n e EdlflPp of Old Enolûti: P-
fiom the 1990 Manchester Cod- (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1994) 12545.
 Chapter Two

Recording the Formula

Oral poetry, it may be safely said, is composed entirely of formulas, large

and mall, while lette& poetry is never fonnulaic, . . .'

So began the battle of the Oral Formula in the field of Old English poetry. Milman Parry

and Albert B. Lord's orai-foxmulaic theory, which applied the Yugoslav compositional

technique to the texts of classical epics, sened as a basis for Francis P. Magoun's study of

Old English narrative poeûy. In his 1953 aiticle, "Oral-Foimulaie Character of Anglo-

Saxon Narrative Poetry," Magoun presented the formula-based poeûy of Beowulf as

evidence of the poem's oral composition.' The article initiateci a new "scientific"

approach to the search for the Anglo-Saxon oral bard,' and was followed by a vast

number of studies wbch viewed the text of OId English narrative poems, such a5

l Francis P. Magoun, Jr., "Oral-Formulait Character of Anglo-saxon Narrative

Poetry," S~eculum28 (1 953): 447.

Of the first fifty verses (half-lines) of Beo, Magoun finds that "only some thirteen,
or twenty-sex per cent, are not matched wholly or in part elsewhere in Anglo-saxon
poetry" (449), and in twenty-four lines of XST-a second test conducted to detennine the
impact of Christianity on the formulaity of the poeûy--he finds fewer formulas than the
Beo sarnple, but enough to show "plainly the formulait character of the language" (456).
-
Lord, The Sineer of Talq (1960; Cambridge: Harvard üP, 1981), acknowledges
Magoun's influence on the application of Parry's theory to Old English poetry in his
discussion of medieval texts (198), as do many Old English scholars, including those who
disagree with Magoun's conclusion of oral composition; the notable example is Larry D.
Benson, 'The Literary Character of Anglo-saxon Fonnulaic Poetry," PMLA 8 1 (1966):
334-41.
Beowulf, as a record of an externporc performance of a pet traincd in the use of

traditionai formulas to rapidly crcate an epic.' Mcanwhile, the Parry-Lurd oral-formulait

theory invigorated the midy of "ûaditional"poctry of othn types and cultures. In a 196 1

review of Lord's The Sin- of T a l a D.K.Wilgus acknowledges the value of the oral-

fomulaic approach for the ballad scholar, but cautions that "a litcral application of the

'oral theory' to ballad tradition may be dangnous."' Ballads. with thcir "rigidstanzas set

to rounded rnelodies," diffm h m the cpic. Wilgus concludes, howevcr, the "investigator

may well find doser analogues in blues and evca blues baliadC6 EventuaUy, with the

resurgence of traditional music durhg the Amcrican folk rcvivai, the oral poetry of

' For example, Robert P. Crecd, "&OwuIf2231a: sinc-fat (sohtc)," -10-

Ouarterly 35 (1956): 206-8 and "Wesis 1316," &lodcm w e N o t e 73 (1 958):
321-5; Davis D. McElroy, "England's First Pott-Critic?" Notes and Oucries ns 6 (1959):
305-6.
The oral-fonnula in Old Engiish scholarship is m e y c d by Alexandra Hcnnessey
..
Olsen, “Oral-Formulait Rtsearch in Old English Studits: 1," ptal T h t i o n 1 (1986):
548-606 and "Oral-Formulait Rescarch in Old English Studies: II," Oral Tradition 3
( 1988): 13 8-90; see also Ann Chalmers Watts, The L m and the Ham: - A C o w v ç
.. .
Reconsideration of Oral Tradition in Old Ennlish Poetrv (New Haven: Yale
..
UP, 1969) 46-72; John Miles Folty, _The Thcorv of Oral Cowsition: m o r v a
Methodoloqy (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1988) 65-74, and for a more g e n d
bibliography see Foley's, Oral-Fonnulaic Theory and Recar&: An &troduction and
Annotated Biblio- (New York: Garland, 1985).
Forrnulaic analyses specific to the lammts includc Wayne A. O'Neil, 'Oral-Fonnulaic
Structure in Old English Elegiac Poctry," diss., U of Wisconsin, 1960, and ''Another
Look at Oral Poetry in Jhe Sq&&S '- 35 (1960): 596-6ûû, which is a tcspotlse
to Jackson J. Campbell, "oral Poetry in me Seafaftf,'* S D C C 35
U (1960):
~ ~ 87-96;
James P. Holoka, "The Oal Formula and Anglo-saxon Elegy: Somc Misgiviugs,"
N e o ~ h i l o l o m60 (1976): 570-6.

Rev. of î h e SigpSr of T a l a by Alberî B. Lord, -ch FoUdote R c c o d 7 (1961):

43.

Rev. of Singer 43-4.

country blues did become an object of study.' Interestingly, although blues was (and still

is) a "living" tradition, researchers of blues lyric composition relied, by and large, on the

commercial recordings, produced in the 1920s and '30s, as their "texts."* In other words,

the object of study was not the ephemeral Song of a live performance context but that

produced in an anomalous situation of the recording studio and bound within a

mechanical medium. in this respect, the blues record is analogous to the Old English

manuscript in capturing, stabilizing, and transmitting a forrnulaic poetry not only to us,

members of the second audience, but also to the singers and listeners of the original

~ us, the role of the fixed, material document in the compositional process
a ~ d i e n c e .For

' The application of the Pany-Lord oral-formulait theory to blues c m be seen in the
work of Jeff Todd Titon, Early Downhome Blues: A Musical and Cultural Analvsis
(1977; Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1994) esp. 175-89; Michael Taft, "The Lyrics
of Race Record Blues, 1920-1942: A Semantic Approach to the Structural analysis of a
Formulaic System," diss., Mernorial U of NFLD, 1977; JO-hnBarnie, "Formulaic Lines
and Stanzas in the Country Blues," Ethnomusicolow 22 (1978): 457-73. For a
discussion of the Pmy-Lord theory in blues scholarship, see John Barnie's article "Oral
Formulas in the Country Blues," Southern Folklore Ouarterlv 42 (1978): 39-52, in which
he criticizes the lack of precision in sorne blues studies, reflected in terms such as
"cornmonplace" (40).

Y Blues singers such as Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, and Skip James, who

recorded blues records during the years around 1930, performed at folk festivals in the
1960s. Outside of the "folk" context, artists like Muddy Waters and B.B. King (who still
tours today) continued the blues tradition with their electric "urban" style; although he
does not treat the fonnulaic nature of blues, Charles Keil, Urban Blues (1966; Chicago: U
of Chicago P, 1991) is one of the few writers to study the Iive performance of blues in its
social context. Also, David Evans, Bie Road Blues: Tradition and Creativitv in the Folk
Blues (Berkeley: U of California P, 1982), bases his study of "folk" blues on extensive
field research.

In 1926, Howard W. Odum and Guy B. Johnson, Negro Workada~Songs (Chapel

Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1926) wrote, "When the first published blues appeared, the
problem for the student of Negro Song began to become complicated. It is no longer
complicates the notion of "oralness."

Açainst a background of Old English oral-formulait scholarship, this chapter

presents a case study of twelve of Robert Johnson's recordings. Because Johnson's work

emerged late in the history of blues recording, his songs can be seen as the culmination of

the blues tradition of formulaic composition. The case study explores how Johnson

worked with the poetic conventions he received from older musicians through both

personal contact and recordings; his reliance on established formulas is especially

pronounced in his lyric revisions made under pressure during the recording session.

Furthemore, the compositional refinement and aesthetic stylistics that charactenze his

ly-ics (and music) reflect Johnson's consciousness of the tradition he was revising.

Johnson's recordings offer a way of viewing the manuscript circumstance of the Old

English larnents: the formulaic composition of both poetnes indicate a history of oral

performance, but the texts of both are fixed within a mechanical medium--the

perfomance is delayed until a reader-listener activates the text.

***

The Formula and Old English Scbolarship

The oral-formulait approach to Old English poetry has been a challenging one: the very

possible to speak with certainty of the folk blues, so entangled are the relations between
them and the formal compositions ....In the 1 s t ten years the phonograph record has
surpassed sheet music as a conveyor of blues to the public. Sheet music, however, is still
important. In fact, practically every "hit" is issued in both the published and
phonoyaphed fonn" (22-3).
definition of "formula," its boundaries, and the statistical methodology have been debated

and adjusted on many occasions to accommodate the peculiar qualities (metre and

alliteration) of Old English poetry.1° Along the way, a number of issues surfaced. How

do we understand "originality" and "artistry" within a fonnulaic stnicture?" How is the

"' or difficulties Ui the application of the Pany-Lord oral-formulait theory to Old

English Poetry see, for exampie, Watts 63- 125; Randolph Qvirk, "Poetic Language and
OId English Metre," Earlv English and Norse Studies: Presented to Huah Smith, ed.
Arthur Brown and Peter Foote (London: Methuen, 1963) 150-7 1; H.L. Rogers, "The
Crypto-Psychological Character of the Oral Formula," Endish Studies 47 ( 1966): 89- 102
and a rebuttal by Carol L. Edwards, "The Parry-Lord Theory Meets Operational
Structuralism," Journal of American Folklore 96 (1983): 151-169; Donald K. Fry,
"Variation and Economy in Beowulf," Modem Philolow 65 (1968): 353-6; John S.
Miletich, "The Quest for the 'Formula': A Comparative Reappraisal," Modern Philology
74 (1976): 11 1-23; J.D.A. Ogilvy and Donald C. Baker, Reading - Beowulf: An
Introduction to the Poem. Its Backmound. and Its Stvle (Norman: U of Oklahoma P,
1983) esp. 137-58; John D.Niles, "Toward an Anglo-Saxon Oral Poetics," De Gustibus:
Essavs for Alain Renoir, ed. John Miles Foley (New York: Garland, 1992) 359-77.
For the "metrical" formula see John Miles Foley "A Computer Analysis of Metrical
Patterns in Beowulf," Cornputers and the Humanities 12 (1978): 7 1-80.
For studies of "systems" see Robert P. Creed, "The Andswarode-System in Old
English Poetry," S~ecuIum32 (1957): 523-8; Donald K. Fry, "Oid English Formulas and
Systems," 48 ( 1967): 193-204; O'Neil, "Oral-Formulait Structure," devises a syntactical
system for delineating formulas; following suit is Frederic G. Cassidy, "How Free was
the Anglo-saxon Scop?" Franci~legius:Medieval and Linguistic Studies in Honor of
Francis Peabodv Magoun, Ir., ed., Jess B. Bessinger, Jr. and Robert P. Creed (New York:
New York UP, 1965) 75-85. See also John D. Niles, "Formula and Formulait System in
Beowulf," Oral Traditional Literature: A Gestschrifl for Albert Bates Lord, ed. John
miles Foley (Columbus, OH: Slavica, 1980) 394-41 5.
For formulas in their textual context, see Alain Renoir, "Oral-Formulait Context:
Implications for the Comparative Criticism of Mediaeval Texts," Oral Traditional
Literature, ed. John Miles Foley (Columbus, OH: Slavica, 1980) 416-39; Anita
Riedinger, "The OId English Formula in Context," Speculum 60 (1985): 294-3 17.

An early example of the belief that formulaity precluded artistry is John S.P.
Tatlock, "Epic Formulas, Especially Layamon," PMLA 38 (1923): "In Middle English,
formulas are rather numerous, but short, inorganic and cornmonplace, not an artistic
feature but a metrical convenience, and do little for an epic effectW(529). Studies that
discem individual style within fonnulaic composition include Leonard J. Peters, "The
presence of learned (lîterary, Lath, and Christian) influence on these texts exp1ained?I2

Above all, what is the relationship bctwem these supposeci oral poems and their writtcn

context?" ln 1966, Lany D. Benson tumcd the tables on the pmponmts of Old English

oral composition with his article "The Litcrary Character of Anglo-Saxon Fomulaic

Poetry" in which he effectively showed that "poems which we can be sure w m not orally

composed use formulas as fkquently and s o m e h e s more fiequently than supposedly

oral compositions such as Beowulf or the poems of Cynew~lf."'~

To date, all we know

for certain is that Old English poetry is fomulaic. The asoumption that Beowult or any

Relationship of the Old English An- to ~cowulf," 66 (195 1): 84443; Neil D.
Isaacs, "The Convention of Personification in Bcoww'-0 Poctw: Fiftecg
Essavs, ed. Robert P. Cr& (Providence: Brown UP, 1967) 21548. Sec also Robert E.
Diamond, "The Diction of the Old English Chria" U o - S - Poetrv:Essavs in
Ap~reciationFor John C. M c G W eds. Lewis E. Nicholson and Dolorcs W W c k
Frese (Notre Dame: U of Notre Dame P, 1975)301-1 1, whose formulaic analysis
In
concludes that Cynewulf did not compose Chr_l and Chr (307).

IZ For example, Claes Schaar, "On a New Theory of Old English Poetic Diction,"
b ~(1956): 301-5;John W. Coniee, "A Note on Verse Composition in the
N e o ~ h i l o 40
. .
Meters of B o e'us~," Neubhifol04)'schc Mitte11- 7 1 (1970): 576-85. More recently,
Andy Orchard, The Poetic Art of Aldheb (Cambridge: Cambridge UP,1994), fin& in
AIdhelm's Anglo-Latin hexarneta verse flexible systcms of fomulaic patterns strikingly
similar to thosc of Old English vemacular poetry: "sincc the samc sort of formulaic
patterning of phraseology occurs in Aldhelm as in Bcowuf it se- rcasonabie to
describe both as prcxiucts of a traditional (and oralderivcd) systcm of versification"
(124).

l3 For example: Alain Renoir, "Oral-Formulait Rhetoric and the Interpretation of

.. . . . .
Written Texts," c: intaptetaûon m Co- al.John Miles
Foley (Columbia: U of Missouri P, 1986) 103-35;Edward R Haymes, 'Tonnulaic
Density and Bishop Njeges," -vc 32 (1980):390-401.
' PMLA 81 (1 966): 335. For a survey and discussion of the debatc betwccll the Old
EngIish "ora1ists"and "literates,"sec Alain Renoir, to OJdP -
: The Oral-
Fomulaic A~proachto the -n of West-c V m (University Park:
Pennsylvania Statc UP, 1988) 49-63.
 56

other poem, was orally composed is forever Fnistrated by the fact that it cornes to us in

written fonn.

The notion of "oralness" in itseif is cornplex; as Ruth Finnegan has pointed out,

al1 three aspects that mark the "orality of a poem--its composition, transmission, and

performance--differ from culture to culture, from genre to The study of oral

poetry concentrates on the "text," a fixed record of words researchers identiQ as "the

~ o n g ; " ' this

~ process of stabilization and analysis contradicts the inherent ephemeral and

revisionary nature of the oraI performance. What we often forget, Fimegan States, is that

an oral poem differs corn a literary poem in its dependence upon performance: "a piece

of oral literature, to reach its tuIl actualisation, must be performed. The text alone cannot

constitute the oral poem."" She stresses that the performance aspect "lies at the heart of

the whole concept of oral literat~re."'~

In recent years, scholars interested in the "orality" of medieval poetry have turned

t heir attention away Frorn composition and towards performance and the "vocality" of the

texts, shiRing from poet to audience.'' This approach seeks to prove the assumption, as

" Oral Poetry: Its Nature. Simiificance and Social Context (1977; Bloomington:
Indiana UP, 1992) 16-24.

'O Lord 124-5; Finnegan 28.

'' Oral Poetry 28.

'"rai Poetry 28.

l 9 The term "vocality" was introduced by Paul Zurnthor, "The Text and the Voice,"
New Literarv History 16 (1984): 67-92; see also Zurnthor, Oral Poe-: An Introduction,
tr. Kathryn Murphy-Judy (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1990). For discussions on
performance, "voice," and reception of Old English and medieval texts, see, for example,
 57

stated by Paul Zumthor, that "apart h m some exceptions, evey medieval 'litenry' text,

whatever its mode of composition and transmission,was designcd to be communicated

~ sem in Chapter One, D e q

doud to the ùidividuals who constituted its a ~ d i a i c e . "As

and "Corne On In My Kitchen" can be vicwed as "littrary" w o h in their autonomous

ability to communicate emotional struggle apart h m theu original context;" but the

understanding of their full meanhg is ultimately dependent upon extrate- knowIedge,

as with most verbal discourse: "Conventional utterances sippeal for theu mcaning to

shared experiences and interprctations, that is, to a cornmon intuition bascd on sharcd

tr. Kathryn Murphy-Judy (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1990). For discussions on

performance, "voice," and rcception of Old English and medieval texts, sec, for examplc,
A.N. Doane, "Oral Texts, intcrtcxts, and Intratexts: Editing Old English," Influence
in_literarv. Jay Clayton and Eric Rothstein (Madison:U of
Wisconsin P, 1991) 75-1 13, and "The Ethnography of Scribal Wnting and Anglo-saxon
Poetry: Scribe as Pcrformcf," Oral Tradition 9 (1992): 420-39; Katherine O'Brien
..
O'Keeffe, Visible Song: Transitional Literacv in w i s h V- (Cambridge:
Cambndge WP, 1990); Ursula Schaefcr, "Hcaring h m Books: The Risc of Fictionality in
Old English Poeûy," Vox &xta: -m . 1x1
.
the Middle &. A.N.
Doane and Carol Braun Pasternack (Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1991) 1 17-36.
For a comparative approach to performance sec Jeff Opland, "Scop' and
. .
'Imbongil-Anglo-saxon and Bantu Oral Poas," S
tu
- 14 (1971): 161-
78; Andy Orchard, "Oral Tradition," JtcaQiep Old T a Ed. Katherine O'Brien
O'Keeffe ((Cambridge: Cambndge UP, 101-23; John Mila Folcy, m e n t &
From Structure to M
. .
i
. . 1997) n Traditional (Blwmingtoa: Indiana UP,1991).
"Word-Powcr, Pdormsncc, and Tradition," J o d of --o~ 1OS (1992):
275-30 1. and n i e ofTaJçs in Pafo- (Blwmmgton: Indiana UP, 1995).

20 ''The Text and the Voice" 67.

*'To a certain degm both poems arc "closed" and "scif-icfettlltial"-mcaning ir
produced intratextuaily; these idcas and vocabulary are found in Schacfn, esp. 12W.
 58

The focus on voice in Old English "oral-dcri~ed'*~

cornonsense kn~wledge."~ texts

r e m s to the formula as the mode of expression and the intersection of understanding

between singer and audience. In both =tuai @ormance and record (w15ttcn or audio)

the communicative role of the formula is central to the effcctivcness of the verbal text. In

this role, Zumthor explains the "formuiaic style" as follows:

Rather than as a type of organization, the formulaic style can be described

as a discursive and intmextuai strategy: it inscrts and integrates into the

unfolding discourse rtiythmic and linguistic Iragmenîs bomwed h m

other pmxisting messages that in principle belong to the same genre,

smding the listener back to a fpniliar semantic univmc by making the

hgxnents fûnctional w i t h their exposition.*'

Here, Zumthor is concerneci specifically with the narrative discourse of the epic. As 1

argued in Chapter One. pdormativity is erpecially prominent in the lmguage of the anti-

narrative lyrics of both the Old English lamnits and the blues. The communicative aspect

of both poebies is iutensified by the first-person speaker, a feature that setks to comcct

the physicaily separated p e t and audience.

In the following case study I examine the reception of the formulaic blues

22David R. Olson, "Fmm Utterance to Text: The Bias of Lsnguagc in Speech and
Writing," Harvard E d u u Rcvicw 47 (1977): 277.

" The terni is offerrd by Foley in "Word-Power," 291 and OrdEpif

(Berkeley: U of California P, 1990) 5.
tradition in the work of Robert Johnson. 1 will not only discuss the formula as a

fundamental compositional aspect in his work but also obsewe how the formula h c t i o n s

to generate the themes and convey the perforrnative properties that characterize the blues

genre. AI1 six songs under analysis were recorded during Johnson's first session in 1936,

and they are the only songs of this session for which there exists an alternate take?

Thus, a total of twelve recordings will be e~amined.'~

The actual case study of Johnson's

songs is prefaced by a description of the recording context and the blues formula. My

textual analysis appears in two parts: an interpretive reading appears below, while the

25 Throughout the 1920s, record companies recordebat least one altemate take for
each title as a safety copy, and a third if there was some kind of technical or performance
error in the first hvo takes; for a history of blues recording companies, see Robert M. W.
Dison and John Godrich, Recording the Blues (New York: Stein and Day, 1970). Dixon,
-

Godrich and Howard Rye, Blues & Gospel Records. 1890- 1943,4th ed. (Oxford:
Clarendon, 1997), explain that as a cost-saving measure in the 30s, some companies
stopped the practice of alternate takes and issued almost everything recorded (xxiii).
Fortunately, the Arnerican Record Company was not one of these companies, and 12
alternate takes of Robert Johnson's recording sessions are extant.
Dixon et al. find evidence of altemate takes for 12 of Johnson's 29 titles (Blues 476-8).
See also the discography of Johnson's work provided by Stephen C. LaVere, liner notes,
Robert Johnson: The Corndete Recordings, Columbia, 1990,46-7.
The record Company "allocated a 'matrix number' to each recording at the time of
recording. This number is usually found stamped on the disc itself, between the run-off
groove and the label or sometimes beneat. the label; it is often also printed on the label"
(Dixon et al, Blues x). Usually a suffix was attached to the matrix number to label
different takes of the same song recorded on the same day (xi). Thus, Robert Johnson's
"Kind Hearted Woman BIues" SA-2580- 1 preceded "Kind Hearted Woman Blues" SA-
2580-2 (SA for San Antonio, the location of his 1936 session).

' 6 My study is indebted to the doctoral work of Michael Taft, "Lyrics,"which

develops an analytical approach to the blues formula, and for which he compiled an
extensive anthology and concordance o f blues lyrics, published as Blues Lvric Poetrv: An
Antholow (New York: Garland, 1983) and Blues L y i c Poetrv: A Concordance, 3 vols.
(New York: Garland, 1984).
 60

supporting evidmce for dl formuhic phrases in the songs is contained in the Appendix

(229-257). Fomulaic phrases arc underlincd in both the aanscriptioas and within the

discussion.
 Case Study: TweIve Recordiap of Robert Johnsonz7

In November 1936, Robert Johnson recordecl sixteen titles for the Amcrican Record

Company's Vocalion label.28 His records sold well e ~ ) u g (c~peciaily

h the k t issue,

"Terraplane Blues") that Johnson was calleci back to record more songs in June

193 7.29 Luc Sante views Johnson's recordings "as a sort of historical funne1 (reflecting

what went on in blues before him and anticipahg much that would happai [in popular

27 Robert Johnson was boni in 19 11 or 1912 in Hazshurst, Mississippi and died 16

August 1938. Relatively Little is known about his short life aud violait dath; the most
recent biography is by Peter Guralnick, Sean:hqg for Robert JO- (New York:
Dutton, 1989); see also LaVere, liner notes, Co- - R
Samuel Charters,
(New York: Oak, 1973).

This session took place in San Antonio and involvecl thrce sittings. Recordcd on
Mon 23 November 1936 were 'Xind Hearted Woman Blues," "1 Belicve I'll Dust My
Broom," "Sweet Home Chicago," "Ramblin' On My Min&" 'Wbcn You Got a Good
Fnend," "Corne On In My Kitchen," 'Tenaplane Blues," "Phonograph Blues." On Thu
26 Nov: "32-20 Blues." On Fn 26 Nov: "They're Red Hot," "Dead Shrimp Blues,"
"Cross Road Blues," "Walkin' Blues," "Last Fair Deal Gone Down," 'Treachin' Blues,"
"If 1 Had Possession Over Judgcmmt Day" (Dixon et ai 476-7).

29 Gurainick writes, "One song,Tcrnplane Blues,' was a modest hit; pahaps it sold
four or five thousand copies,. .." (37). The 1937 session took place in Dallas and
consisted of two sittings. On Sat 19 June Johnson recordcd "Stones In My Passway,"
"I'm A Steady Rollin' Man," and 'Tmm Four Until Late." On Sun 20 Jun: Well H o d
On My Trail," "Little Queen of Spades," "Malted Milk," 'I)ninkcn Hcarted Man,"'Ue
and the Devi1 Blues," "Stop Breakin' Down Blues," "Traveling Rivaside Blues,"
"Honeymoon Blues," ' U v e in Vain,"and "Milkcow's Calf Blues." Between the two
recording sessions, ARC reluscd five 78rprns; s e Steve LaVcrc, 'Tyhg Up a Few
..
Loose Ends," L S ~94 (1990):
E 3~1-3. A 1938 Vocalion catalogue lists 12 titles
(six 78s), four of which w m f b m his f ht seasion: 'Xiad Hcarted Woman" / ''Tenaplam
Blues" (Vo 03416) and "Swect Home Chicago" / "Walkin' Blues" (Vo 03601); for a
photo-image of the 1938 catalogue listing,sce Stephai Cdt and Gayle Dan Wirdlow,
"Robert Johnson," 781 (1989): 50. Vo 04630 ("Love in Vain" / b4Prcachin'
Blues") was issucd posthumously.
 62

music] after his death)."" His vocal and instrumental style is representative of the

Mississippi Delta region, and his work exhibits the influence of Delta singers who

recorded around 1930, such as Son House, Tommy Johnson, and Skip James. Ln

addition, the early 1920s recordings of the "classic" women blues singers and those of

non-local male blues singers (Leroy Cam, for example) also had significant influence on

Johnson's art.

The Recording Context

Like other blues singers, Johnson would have found the experience of recording to be

unusually demanding in relation to more typical performance settings.'' To begin with,

the auditioning singer needed "original" material. H.C- Speir, a music store owner who

worked as a talent scout during the "race record" years, told David Evans that potential

recording artists were required to have "at least four different original songs. By original

it was meant that none of the singer's four songs could show the influence of anything

recorded or published previ~usly."'~However, the recording officiais' conception of

'O "The Genius of Blues," rev. of five books on blues and blues singers in The New

York Review of Books 1 1 Aug. 1994,49. Today, Johnson has become an icon for the
second audience of blues listeners. His influence on the development of popular rock
music (notably on the work of Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones) was recently
commemorated with his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and
a conference devoted to his work.

j' For a description of various performance contexts, see Taft, "Lyrics" 1 17-89.

" Big Road Blues: Tradition and Creativity in the Folk Blues (Berkeley: U of
California, 1982) 73. Speir was significant in the discovery of rnany Delta singers,
including Robert Johnson; see also David Evans, "Interview with Henry Speir," JEMF
originality often diffcred h m that of the singer. For many singexs, the reuse of the same

m e with different lyrics constituted a ncw song, but such a practice might have bem

unacceptable to the cornpany." In practice, neverthcles, the aîtitude of the rccording

companies was far more relaxai, and direct influence is often quite obvious. For

instance, Johnson's "32-20Blues" bomws hcavily from SLip James's "22-20Blues, as "

does his "Sweet Home Chicagon h m Charlie McCay's "Baltimore Blues."" Moreovcf,

companies had no qualms about rc-releasing a hit sung by an artist conttacted to another

Company. Bessie Smith's fïrst recording ''featured D w n Heartad Blues-alrcady selhg

well on Paramount 12005, by Alberta Hunter" and "Lucille Hegamin was called by

Cameo in August [I 9231 to make her own version of pOwn w e d Blues, in the hopes

of cashing in on some of Bessic's s~fceu.'"~

Once selectcd to record, the artist sometimes had to endure the discornfort of

travel to an unfamiliar city (both of Johnson's sessions took place in Texas) and long

waits in unpleasant conditions, such as excessive summer heat? The novice had to learn

33 Taft,"Lyrics" 167-8. Evans statts, 'These perfomm regularly use a LUnited

supply of lyrics. melodia, and instrumentai figures in various combinations for many of
their songs. Thmforc, not al1 of theü blues are complctely diffmnt k m each other. In
addition, since 1920 thourands of blues had beai issucd on phonopph records. Folk
blues singers eagerly leamed many of these blues or added portions of them to thcu
repertoires" (Bin RoaQ 74).

Y See Ralph Eastman, "Counüy Blua Pcrfomwa and the Oral Tradition,"
Journal 8 (1988): 161-76.

35 Dixon and Godrich, Re- 2 1.

to sing into a microphone, which meant body movcment w u mtncted for long periods

of t h e . Perhaps most disconcerting for the country blues singer was having to work

without imrnediate audience feedba~k.~'

The Company also exercised censorship o v a the singer's matcrial, disallowing

songs deemed obscene, social protest, or dctrimental to the company's image.3s Thus, the

corpus of recorded blues does not da u i y subjcct mana (dor political) that may

have been expressed overtly during live performances. Instead, sexual content is Cod4

within metaphor systems which c m reach the lcvel of claboraîc double

especially notable in the blues of fcmale singcrs; a prime example is Victoria Spivey's

"My Handy Man" which celebrates the abilities of h a talentcd assistant? In such songs,

sexuai desire is prcsented with selfconfidencc and humour. Johnson's best-seller

37 Feedback did corne eventually but in the fonn of record sala. Fcw singas rclied
on recording to make a living, but a successfiil record could help the singa gain M e r
employment through a rencwed recording contract and livc performance engagements
(Taft, "Lyrics" 1 45-9). For the variety of pay Prangements see Titon, && Downhomç
Blues 2 14-5.
l8 Taft, "Lyrics" 166. For a discussion of cauorship of race records sec Paul Oliver,
Screeninrz the Blues: Aspects of the Blues T d t i o p (NewYork: Da Capo, 1968); he
States, "any assesmient of the content of Race records soon merls the prrponderance of
sexual themes above al1 othcr subjccts. It might bc men argucd that thcy constitutt a
third, perhaps more, of all Race rccordings . . . . same of these rnay bc considerai as
direct expressions of scxual desire whilc othas hpve tendencies to obscmity. Whst
constitutes pomography in these tcrms rcmains debatable, but the cornplex evasive tactics
ernployed by some singm to elude the censor suggest that eithcr the singa himwlf or the
recording executives had cstablished in thcir own minds vague standa& of wfut wps
deemed acceptable for issue" (186).

39 For a discussion of Spivey's "My Handy Mm" sec Oliver, 209-10. Othcr
examples includc Virginia Liston's "Rolls-Royce Papa"(1926; List-1) and B&e Smith's
"Empty Bed Blues" (1928; SmiB-26).
 65

"Terraplane Blues" employs an extended automobile metaphor to express sexual desire.

It appears that censorship actually enhanced Signifjm(g)-verbal play--in recorded

blue~.~

The recording context complicates the notion of spontaneous composition of oral

poetry. While improvisation was indeed a performance factor in typical informal

settings, singers were expected to arrive at the recording session with prepared and welI-

rehearsed material."' Counter to the romanticized idea of illiterate oral poets, many blues

singers used writing during the process of composition, and some even relied on written

texts while recording:" "Singers Iike Big Bill Broonzy, Leroy C m and Tampa Red wrote

their blues.'143But, as Michael Taft explains, these texts were "disposable" in that their

purpose \vas one of memorization not preservation; once in the studio, the lyrics were

as changeable and fleeting as an orally composed piece. . . . The real

stabilizing factor was the phonodisc itself, which gave permanence to the

Song whether it had been improvised in the studio or carefiilly worked out

"'Apparently, the treatment of sex in blues became less arthl in the 1940s: Sterling A.
Brown, "The Blues," Phylon 13 (1 H S ) , cornplains, "Many recent commercial blues
strain to get double, even triple meanings, as close to obscenity as the Iaw allows. Earlier
folk blues were broad and fiank, Chaucerian; but many of the belt-line productions are
prunent and pornographic" (292).

Taft, "Lyrics" 2 13.

'' Tafi, "Lyrics" 2 12-17.

 with pen and ink befurchandY

Although it is uncertain whetha R o Johnson

~ uscd writing as a compositional

aid:5 commentators of his work cspecially note his "polished"mordhg performances.

This observation sometimes &ses in tesponsc to the rcfktd q d t y of his iyrics; Peter

Guralnick writes,

There is no md of quoting and no end of rtading into [Johnson's] lyrics,

but unlike 0th- equally eloquent blues, this is not random folk art, hit or

"Lyrics" 2 17. Odum and Johnson note that W.C.Handy ''published the first blues
(Memvhis Blues, 1910)" (19). Latex, Handy published his Blues: An qathol~gy(1 926;
New York: Da Capo, 1WO), which fcahucd lyric and music transcriptions of various
types of songs besides blues. For the second audience, d e n transcriptions of recordai
blues became an important aspect of rcccption, serving various purposes: Eric Sackheim's
Blues Line: A Collection of Blues 1.- (Hopewell, NJ: Ecco, 1%9) prtsents blues as
poetry and attempts to capture vocality (cg., cadence) typographically; TafVs Blues Jmiç
is primarily an academic hsourcc tool; and the many books of
l*c and music transcriptions arc available for those who wish to leam to play establishad
blues songs of particular singcrs. For examplc, Scott Ainslic and Dave Whitehill, eds.
Robert Johnson (Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 1992). Interestingiy, blues lyrics de@
stability on paper, tnnscriptions of Johnson's lyrics, for example, differ (sometimes quite
widely) from one transcribcr to the next-

45 In fact, Johnson's level of literacy and education remaius unclear, information based

on interviews with people who knew Johnson arc conflicting. It appears that he did
attend school: "Son House's wife Evie recalled that Johnson likcd to play the instnunent
Farrnonica] during lunch rectsscr hcld outside the one-room Mcthodist church
schoolhouse near Robinsonville both attcndeü (on a thrct month basis) in the latc 1920s"
(Calt and Wardlow 42). Guralnick quotes Johnny Shines, a blues artist who had travcled
with Johnson: "No, Robert didn't have no educaîion at al1 as far as I could tell. 1nevcr
saw him read or e t c , not even his name. He was just a natural genius," but S b e s is
also reported as rcmcmbcring "'Robert had beautifid handwriting. His writing look like a
woman's writing." (12-13). Stones have circulaîcd about Johnson rctreraing to a sccluded
location and writing in a s d l black book (LaVne. liner notes, Comi>lctç 11). Stepha
Calt,"The Idioms of Robert Johnson," - 7 1 (1989) reports that Elizabeth
Moore, a former neighbor of Johnson's, mncmkrs ihm he -'te the words to his sangs
on paper" (53).
 miss, but rather carefiiHy selecttd and honcd detail, carcfiilly considercd

and achieved effst?

h cornparison to the rather lwse structure of the earlier ~ o r d i n g sof his Delta mentors,"

it will be seen h t Johnson's lyrics exhibit grcatcr thematic ahesion and attention to

structural devices, such as refninau Johnson's "polisil"is aiso seen in his abiiity to

duplicate lyrics htake to take, evidmce of extensive rchcarsal. Taft obsmes,

. . . one would imagine that Robert Johnson would be a good improviser of

the blues, because of his rough, rurai style of performance; yet altexnate

takes of his recordeci songs arc aimost identical, which hdicates that hc

either workcd h m writtcn texts or memorized cvery word of his sangs

before stcpping into the recording studio. What is cvcn more surprising is

' An example being Charley Patton's "Hammer Blues," presented in Chapter One,
34. Titon, Earlv Downhome Rlu- presents the lyrics to thrte versions of Blind Lcmon
Jefferson's "Match Box Blues," as a dcmonstration of the process of blues composition
(34-36). Even though two of the versions werc rtcorded on the same day, the texts are
quite different for each other apart h m bcginning with the same stauza.

48 Eastman compares two takts of Tommy Johnson's 'Ionesorne Home Blues" to

Robert Johnson's takes of 'Xind Hcarted Blues" and concludes, "As comparai to the
more improvisatory fccl of the two takcs of Unesorne Home Blues,' this smg may well
have been a highly developed part of Robert Johnson's mpcrtoirc by tht time he rccorded
it. The lyrics appear to k better thought out than were Tommy Johnson's, and thcy
present a more 'finished' quality" (174). Robert Springcr, B c Blues: Its
and Its Themes, tr. André J.M. Prévos and R S p ~ g (Lewston,
a NY:Edwin Mellen P,
1999, s t a t s " W e PMton and otha rural musicians fiequentiy ofkrcd loose or barcly
structureci songs, [Johnson's] own best blues, in spite of their incoqmation of traditionaï
stanzas, corne across as having k e n composai and polished by years of worlc. His more
thematic and cohcrrnt lyrics, nch in dctail and utteriy personal, often make use of
symbols and allegories" (76).
 68

the fact that evcn in non-rtcording contcxts, Johnson shunned spontancous

versification . . ..'9

It is indeed truc that Johnson duplicatcd his lyrics h m one take to tht next, but the

practice is consistent only in the 1937 session." In contfa~t,the second takes of his f5S
session clearly exhibit revision, including the addition of stanzas* mrgankation of

stanzas, and even the rcworking of songs as a whole. This is not to suggcst îhat Johnson's

repertoire was less developed in 1936;" rathcr, I propose that the f

kt take of each song
represented the matcrial he had prcparcd, but during the cuurst of modiag defisions

were made either by him or the company officials to makc alteratioru. The rtasons for

revision can only m a i n spcculative, but the second takes of tht 1936 session bear

witness not oniy to Johnson's rcliance on and ability to use a tradition of fomulaic

composition under pressure but aiso to his conscious innovation within that tradition.

'' "Lyrics" 2 18. David "Honeyboy"Edwards said of Johnson, "He didnt change his
numbers much. iust like he'd play his f k t number he rccordcd, he'd play it the same way
al1 the time..." (quoted in Taft,"Lyrics" 218).

"Identical" duplication allows for minor changes such as the substitution of ""girl"
for "baby," but overall the iines and soqucnce of stanzas arc unaitemi.
For the second session, altemate takcs exist for "Little Queen of Spadcs," "'Drunkca
Hearted Man," "Mc and the Devil Blues," "Stop Breakin' Down Blues," ' U v e in Vain,"
and "Milkcow's Calf Blues."

Elizabeth Moore (a neighbor of Johnson's) said that shc had heiud Johnson perform
"'End-Hearted Wo- On M v irlind,32-20Blu- Corne On M
I
m
and Cross Roads Blu* four years before his first rcwrding session (Calt and W d o w
45).
II. The Blues Formula

The impact of recording on blues lyrics is summarized by Taft:

Because of the lack of visual contact with an audience, the two-hundrcd

second time-limit on the songs, and the pressure by record Company

officiais for ever new and innovative material, the lyrics of the race record

blues became a highiy complcx and compact form of song in this new

pwformance enviro~lmmt,rtlying heavily on short, apboristic

pronouncements and concise poetic imageryn

The phenornenon of rtcording was significaat in the stabilization of those blues formulas

most effective in negotiating the physical distance betwem the singer and audience, and

record sales were a powcrfiil indicator of that tfftctivcncss.

Early commentators of blues noticcd the fccurrence of ceriain phrases, but did not

Latet, wwhi lcme writers idcnttificd the fonnulaic

discuss them as structural tiernent~.~~

unit of blues lyrics as the b e and cvcn the stanza,% scholras such as Jcff Todd Titon,

Michael Taft, and John Barnie recognized the half-line as thc fundamental structurai

component of the blues lyric. According to Taft,the half-linc consists of "at least one

complete semantic pndication" that can taice the form of a simple sentence, and may

" Taft, "Lyrics." Q& 38A (1978): 6862-A.

5' For a survey of the formula in blues scholarship, see Taft,''Lyrics" 222-9.

" See for example, William Fcrris, Biug (Undon: Studio Vista,
1970); John Fahey, Qg&v P- (London:Studio Vista, 1970).
"also take the f o m of an adverbial, adjectival. prrpositioaal, or noun phrase.**5 As a

general nile, a blues line holds two half-lines, separatcd by a catsura, and "comprises at

ieast one complete thought without any enjambement h m one line to the next.'" The

half-line is not constrained by metrical demamis but is positioncd within the line

according to the g e n d rrquircmcnt of nid-rfiyme.n

Taft distinguishes betwm two main types of blues formulas: the non-rtiymhg x-

formula ope- the line, and the rhyming r-formula closes the lind8 The x-formula is by

far the more flexible of the two with regards to syntactical and lexicai vaxiation. By

cornparison, the requircnicnt of end-rhyme constrains the r-formula The two types arc

not interchangeable. Tafl States that "about two-thirds of any given biues song can be

found to exist in the lyrics of otha rongs in the corpus under a ~ a l y s i s . ' ~ ~

An analysis of the following couplet fiom Robert Johnson's "Ramblin' On M y

Mind" demonstrates the use of blues formulas and some theoretical considerations in the

identification of these formulas:

56 Taft, "Lyrics" 240.

57 "Jwt as metrical and alliterative constraints detenaine the definition of formulas in
Old English poetry and Homcric cpics, the fictor of rhyme is of prime importance in
placing phrases within the same foimula in the blues" (Taft, '2yrics'* 244). For a
discussion on metrc in blues lyrics, stc Barnie "Oral."

s9 "Lyrics" 4 17- 18; the corpus he rcfns to is thpt contained in bis which
transcribes "over two thousand commcrcialiy fccorded songs m g by over thra himdrrd
and fifty singcrs" (80thoIogy ix).
 Runnin' down to the station catch the first mail train 1 s g
I eot the blues 'bout Miss So-and-So jmd the child not the blues about mi$"

Al1 four half-lines are formulait. The !ht-Rurinui- down to the s t a t i o n 4 an x-formula
@

that occurs elsewhere in the lyrics of 0th- blues s i n g m in forms such as J'm noinn down

to the station. Went to the station. 1wcnt to the statiori, and J wcnt to the d~bot.As with

most, this formula can withstand variations in verb tense (going, wcnt) and a certain

degree of verb substitution (ninning. gokg. walked). The substitution of "'depot" for

"station" is a demoastation of "sl~t-filling.~*'At a deepcr semantic Ievel, the x-formula

1 ao to the station is related to the major x-formula farnily representcd as J ao to s o m

place (1 will retum to the major families below). The identification of formula

boundaries depends on the analyst who must decide what part of the formula is essential

to its meaning: "the formula is, in actuality, a theorctical construction, rathcr than a wcll-

defined. predetermined structural entity.** If the analyst wishes to bmadcn the Lunits of 1

go to the station, the station can become any location-a building, a town, a natural

landmark such as a moutain or riva, or an unspecifitd "home," as in the following

e~arnples:~~

Ai1 tlaflSCTptiom of Robm Johnson's songs are my own, msde h m Robert

Johnson: Corndete Rem- Columbia, 1990. Those of othcr artists am h m T a s
Concordance and &thology unless othemise indicatcd. Taft's transcriptions mark the
caesura with a colon, standardizc the Engiish, and do not indude repeated lines within a
stanza.

62 Taft, "Lyxics" 260.

63The parenthetical citations following csch examplc contain TaA's refcrctlce codc;
(Jaml-2) refers to J e s James's
~ "Southan Casq Jonesw(1936) found on page 122 of
 I'm goin- to the bin house :and 1don? even can (JamJ-3)

e Chattan-
I'm ~ o i n to : get m y hambone fixed (BirB-3)

I'
m :going to carry my rocking chair (JctB-2)

I'm noine home :I'm going to settic down (Rain-5)

Taft observes:

With every change in the semantic, syntactic, or lexical structure of a

phrase, no matter how slight, therc is a change in meaning. The formula,

therefote, must not be pnccivcd as having ont exact meaning, but as

having a more g e n d meaning which can bc modifiad, embellished, or

otherwise altemi. What must remain constant is the 'essence'of the

formula, however that is to be d~fined.~

It is the analysis that determines to what degrce semantic, syntactic and lexical variation

is allowed to change the meaning o f a phrase before it becornes a mcmber of a diffcfent

formula.

For instance, the "essence" of the next half-iine of Johnson's muplet- "catch the

first mail train 1 sec"-is the idea of catching a train, conveyed in both the x-position and

r- position:6S

1'11 catch the Southem : and she'll take the Sante Fe (JamS-3)

Taft'sAnthofogy.

65 The word "grab" also occurs in a similar construction, as in Rnîo grab

-
train : ride the lontsome rail (McTW-2).
 73

i'm going to catch me a fkight train : and I'm going to be long long gone (ClaL-2)

Keep the blues : 11' 1 catch that train and ride (Hund)

I'm going down to the station :catch that West Cannonbail (Weld-3)

ut, Johnson has used the essence of catching a train specifically in the r-position with

the rhyrne-word "see." Although thcte arc many r-position phrases ending in "sec,'"

there are none (in Taft'scorpus) describing the action or intention of catching a train.

However, there are two phrases, ending in "sce," that emboây the broder idea of

catchng a rnoving objcct:

I'm going to hit this old highway :catch the fastest 1 sgç (WasbS-27)

Going to stand right h m :catch the fibt old rial 1 s-- (DickT-1).

For the purposes of my analysis, these two half-lines can be considercd analogues for

Johnson's half-lhe catch the first mail train I se: al1 use the word ""catch,"qualify the

moving object as being the "Wor the "fastest,"and end with the h y m e word '"see."

Together, the three phrases are mernbm of an r-fonnula, albeit one of low kequency.

In the closing line of Johnson's couplet, J pot the blues 'bout Miss So-and-So is a

version of the major x-formula 1 have the blua. Examples of wnne analogues include:

I've eot the blues so bad :that it hurts my tongue to tak vamp-9)

I've not the blues todav : like 1 never had bcforc (McFa-1)

66 For instance:
I'm broke and disgustcd :with cvervmyl1 sq (Simpl)
Black snake is evil :blPçk is dl 1 seq (JefB-58)
But i'm too good a woman :you iust w w d (SpiV-11).
 I got the raiiroad blues bad :the boxcars on my mind (JonE- 1)

1 got the Dallas blug : and the Main Sbtct heart discase (JonM- 19).

The adjectival modification of 'blues" in the last two examples ("raihaci" and "Dallas")

illustrates the most common type of variation in this formula. The addition of adjectival

and adverbial elements allows the singer to embeilish and personalizc basic formulas.67

The final r-fomula, and the child not the blues about me occurs elsewhere within

the same collocation as Johnson's linc. Barcfoot Bill's "My Crime Blues" (1 929) opcns

with the following couplet:

1 got the blues for mv babv :5 5

But I can't sec my baby : and sht can't stc me @art-1).

The two half-lines are linkcd also in Charley Jordan's 'Sig Four Blues" (1 930):

I've aot the blucs for mv babv :JIIY babc not the blues for m ç
For she went and caught that Big Four : shc k a t it back to Teantssee (JorC-3).

Both examples are h m songs recordcd before 193 1, fivc years before Johnson's

"Ramblin' On My Mind," demonstmting the dcvelopment and transmission of conjoined

ha!f-line formulas. The aesthetic balance of the two phrases probably influenccd the

stabilization of the line; for Johnson's conternporary audience, the x-fonda b o t thç

biues 'bout Miss So-and-SQ automatically anticipates somc version o f m o t the blua

for me. J o h n h o v a t a the convention with the use of "Miss So-and-So"; although

this genenc name lppe~rsoAen in blues lyxics, and usuaily ir. a derogaîory sense,

'' Taft,"Lyrics" 277-83.

 75

Johnson's usage is atypical in its afktion."

The precedïng analysis of Johnson's stanza identifiai two major x-formulas: Lgo

t blug. in his study, Taft lists and examines the twenty most
to some lace and 1~ othe

fkequently occurring fornulas in his corpus of blues lyrics." Significantly, these major

formulas generate the main themes of recordcd blues. In the following section I list the

top ten x-formulas and the top tcn r-formulas. The accompanying illustrative

manifestations demonstrate possible lexical and syntactical variations. Furthemore, the

major formulas are p u @ according to the theme ta which cach contributes:

Movemenflravel. Love, Awiety/Sonow, and Other."

Major X-FormulrJ

Movement / Travel

1. 1 go to some ~lace'l

ba Johnson's awareness of balance is evident in the employment of "about" (rathcr

than "for") in both formulas. In othcr words, he is not using and revising formulas
haphazardly.

For the list, see "Lyrics" 406;for his analysis of the major fomulas see the
b9
Appendices, "Lyrics," 52 1ff.

The interrelationship of these themes is more closely exarnined in Chapter Thme.

" For the sake of clarity, 1 have mrised Taft's genaPllled form Y come to some
place" to "1 go to some place"; accordhg to his analysis, my change does not alter the
basic meaning of "movemmt towards" ('lyrics" 526). Confusion can arisc with
manifestations that gcnerate the v a b "corne,"as in h -v s v and &
come here. Taft States that this fonnuia is "the most fkqucntly occurrÏng formula in
blues, but at the same tirne, the most diffllse" ('Zyrics" 526). It produces a numbcr of
stable subfoxmulas, such as 1go to the Lgo to the m o m go to the river, .id
1 go d o w n t o w ~ ~
 Lord I'rn aoim back down soua : man where the weather suits my clothes
(WillS-7)
Now I'rn eoine to Brownsvilk :takt that right-band road (Este-l )

I'm aoine back to T e :just to kili my womed mhd (Blak-6)

2. 1 leave borne lace)^

I'm leavine here :ain't coming back till fdl (Stov-1)

1:1 lefi on that G and M (Este-25)

I'rn leavinn t o m :crying won%rnake me stay (JefB-19)

Love

3. I love vou

mpma :believe me it ain't no lie (Blak-1)

1 love vou ~rettv

The man 1 love : had dont left town (Rain-5)

1 h o w vou love q g : daddy it's undetstood(ThoHo-4)

4. 1have a woman

Well now 1 have a womm : 1 try to treat her nght (Hogg-1)

And that man had mv womaq : Lord and the blues had me (ReedW-1)

Got a man : way down in Texas way (JonM-3)

5 . 1 auit mv womaq

Well I'rn n a to leave vou : 1ain't going to sing no more (CarrL-12)

1 lefi mv baby : standing in the doorway crying (JohLe-1)

" Taft lists the formula as ''1 go away h m somc place" ("Lyrics" 406). It diffar
semanticaily h m the prcvious fonnula in thrt. h a , the id- is 'hiovement away km"
("Lyrics" 53 1). Again, confusion can aise with a nimiber ofmanifkstations tbrt gaicrw
the verb "going,"as in Rna w u .
 Mv ~ o o deirl done auit me :sure have got to go (Scha-2)

6. 1 treat vou good/bad

I f 1 rnistreat vou marna :1sure don? mean no hann (MooP-2)

You treat me mean marna :says that's your last (Howc-1)

She treats me so cold sometimq : 1 think sbe got somebody else (JohLo-19)

Anxiety / Sorrow

7. Igot the blues

Got the bluq : can't be satisfied ( H M )

Got the backwod blues : for the f o b 1 lcf€down home (SmiC-23)

1 eot the womed bluep : Lord I'm f a h g bad (ThoH-8)

8. I w o m

I'm womed al1 the time :canY keep you off my mind (Blak-13)

al1 dav mama : and could M

1 have been w o r ~ n n y sleep last night (MontE-3)

Yes 1 wony :because she won? trcat n e lrind (Gill-4)

Other: Communication

9. 1 tell vou

~ tell vou :baby tell you now (Wilk-8)

I'm e o i n to

Mama told : daddy told me too (OiucM-2)

You tell me vou'vc h d trouble : and worry dl your life (JohLo-11)

Other: Revelrtion

10. 1 woke UD lthis mominn)

1 woke :with Qavclhg OU my mind ((JorL4)

 Woke u~ earlv this r n o m :blues around my bed (Stev-1)

Got UD the momiqg :m y good gal was gont (WeaC-2)

Major R-formulu

Movement / Travel

1. evervwhere 1go

I'rn going to sing this old song : (KeîE-1)

1 didn't have a fiend : and no ~ i a c eto g~ (SmiR-29)

People talk :1 can hear thcm whis~erevclywhert 1 a (WhiJ-2)

2. I'm eoinn back home

Crying Lord 1 wonder : will I evcr net back home (JohTo-1)

Because 1 got a letter this morning :JXIVbabv was cominn back home (ThoR-13-

You see my Mary :tell hcr to hurrv homq (McCoJ-5)

3. I'rn leavine town

I've got a mind to ramble :mind to leave this t o m (BlaAL-1)

Look out your back door :see me l a v e this t o m (CollS-12)

1 ain't seen my woman :a c e she lave this t o w (UnkA-10)

Love

4. 1 treat vou righr

Says 1 got a hard-hearted woman :a d sht don't know how to treat me ri&
(H-36)
You trcated me wnong :-cd vou q& (SmiB-7)

Went out with you baby : to treat vou (McTW-35)

 5. 1 will be gone"

You going to cal1 me babc : and rll bc eone (Bi@-7)

Now f o k if you see my gal :tell h a that I'm pone (DorsT-6)

1 ain't had no loving : since rnv Louise been none (Temp-5)

Anxiety / Sorrow

- o the
6. 1 ~ t blues

1 been broke baby : and 1 eot these bmke man blu- (Palm-1)

That's the reason why : mama's g ~the

t lost w a n b l u (Rain-9)
~

But now she's gone : and 1 got those &-hot blua (Weld-10)

7. 1 crr

And after I'm goneg:-p vow head and crv (Whca-20)

1 can't count the times : 1 stoled awav and cried (JefB-22)

And I'm a motherless child :and 1 iust can't kecb fiom c h (CollC-2)

8. what am 1 eoinn ta do

Oh Lordy marna :what am 1 to do (AleT-7)

I'm sony you heard : 1 don't know what to do (GreLi-1O)

And winter is coming : wonder what the Door beoble arc a t o Qp (DaviW-3)

9. it won't be loilp7'

73 This fomula could be trcated as an clcmcnt o f the travel theme, as Taft d a s , but
the idea is similar to that of the x-formula h u i t .-

Of this formula, Taft suggcsts, "It emphasises tbat change and disruption wiii corne
soon, that tirne is short, and that the 'threat'of something ncw and patisps unplcasant is
j ust around the corner" ('Zyrics" 409).
 80

My lover's ghoa has got me :and 1 know mv time won? be long (JohLo-28)

One of these momings :mama and it won? be loqg (Stok-15)

I'rn going away babe : and it won't be lorlp (ThoH-12)

10. some thina is on mv muid

1 woke up this moming : with tnveliilg on nu! min4 (JorL-4)

I'm standing in Chicago marna :New Orleans on mv (WillJ-3)

I'm womed about my baby :~ h e ' son m m (CamG-1)

o.*

Of the natwe of the blues formula, Taft states, "thme is a paradox of constraint

and of fieedom in blues composition; the singer worktd within the constraints of

formulait structure, but his choice of fomulaic m a n i f d o n s was alrnost infinitely

flexible.'"' Blues singers exercised a g m t deal of freedom in the employment of what

Taft texms "extrafomulaic elemcnts." For example, the 'paralinguistic utterance" is

heard as a moan or hum, ofien preceding a W-line as in Johnson's ''mbabe, 1 may

be right or wrong." On paper, such an utterance might bc intcrprcteà as a "fiiier,"

empioyed primarily for aesthaic purposes tather than mcaning; but, whcn hcard, a moan

or hum can evoke an emotive intcnsity unachieveable Mth words. As a replacement for

the x-formula, the moan acts as "a kind of exnotional preparation for the r-form~la.'"~

Further, "exclamatory elements," such as 'Well," "Lord," and "yeah," are anotha
 81

The "ooo well wcll" of Peaie Wheastraw's songs

common type of ernbelii~hmmt.~

became the signature featurc of his work: "Shc tells me thaî she loves me : ooo well well

but she has changed her mind" (Whea-36). The 'tocatory clement" addresses the subject

or "papaT'and so on? "Now baby please don't go"

of the Song as "woman," '%&y,"

(WinJ-6). Within the fomulaic stnicturc of blues, the singer bas considerable choice in

lexical substitution and extdionnulaic insertion witb which to customizt formulas.

I ~m now to the songs of Robert Johnson. The six titlts under examination, in

the order they were recorded, arc 'Xind Heartcd Woman B~ucs~"
"Ramblin' On My

Mind," "When You Got A G d Fricnd," "Corne On In My Kitch-" "Phonograph

Blues," and "Cross Road Blues."

@.m

Taft,"Lyrics" 268.
'* Taft, "Lyrics" 269.
%ind Hearted Womrn Bluesn

" m d Hearted Woman Blues" was issued with 'Terraplane Blues" on Vo 03416,

Johnson's first and most succasfd record. The fact that "Kind Hcarted"was the k t

song recorded suggests that the song was his most developed piece." The duplication of

the lyrics, with the exception of the additional suinza in take 2, fiutha suppoa this

notion. In this respect, the two takes of "Kind Hearted" txhibit a stability similar to that

of the alternate takes of the 1937 session. Of the twcnty-sui half-lines in take 1 of 'Xuid

Hearted," twenty can be found clscwhcre in the songs of othcr blues singcrs, rcsulting in

a famulaic composition of 77%. With the additional stanza in take 2 the formulait

content inmeases to 81%.

T h e most prevalent t h m c of rccordai blues is love,'0 or more accuraîtly,

unrequited love, and, as Sterling A. Brown states, "the formulas of loving and leaving arc

nurnerous.'"' Of the six major formulas that construct the scenario of a foiled love

relationship, Johnson employs thme in "Kind Heartcd": the x-formulas

kindhearted woman (stz. l), 1 love mv baby and But I d l v love that womaq (stz.2), and

Ainslie and Whitehill suggest that Johason a u d i t i o d for H.C. Speir with this piccc
( 12).

The word "love" occurs a total of 768 hmts, "lovcd" 64- "lover" 18x, "lov&s"
3x, "love's" 4x (two from Johnson's "Love in Vain"), "loves" 4 1 x "lovcsick" 4x, "lovey"
2x, "loving" 32lx, "lovingtst" t x. In contras&"hate" occurs 68 times: %attfll" 4x, and
"hates" 3x.

8' 'The Blues." EbylQP 13 (1952): 289.

"Kind Hearted Woman Blues"

Take 1 Take 2

1not a kindhearted woman do anything this world for me 1 got a kindhearted marna do anything this world for me
ed womaq anything this world for me h o t a kindhearted marna do anything this world for me
But thesc evil-hearted women pun. thev will not let me be But these evil-hearted women man. thev will not let me bg

1love my b&y mv babv dont love me 1 love mv baby mv b a b ~

don't love me
J love babv OQQ mv babv don't love me 1love mv babv ooo mv babv Bpii't love me
ut 1 d v love that woma can't stand to leave her be w v love that woman can't stand to leave her be

Ain't but the one thing rnakes Mister Johnson drink Ain't but the one thing makes Mister Johnson drink
ut how vou treat me. b& ) benin to think ed 'bout how vou ûeat rnc. baby MD to (hi*
Oh babc, don't feel the
YOU- b whcn vou cal1 Mister So-and-So's name

ndhearted
(instrumental break) ndheartw shc
You wcll's to me to have it oayour miiip
evil al1 the t i m Somcdov. we vow hanagpad-bvr
evil al1 the tirne -me day 1 wi ll w o u r hand gooâ-byç
1's womed how vou treat me. babv (stz.3). The 1 s t is a manifestation of J treat vou

goodhad, a fomula significimt in gcnrrating conflict and disillusionment which trigger

not only physical escape but also psychological distrcss. Blues are not courthg songs (at

Ieast, not withui the world of the Iyrics). Unlike the love poetry of, say renaissance

sonnets, blues speak of the rnessy dermath of intimacy with a gritty hontsty that refises

to idealize love and the lover. The speaker's conflict with a lover is o h a centrai factor

in his state of social isolation, and, as will bc discussed in Chaptcr Thrte, this state of

aloneness becornes the premise for the speaker's desire to communicate his ernotion.

in "Kind Hearted," Johnson emphasizes conaict through a series of contrastts. He

custornizes the major x-formula 1 have a wo- with the adjective "kindheartcd,"unique

in Taft's corpus." Hearts are usually harà, evil, cruel, ciown, or b r o k ~ n .Johoson
~ rcnun~

to the more farniliar "evil-hearted" women in the non-formulait x-phrase of the third line,

creating an antithais between lcindnes and evilness. The mit is an exarnple of what

Harry Oster observes as a characteristic appearîng in al1 types of blues:

Often there is a striking contrast between the first and second halves of a

82 Stephen Calt, "Tdioms of Robert Johnson," 78 OuYialy 1 (1989), suggcsts that the
term "kind-hearted woman" is an "obsolete black slang phrase for a woman who keeps a
gigolo" (58). Calt States "Robert Johnson's songs wcrc musuai for 1930s blues in their
frequent use of slang tmns and idioms. which gave t h w a 1920s cast a d pmjectd au
image of Johnson as a b~mihourchabitué....The idiomatic character of his songs is ail
the more rernarkable in light of ELizab*h Moore's [a Robinsonville ncighbor of Johnson]
recollection that John cutomarily wmte the words to his songs on pPpa" (53).

83 htemtingly, "good-htarted'' women appear only in the blues of f d e singcrs;

a eood-hearfed womag is employcd by Ma Raincy,"Slave to the Blues" (1926; Riin-23).
Memphis Minnie, "Don't Want No W o d " (1930;MemM-a), and Ida Cox, 'Unesorne
Blues" (1 925; CoxI-7).
 line, or between the opening line of a verse and the last line. Sometimes

balanced contrast rcachts the extrcmc of appearing both within single iines

and betwan separate 1 i n d '

The conjunction "But" enhances the opposition, and is noteworthy as an instance of

enjambment. As mentioned pxwiously, the typical blues Iinc is end-stopped, and relies

on rhyme as a linking device. While conjunctious and relative pronouns are oAen used to

link half-lines within a line, Taft bclieves that lines joined by "and" or *%ut"arc too fcw

to be considered important:

. . . the blues couplet &bits no enjambmcnt h m one line to the ntxt,

which means that evcry lino contains at lem one complcte thought. The

two thoughts or complcx assertions which makt up the blues couplet arc

much more independent of each other, in grammatical terms, than arc the

two simpler thoughts which usually make up the blues linc.''

Counter to the idea that the final line of a blues stanza "answers" or "redves" the

preceding lines, Taft observes,

There is nothing in the interna1 sbucturc, either semantic or syntactic,

which makes the second line an answcr to the first. The two lines could as

" 'The Blues a s a Gmrc," 2 (1969): 262. Osta continues: "The r d t of these
elements in combination is a quotable verse, complete in itseIf; often aphonstic,
rhythrnically appcaiing as the words trip easily off the tongue, and rcadily rcmnnbcred-
roughly analogous to the hcroic couplet of the eightecnth century, if we disregard the
repetition of a Iine in the blues" (262-3).
 easily be two separate and unrclateà assertions by the singer. It is the

position of the lines which detennines thcir thematic mlationship, rather

than being the thematic rclationship which determines their position.'

n i e repetition of the conjunction in the same stanza of îake 2 suggests that Johnson

employed the somewhat unusual featurc delibcratcly. In the second stanta of take 1, the

conjunction occurs again; takt 2, however, eliminates this instance.

The mehe rhyme pattern of the f k t stanza is doubled intcmaliy in "let me bc" of

the closùig line. While the feature may smn coincidental, it is ncatly counteqmintcd in

the second stanza with the repetition of the rhyme and r - f o d a structure." The switch

in pronoun, from "me" to bbher,"in can? stand to leave h a be intensifies the dynamic of

the relationship between speaker and lover.

In the third stanza,the speakefs perspective tums inward; the shifi is markad with

a change in stanza forni.* The AABB structure is rclatively uncornmon in country blues,

and is found more n#luently in vaudeville blues. Taft claims tbat 80.h of al1 blues songs
follow the 2AA stanzaic structure9" a thm-line stanza in which the second Line repeatJ

The r-formulas man. thev will not let me k (sîz.1) and can't stand to l a v e hn bç
(stz.2) are manifestations of the same basic fomiula let vou _he ;sec Appeadix 23 1-2.

The shiA occur~musically as well: Ainslie and Whitehill state, 'The third ~ t s l l ~ ~
functions musicaliy as a bridge, establishing a very diffetetlt f a 1 and harmonic rhythm
before r e t d g to the verses" (12).

Antholopy xiii. Thnc arc many othn s î ~ ~ ~ t ufound

89 r e s in blues, such as the
unembellished A A couplet, the olda 3AA form (finit h e qcated twice), ABAB, d ro
on.
the first, and the third line rhyrnes with the first two. The first two stanzas of Johnson's

"Kind Hearted" are 2AA stanzas. En addition to "Kind Hearted," the AABB s t m a

occurs in Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Terraplane Blues."

In the stanza, the speaker identifies himself in third person as "Mister Johnson," a

specific and persona1 self that is counter-balanced in the fourth line by the generic

"Mister So-and-So.'* Over the course of the stanza, the self-reflexive "Mister Johnson"

is gradually displaced. His introspection is rendered in "womed" and "think," and his

confusion stated with the r-formula my fife don't feel the same. The stanza captures the

emotional anxiety of a current experience rather than the retrospective clarity of the past.

The speaker describes the instability of the relationship in emotional and pçychological

terms. The final line completes his isolating displacement with the lover calling the name

of another.

In take 1, the scene of deep thought is followed by a stanza-length instrumental

break, the only one in Johnson's recordings." The elimination of the guitar solo in take 3

"Mister So-and-So" is a common labeI for a competing lover; it occurs 26 times in

Taft's Concordance.
?' Instrumental interludes may very well have been a feature of his live performances-
-his guitar playing is legendary. Of Johnson's guitar playing, Guralnick explains
"...Johnson's walking bass style on guitar, adapted fiom boogie woogie piano, while it
may not have been entirely original with him, popularized a mode which would rapidly
become the accepted pattern. As Johnny Shines has said, 'Some of the things that Robert
did with the guitar affected the way everybody played. In the early thirties, boogie was
rare o n the guitar, something to be heard. Because of Robert, people learned to
complement theirselves, carrying their own bass as well as their own lead with this one
instrument'" (36-7). "According to Shines: 'Robert came along with the walking b a s , the
boogie bass, and using diminished chords that were n.Jt built in one fonn. He'd do
nindowns and tumbacks, going down to tl.e sixtn and seventh. He'd do repeats. None of
gives rise to certain questions. Was the break an intended part of the song? Why was it

eliminated in take 2? Did Johnson forget the words to the stanza, compcnsate with a

guiîar solo, and then, in take 2, nipply the "missing" stanza? The occurrence of the

instrumental break within the cleariy well-rchearsed soag suggcsts that Johnson was quite

cornfortable with the ftature and that it was indecd an intentionai part of "Kind Heartcd."

It is possible that he was instructed to fil1 it with a verbai styua in take 2.

ùi the closing stanza of takc 1, the word "study," in the r-formula she studies evil
al1 the time, is not unwuai in blues?* The comotation of docp thought corresponds with

have it on vour mind of the final line. The antithtsis of 'lundhcarted" and "evil" affécts

surprise and, in take 1, provides a tidy fiame-like closing to the Song in its echo of the

first stanza. in take 2, ghe studies cvil al1 the timç is spokcn, not sung, with crnphasis on

"evil". The "evii'* she "studies," whethcr it be infidelity or sorccry or boa9' threatns the

speaker with death. As a closing stanza in the take 1, the violence is arnbiguous in its

metaphoncal quality.

The additional stanza of take 2 soAens the violent threat of the preceding stanza,

this was being done...." (Guralnick 58-9).

For Son House's ofien quoted story of Johnson's suddcn technical impmvcment sec
Son House and Julius Lcstcr,"I Can Make My Own Songs," Out 15.3 (1965): 41-2.
92
Blind Lernon Jeff-n: "1 want you to stop and m d y dont take nobody's life"
("Blind Lemon's Penitmtiary Blues,"JetB-33). Willie McTeli: "Sit hcrc and m d y with
your eyes al1 red" ("Southcm Can is Mine," McTW-15).

'' David Evans, ''Robert Johnson: Pact with the Dcvil," Revus 21 (19%), &xis
the opposition bctwecn the "kinâhearted woman" and the 'evil-hcarted womcn" of the
third line problnnatic, and intnpretr the "evil" as sorccry. H e States, "thcm is a distinct
possibility that Johnson simply hadn't thought out his composition v n y carcnilly"(12).
 89

but refûses to resolve the confusion. Some dav. somc dav is arnbiguous in tcrms of

decision or resolution, leaving the situation indefinite and unscttled outside of the

conviction 1 can't aive vou anmore of mv lovin'. The finai assertion, 1 iust ain't satisfied,

is a concise summary of the the song's expression of disillusionment.

"Ramblia' O n M y Mindw

"Ramblin' On M y Mind" was the fourth title Johnson rccordcd on Monday 23 November

1936;the Song was issued with "Cross Road Blues" (Vo 035 19). In contrast to the

duplication seen in "Kind Heartcd," the lyrics of the two takes of "Ramblin"' cxhibit

considerable revision. Johnson's reworking of the lyrics illuminates the compositionai

process of both takes. Take 1 is 80% fomulaic; the changes made to take 2 rcduce the

formulaic content to 73%. Of the twenty-four formulas tmployd in the composition of

take 1, seventeen are major formulas. In this respect, thcm can bt no more conventional a

blues song. The major x-fomiulas I'm leavinn Csomc place), repeated in take 1 in al1 but

one stanza, and 1 no to some la cc gmcrate the thernc of travel, associating the song with
the large family of traveling or 'Walking" blues. Johnson introduces the connection

between physical travcl to mental activity in the f

h - on mv miQB
t Linc with b o t rgmbim I

which is a manifestation of the major r-formula J pot rome on mv W. The r-

formula is also subsequcntly repeate in the fonn m t mean t h i w on- ((tnlre 1:

stz.2 and 5 ) and W o t d e v i w on ((tac 2: st2.4). as a prologue to travel.

The association bctwccn travci and the word "mind" is common in blues; as 1will discuss

in Chapter Three, d e t y is ofien expresscd in tams of physical movanmt. In J o h n ' s

Take l Take 2

1 got ramblin' J pot ramblin' on mv mind 1 got ramblin' 1 aot ramblin' on mu mind
1 got ramblin' Lpot ramblin' al1 on mv mind 1 got ramblin' 1 eot ramblin' al1 on mv mind
to leavc my baby but vou treat me so unkind Hate to leave mv baby but o u treat me so unkind

I pt mean things M t rnean al1 on mv mina And now babe 1 will never forgive you anymore
Littlc girl, little girl b o t mean thin~sal1 on mv mind Little girl, little girl I will never forgive you anyrnore
c to tcavt YOU hctc. babe but you treat me so unkind You know vou did not want me MY. whv did vou tell me so

B\lonuie down to the s t a h çatch the lirst mail train 1 seq d I'm runnin down to the station catch that first mail train 1 see
a l

(1 think I hear her comin' now) (1 hear her comin' now)

' t
catch that old Tirst mail train I seg to the statioq çatch &at oufirst mail train 1 s q
-
blues 'bout U S o and-So a d thc chiM not tb the blues
i!l!wlm
An' they's devilmcnt w e v i m on hcr
She got devilment ot- ddcvilmçnt al1 on vour mind
e to lcave cgv baby byl she

I pt mean things rve on mv mind

1 got mcan things 1- on mind
LOnfo Ieave well. me so unk But I'm leavin' this 1 believe 1 will go back home.
song, the idea of rarnbling evokes a s e w of aimlessness, with no named destination,

until, at the end of take 2, the speaker decides to retum "home."

Upon closer inspection, what purports to be a conventional blues song in its

insistent fonnulaity is actually quite innovative, striking in its wntrol and attention to

aurai stylistics. Both takes exhibit a conscious deveiopmcnt of interna1 repetition

embedded within the opening lines. The pattern is based on the use of a non-formulait

prefatory x-phrase which is repeated and complcted within its r-formula Hence, "1 got

ramblin"' (take 1 and 2: stz l), '1 got mean things" (tak 1: stz 2 and 3), and "An' thcy's

devilment" (take 2:stz 4) are not formulasu The verbal pattern produces a strong

rhythmic quality, a surging of anticipation in kccping with the theme of departue. At the

same tirne, the intemal repetition suggests hesitancy. Johnson's care in presening

embedded repetition as a special stylistic feature of the song is evidmt in the design of

the newly created stanzas of take 2.

Other aura1 features occur in the third stama conccmhg the train station. The

inserted line "1 think 1 h c u her cornin' now," is spoken and accompanied by the g u i e s

imitation of the souad of an approaching train? The repiication of this dramatic asidc in

a There exists an x-formula 1 not some but it requircs a noun to fil1 "somc
thing": 1 eot a nickel; b o t a letta.

9S Spoken asides arc common in blues; Johnson uses the device ofkn and effectively.

In songs such as 'TrcacRerhing Blues," Johnson's interjections fhction as audience ttsponsc

(spoken words arc within parenthses):
The bluues is a lowdown shakin' chi11
(yes,preach 'emnow)
. . .-.-.*
. . a -

Well, the blues is a achin' old hart discase

take 2 indicates that this stanza was a fiindamental component of Johnson's "Ramblin'."

During the proccss of rc-recordhg the son& Johnson chose to eliminate take 1's

repeated stanzas, beginnllig "1 got mean things." The mision sacrifices what appears to

be the development of a refiain. In takc 1, the line Hate to lcave mv babv but vou treat

me so unkind closes every stanza except the third. Johnsods prcdilcction for refrain, an

unusual feature in country blues, can be seen also in "Corne On Ia My Kitchen," "Swect

Home Chicago," "They're Red Hot," and "Lave in Vain.'* In these sangs* however, the

refiain occurs as a non-rhyming entity separate h m the main couplet. H m ,in take 1,

the attempt to integrate the re6rain into the couplet rcstricts Johnson's rhyme possibilities.

He reaches beyond the mindhkhd combination only in the fourth stanza with

cryinl/unkind-

The re& may have forccd the repcttition of the second stanza as a concluding

stanza. The decision to replace both in take 2 may reflect eithcr Johnson's dissatisfaction

with the repeated stanzas or with the constraints of a rhyming re-. The former can be

argued in light of Mcan-American verbal and singing contests which display the ability

to compose a sequence of verses without repetition? Countcr to this idea, however, is

@O it now. You gon*do it? Tell me al1 about it)

Robert Palmer, (New York: Pniguin, 1981). Nites "'many Delta guitarists
mastered the art of fittting the instnimcnt with a slider or bottlcncck; they made the
instrument ''taik"in strikjngly speeçhlike inflections" (44). Samuel A. Floyd, Jr.,
Power of Black Music: IntmrçtUin Its History h m j c a to the l Jnited S m (New
York: Oxford UP, 1995, discusses the instrumental imitation of train sounds as a
traditional feature of mcan-Amcrican music (2 14-16).

96 William Ferris, Blues h m the Del& explains thrt in cornpetitions betwcen blues
singers, '%luesverses arc used as a form of vabal cornpetition somewhai Wrc the
Johnson's insistence of repeated stanzas in both taka of "When You Got a Good Fricnd"

and of "Phonograph Blues.'*' Regardlcss, Johnson's decision to abandon the refkain

fkeed up the stanzaic possibilities for take 2.

Given that Johnson made at lcast fourteen mrdings (eight titles with one or two

altemate takes each) on Monday 23 N ~ v c m b e r ,he~did not have a grcat deal of time to

consider his revisions. For take 2, Johnson bcgins with the same opening stanza, but

improvises the second. In the pmess, the vocative "And now babc" acts as a stall

allowing time to devise the n m r-position half-line? The m

ul,"I will nwcr forgive
t

you anymore," is raîher unusual in its prrspective. The word "forgive" is alrnost always

found with the word "me;" in other words, the speaker usually ask for forgivencss with

the r-formula foreive me ~ l w ç .Nevaiheless,

'~ the choice automatically gives him his

'dozens.' The singers face each other and sing until one is unablc to continue in verses.
Apparently this form of verbal cornpetition is traditional, as it was obsmed bcfore 1940
by John W. Work during fieldwork with black blues singcrs in Nashville, Tennessee"
(53)-
97 Repeated stanzas also occur in the single extant take of "Believe I'1 D u t My
Broom," "Sweet Home Chicago," "32-20 Blues" (a rcpttition that does not occur in Skip
James' eariier version 7 2 - 2 0 Blues'*), 'raty'rc Red Hot" (1st and last), "Last Fair Deai
Gone Down," and "I'm a Stcady Roliin' Man." In "Stop Breakin' Down Blues" the
identical first and last stamas of take 1 arc changed in take 2.

98 As listed by Dixon et al., SUyg 476-7. Accordhg to Lava, Johnson was the only
artist recorded on that &y by ARC (liner notes, Co- 46).

99 For the "stall" in the ~cmions of C,fncan-Amcrican preachers, and suggestive

possibilities for Old English poetry, s e Bruce A Rosenberg, T h e Formuiaic Qunlity of
Spontaneous Sermons," m l of -cri- 83 (1970): 3-20.
lm s "forgive*' arc confïgurcd as "forgive m
Eleven of the 12 o c c ~ c e of e'. the 12th
is 'Wow the preacher told me that God will forgive a black man*' (SmiJ-1).
 94

second Iine and t h e to compose a rhyming third. "Little girl, Little girl" is held over

fkom take 1 either in lieu of a k h x-position phrase or pcrtiaps because Johnson

favoured its rhythmic quality. He chooses a conventional h e to close the new stanza:

You know vou did not want me babv whv didn't vou tell me so.I0'

As was seen earlier,'02the duplicated third stanza is composed whoily of cornmon

famulas. In both takes, Johnson asserts his poetic individuality with interesting lexical

fillers. The choice of the verb 'hinning" in the f

htx-formula is rclatively uncornmon as
most singers "walk" or, simply, "go" to the station. Johnson uses "Miss So-and-So" in

the second x-formula to fiide the name of the speaker's parbier. As s e n in "Kind

Hearted," the generic title is ordinarily cmployed in a dcrogatory sense to rcfer to the

unknown lovefis) of the cheating partner.

The revision of stanza 4 retains the half-line 'trith my ann' fol8 up and c m " * in

a notable way. The image of f o W m s is found kquently in blues in both x- and r-

formulas which share lines with othcr specific formulas and images. Here we have an

'O' Conventionally, the l h e is used as a stanza opener: in nint of its tcn occurcnces in
Taft's corpus, the linc begins the stanza. Johnson's "anymorc/so" rhymes aurally: Furry
Lewis also rhymes "tell me so" with "no more" in "Jellyroll" (1927;LcwF-1). Of interest
are the fint two stanzas of Joe Linthecorne's "RatyMama Blues" (1929) which exhibit a
similar collocation to Johnson's:
Listen here pretty marna :what's on vow womed
How corne you trcat me : so u &
If vou don? want me : whv don't vou tell me so
1 can beat ??? :getting down thc road. (Lint-1)

lo2 See pp. 70-5and, al=, A ~ p c n h

236-7.
 95

example of a conventional association betwcem a gmup of Consider the

following blues couplets recorde. pnor to Johnson's "Ramblin"':

Now 1 went to the station : fold mv anry and moan

Asked the operator : how long my rider k e n gonc.
(Ishmon Bracey "Left Alone Blues" 1928; Brac-2)

1 walked down to the station :fold mv troubled

We walked and asked the agent :has the train donc gone.
(Robert Wilkins "Get Away Blues" 1930; Wilk-9)

1 was standing at the terminal :amis fold UQ and cried

Crying 1 wonder what train :taking that browii of mine.
(Robert Hicks "She's Gone Blues" 1928; HicR-12)

Lord, 1 fold mv : and 1 walked away

Just like 1tell you : somebody's got to pay.
(Son House 'Dry Spell Blues-Part 1" 1930; Hous-5)'""

And 1 fold mv Lord : and 1 walktd away

Says that's al1 right swcet marna :your trouble going to corne some &y.
(Willie Hambone Newbem "RolI and Tumblc Blues" 1929; Newb-5)

it appears that, aside h m strict formulas, gcnerd images and scenes also develop in

association with each other. The h t three examples couple the train station with folded

m s . The train station, a place of separation and abandonment in blues, connects the

image of folded arms with despair-a conrîotation rtinforced by "xnoan," b'troubld," and

"cried." Examples 4 and 5 do not = f a to the train Jtation but rather link the image Mth

the action of walkjng away. These two instances, void of description of anxicty or

'O3 and lines odcn develop into a lwse association with a srnail group of
b'Fomi~las
other foxmulas and lines" ('iaft,"Lyrics"308).

l m The folded ~ iformula

s is a favorite of Son House. found also in 'My Black
Mama-Part 2" (1930; Hous-2)and ''Reachin' the Blues-Part 2" (1930; Hou-4).
sorrow, present the gesture of folded arms as a mixture of resignaîion and defiance. In al1

of the above examples the visual image of folded amis is also accompanied by the act of

speaking: "Asked the operator," "'askcd the agent," "Cying 1wonda," ''Just 1 5 1 tell

you," and "I said."'" A g a the tone of the utterance is influenccd by the place: in the

setting of the train station the utterance is a question that reveais the speaker's f m ,

whereas outside the station, the utterance is a statemcat of vengeance. Four days latcr,

Johnsonused a collocation very simiiar to Ntwbem's stanza (eg. 5 above) in "If 1 Had

Possession Over Judgement Day":

Had to fold my anns and 1 slowly walked away

(1 didn't like the way she done)
Had to fold my arms and 1 slowly walked away
1 said in my minci, your trouble gon' corne some day.lM

The collocation embeds a kind of thtatrical paformance or iconography within the lyrics,

and has developed into a touchstone of emotional feeling.

Significantly, in "Ramblin"' Johnson does not adhere to the two possible

CO llocations shown above. In both takes, he uses the visual formulas o f folded anns and

the station but separates them hto sequential stanzas; hcnce, the traditional association

and order is maintaincd but delayed in an innovative manner. His design in take 1,

however, sacrifices the componcnt of adches (nich as bbAsktdthe operator") in

'OSTaft identifia this type of phrase as an extdormulaic "locutionary clcment"

(''Lyncs" 27 1-3), but in this cluster of images, it sppar to bc cxpccted

"Possession" bomws yct a second rtpnv and the tune h m 'ltoll and Tumble
Blues;" the Song was also rccorded by Garfield Akas as "Dough Roller Blues" (1930;
Aker-3).
preference for the refhh. Take 2 switches the folded u m s image h m its traditional

spot in the opening lines to an unusual closing po~ition.'~'It is possible that Johnson may

not have intended to muse it at dl, until he rtalized it would seive as a closer for the new

Finally, Johnson's new conclucihg stanza in take 2 continues the pattern of

internai repetition with a standardizcd configuration used earlia that &y in 'T Believe I'll

Dust M y Broom." The fourth stanza of "Dust My Broom" is as follows:

1 believe 1 believe Pl1 go back home

1 believe 1 believe IW go back home
You can mistreat me here, babe, but you can't whcn 1go home.

Here, recent performance can bc sccn playing a role in the composition of takc 2.1m h

"Rarnbhf'' Johnson holds the usualI bclicve 11' 1 gg back ho= until the ciosing line, and

substitutes a variation of the major r-formula jt won't be loqg in the "1 believe, 1 believe"

pattern of the first lines. The result provides duection, albeit vague in the assertion of

"home," to the speaker's aimless rambling.

" M e n You Got A Good Friendn

Immediately after ''Ramblin'," Johnson rccorded his fifth titlc, "men You Got A

'O7But not unique: Buddy Boy Hawkins uses the closing linc "1 couldn't do anything
partner : but fold mv iittlc and cq" ("Numbcr 3 Blues" 1927; Hawk-2).
'O8 ''Rambliun' wntinues the idea of depazturc and travcl inhoduceci in the first
recording "Kind Heartcd Woman" ("Some &yT some &y, 1would shake your hnnd good-
bye"), continued in the following '7 Believe IT1 Dust My B m m " ('7 bclicve, 1belicve,
1'11 go back home") and 'SweaHome Chicago" ("Oh baby, dont you want to go*'). The
thematic associations may have influmced Johnson's song scquencc.
"When You Got a Good Friend"

Take 1 Take 2

Men vou pot a n d friend that will s t a ~neht by ~ o u side

r When vou pot a eood friend that will stav riaht bv vour side
en vou R O a~ mod fncnd Bat will stav rinht b~ y u r side
- When vou not a nood fiiend that will stay rieht bv vour side
ive her al1 pf vour s m jove and treat her rinht Give her al1 vour mace timq try to love and treat hcr n ~ h l

j rnistrcatad mw baby md 1 can't see no reason whv 1mistreated m~ baby 1can't see no reason why
ted mv baby but 1can't scc no reason why 1 mistreateâ my baby j can't sec no r e m why
.i . .
F ~ wriw mv hands and cry
V'nk a b o u llust Fvervtimç 1 thinks about I( h s t wnd- ce

Wonder could 1 bear apologize or would she sympathize with me Wonder could I bear apologize or would she sympathize with me
M m m m would she sympathize with me Mmmmm oh would she sympathize with me
n e ' s a bcownskin woma #+sweet as a nirlfiiend cm b~ She's a bm pst asdw
s-
. . car&

Mmmm babe, I V
be ~r wrong J love mv baby but [I can't make that agree)
Baby, it's your opinion ph. 1mav be ri& or wrong 1 love that w o m [but why can't we can't agree]
a t c ~ o u close
r friaid thcn your enemies can't do you 1 rcav love u tw o w wonder w h wc ~ c w
no h m
It's your opinion -1.1 mpy be rjph( or wroag
11's your opinion hjcnd-Pirl.1 m v be apht or wrow
But whm ~m 1s * baby thm your enemies
can't do you no h m

When p u eot a @ f
rw that will stav &t bv vour side
- a nood end jhat wiIl stw rinht bv vour side
en vou not
&Y to love and
 99

Good Friend." The title was nevn issueci on 78rpm, but was released in 1962 for a new

audience of folk music revi~alists.'~

With the exception of an additionai stanza in take 2.

the two versions exhibit textual stability. The fomulaic content of take 1 and 2 arnounts

to 77% and 75%, respectively.

"Good Friend" begins and ends as an advisory song. The intcrvening stanzas

provide a kind of background to the moral-like h t ;the speaker'sadvice of " a a t her

right" has been leamed through personal expericnce. Take 2 retains the identical h
t and

last stanzas, demonstmhg a conscious employmcat of the fbne as an aesthctic device.

Supporting this idea is Johnson's insertion of an additional stanza in the niiddie of take 2

rather than at the end (which o c c d in "lhd Hearted"), kecping the h e intact.

Moreover, the fiaming stanzs exhibit a cornplex stmcture: whilc a "whcn" clause is

typically concluded by the following r-position phrase,"0 Johnson extmds his statemcnt

to the second line. Enjambmmt of this complexity rcquks thought above and beyond

the forrnulaic system, and appears to be a characteristic of Johnson's opcning stanzas.

As the song progresses, the speaker becornes caught up in the confiict between

himself and his lover, tuniuig his attention fiom "you," the audience, to "yoq" the lova.

In the second stanza, h t tells us that he regrets mistrcating his lover. The anguish of

"cry" is enacteci in the ttrird stanza as the speaker sams to be talking to himsclfas he

Iw The song appearcd on Robert John: I(iOO of the Delta S b LP,Columbia,

1962.

"O For example: "And when you hear me howlin' in my passway, rider. pl-case
open your door and let me in" (Johnson, "Stones In My Passway")
considers reconciliation. The word "apologize" is unique in Taft's corpus, and

"sympathize" occurs only once elsmrhae."' That is not to say, however, that apologies

and sympathy are rare in blues; although most lovers choose to escape conflict by

leaving, some do Say "1 am sorry."'12 In the fourth stama, the speaker addresses the lover

directly. Again, Johnson selects a unique word with "opinion." The speaker's

indecisiveness reflects his confiision. The meaning of the closing linc is ambiguous: who

exactly is the "close fiend" the speaker advises the lova tû 'k-atch"? The "cncmies,"

another unusual word in blues poetw,rccurs in Johnson's 1937 "Stones in My

~assway."~
l3

The additional stanza of take 2 desemes ~pecialattention as an example of a

difficulty encountmd by transcribm. While the x-formulas of this s t a w a arc clearly the

sarne used in the second stanza of "Kind Hcarted," the r-position phrase of the opening

iines are not easy to deciphcl''

I love mv babv but I Ican't makc that a-]

I love that woman b u t why can't we can't agrce]
1 really love that w o m a wonder whv w t can't a-.

Poor recording quality is not a factor in the uncertainty of the r-formulas; ratha Johnson

fails to articulate the haif-lines clearly. The stansa witnessts a possible sLip; Johnwn may

"' In Clifford Gibron's "Levcc Camp Moan" (1929; GibC- 13).

l l2 I'm sorrv is au tstablishad x-formula

'l 3 "My enemics they have bctrayed me have overtaken poor Bob at last."
My attempt mughiy agrccs with that of Steve LaVcrc, who haus the r-position
half-lines as "but 1 can't make that agrec" and "but what can wc can't agrcc," rt~pcctivcly
(liner notes, C o r n ~ k28).
 101

have made a mistake in singing

y-1 (ratha than continuhg with "It's your

opinion"), and then was forced to corne up with an r-formula Whether he intended an

additional stanza or not, it captures Johnson in the ptoccss of working out what becornes

a definite r-formula by the third line. Although transcription is difficult, I hcar an

approximation of the final wonda whv we can't a- in the first and second iines. A

stanza of three identical lines appears nowhere else in Johnson's recordings, and in

general, the structure is very rare."~ohnronlsextra stanza cm be read as composition in

progress.

"Corne On In My Kitchen"

Lmmediately following "Good Friend," Johnson m r d e d "Corne On In My Kitchen," a

Song that has been describeci as "one of the most daridy afkting love songs ever

Il5 Taft:"On rare occasions, the singa rnight sing only a partial blues otrnu; tbot is,
there would be no rhyming lint to complete tht couplet. Th- partial stanzas could taLe
any nurnber of forms, depcnding on the rrpaitions and r c i h h which the singer used: A,
2A, 3A, Ar, 2Ar:AA, and so on. In thcury, these partial stanzas should not be considcd
blues couplets at aiï, but they gcncraily occur within the contact of a song whae the 0 t h
stanzas confoxm to the texture of blues poeûy....these stPnus sam to be 'implicd
couplets' in which the singa and listener a g to ~bmlr ~ the rules in a song"
xiii).
"Come On I n My Kitchen"
Take 1 Take 2

Mmmm mmmm Mmmm mmmm

Mmmm mmmm Mmmm mmmm
You better come on in mv kitchen babe, it's goin' to be You better come on in mv kitchen it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
tainin' outdoors
Whcn a woman nct in trouble evervbodv throws her dow~]
Ah.the w o w 1 IQVS took f i ~ mmy best friend vow noad friend nonc can be found
&& her back anain You better come on in mv kitchea it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
u btttcr come on n it's goin' to be
rainin' outdoors Mrn. the woman I love took from my best fiiend
Some ioker not lu& ptole her b a c w
a,s h e ' s J know she won't come back She bettg come on in mv kitchcr, babe, it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
I've taken the last nickel out of her nation sack
&J bcttcr wme on in it's goin' to be (Mama, can't you hear that wind howl?
rainin' outdoors Oh how the wind do howl!)
You better c o w on W c h c r ) babe, it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
(Oh, can't you hear that wind howl?
Oh, can't you hear that wind howl?)
You better comc on in k i t c b it's goin' to be She's
- the won't write to
rainin' outdoors You better ~oin'to be rainin' outdoors

Whcn a wo- nt r e cvervbodv throws her dom 1 went to the mountain fu as nlyyes could sg
hcrfidlwma&bd SQmt o h
- woman &nesornc blues not mq
tter come on in mv kitchcp it's goin' to be You better come h a it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
rainin' outdoors
Mv mamu papa well's to bc
W i n t w s c o w' Its'
I
.*
'
be doW n o w love and care for me
You can't make the winter, babe thst's dry long so She better comc on a rlly kitchcr) 'cause it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
on l a'cause it's gon' to be
rainin' outdoors
re~orded.""~Take 2, which has a fasta tempo than take 1,"' was issued with "They're

Red Hot," a bbhokurn"style Song popular at the timc in the Chicago area. Of the six songs

under discussion, 'Kitchen" is the most original in temio of content: take 1 is only 56%

fomulaic and take 2 is 65%. Significantly, the incrcase in fonnulaic content in take 2

reflects Johnson's reliance on the blues formula in the revision procas."* Johnson not

only replaced stamas but also added a new one and reordercd the matcrial.

"Kitchen" also fcatures a stanzaic structure rarcly found in country blues,

consisting of a simple AA blues couplet followed by the rrnrain,

You better corne on in mv kitchm it's goin' to bc rainin' outdoors.

The form is consistent thughout both takcs, and th- is no attcmpt ta conncct the

r e k to the couplet by rhyme. The r c h h is composeci of a common x-formula and a

unique r-formula to convey a rather atypical cffér of Johnson's pcrfotmance

of the Song, especially in take 2, accentuates the =fiain as a pause betwten the social

struggle and ernotional suiTering of each stanza

Ii6Ainslie and Whitehill, 28. Johmy Shines, blues singer and traveling cornpanion to
Johnson, recalls a live pcrfonnance of T o m e On In My Kitchen*': "[Johnson] was
playing very slow and passionate, and when we had quit, 1 noticed no one was saying
anything. Then 1 realizcd they wcrc cryhg-both wornen and men" (Ainslie and
Whitehill, 28).

I l 7 Ainslie and Whitehiii: "Johnson's second take is rcmnrkably différent in t a and

feel, and while it is done well cnough, it ~ c m sloppy
s and irnpmviKd when comparai to
the fmt take. Wbat happencdto the carcfully honed guitar and vocal interplay? The
tight narrative pacing and the plaintive slides of the t%st take?" (28).

I l g Without the rc- the formulait contcnt of the couplets only is 59% for take 1
and 73% for take 2.

Il9 1 discuss Johnson's rcfhb in Chapta One 46-8.

 104

Special vocal stylistics play an important role in the presentation of "Kitchen,"

mark& both the h t and f o u .suiius,both of whicb arc maincd in take 2. The

couplet of the f h t stanza is composcd entircly of a non-verbal "nasal moan" (mmmmm).

Here, the failure of writtm transcription is most obvious. Paul Zumthor, writing of the

"purified sound" of the southcm black field holler, the Swiss yodcl, the "brcath song" of

the huit, States,

Fmm its initial outburst poetry aspires, likc an ideal term, to puri@ itself

fiom semantic constraints, to gct outsidc language, ahead of a fiillness

where everything thaî is not simple pttscnct would be abolished. Wnting

occults or represscs this aspiration. Oral poctry, in contrast, welcoma its

phantasms and tries to give them fonn; . . . .lm

The nasal moan is the most common 'paraiinguistic utterance" in blues, typically used as

an extrafonnulaic element to preface a verbal statement.'*' An example of this practice

occurs in "Good Friend whcre "mmm" operates as an x-phrase in the line ''rmm, would

she sympathize with me" (sîz.3) and 'tnmm, babe 1may bc right or wrong" (take 1,

stz..4). The extended fûll-line moan also occurs in 'Terraplane Blues," ''Preaching

Blues," and "Hellhound O n My Traii." Although a case can be made for the stajling

h c t i o n of the hurnmed line in Terraplane,'' wordless lines huiction iis im integral

aesthetic element in Johnson's work, important enough to be specifically retauid in the

120 Ofaj Poetrv 128.

12' T a "Lyrics" 266-8.

prominent first stanza position in take 2 of 'Xitchcn."lP

Stanza four is similar in the sense that the couplet departs h m song, this timc

with the repeated spoken question "Oh,can't you hcar thot wind howl?" The effcct

merges singer and speaker, connecting Johnson dircctly with his Listener. Poetically, it

adds power to the r

emby dramatkhg the apljroaching stom and Ultm~ifyinga sense

of foreboding. Like the elaborate third stanza of "Kind Heartcd" and the stylized third

stanza of '"Ramblia',"Johnson retains his spoken couplet in take 2. It appcars that a

specialized core stanza is characteristic of J o h n ' s compositional style.

The four Sung stanzas of take 1 are an interesthg mix of vcry conventional and of

original (non-formulait) content. The second stauza is a fiilly dwelopcd couplet, found

in the songs of many singm.Iu Some blues scholars use the terni "'ossification" to

describe the stabilization of certain lines.'*' Stanza five exhibits the motif of fairweather

'" The extended gmwiing "mmmm" of ''Preachin' Blues" ad& emphasis to the hard-
dnving quaiity of the song, and also cchoes the style of Son House who recordcd his own
"Preachin' the Blues" (Pts. I and 2). In "Wclihound On My Trail," the 'himm" of the
opening stanza affects a plaintive moaning quality that crcates the ecry atmosphcrc of
approaching despair so notcd and admired by Johnson commentators. Howevcr, in
"Tenaplane," the wordless line is the £irst linc of a stanza that fails to continue the
elaborate sexual mctaphor developed in tht preccding five staazas. Johnson salvages the
stanza by repeating in part the first staiiza, and then goes on to a new final stanza thaî
reflects the earlia poetry. A second take of 'Terraplane" does not cxist, but 1think the
text reveals a momcntary lapse in manory.

IU For examples, sec Appcndix 243.

lZ4 Of the established linc, A nickel is a nickel . 1s
a . duac.
.
Taft states, "One may
Say that, in blues performance, the two formulas have 'ossifie& into an indivisible lhe"
(''Lyxics" 3 12). Barnie writes, "A singer who begins with The sun's g o m shine in my
back door some &y' will almost invariably conclude with Tbe wïnd's gonna rise, blow
my blues away.' ...No doubt the widesprcad diJsnniantion of blues via gramophone
 Io6

friends, conveyed thmugh varying collocations of certain formula^.'^ in other words,

Johnson's stanza demonstrates only one of many possible arrangements of the fickle

fn'end stanza which can hirn on a diffemt rhyme word, dependhg on the fornulas

chosen.

in contrast, stanzas t h . and six contain original matcrial. No analogue exîsts for

the half-Iines, "I've taken the 1st nickel out of her nation sack" The "nation sack" is

unique, and is thought to ref' to a "donation saçk" which was a purse or pouch fastend

' ~ ~the suah starma, Johnson anploys thme formulas and one
around the ~ a i s t . For

original phrase to produce a statement that is eommon in its allusion to hard times but

atso unusual in its focus. The r-formula u t ' s dm 10- is often annotatcd by

transcribers.'*' As noted by Stephen Calt, the phrase appaus in Zora Neale Hurston's

Their Eves Were W a t c m God: "Yail know we can't invite people to our town just dry

records hastened this process of ossification; but it is probably inhnent in the lyric
stnicture of the blues itsclfl which rnakcs it easy and natural for mernorable lines and
stanzas to achieve a set form" ("W47-8).Both writers note that the convention docs
not prevent the singer h m invmting a new variation. Barnie points out that "a singer
will often show a p r e f m c e for a particular coupling of formulas, so that in blues thot
coupling becornes ossified-a set piece committtd to mcmory" ("Fonnulaic" 457).

'21 The motif contributes to the largcr prcmir of social isolation; sec Chaptcr Thrre
137-8 and Appcndix 245-6.

n6 Calt, "Idioms" 59; he states thaî barnhouse proprietors and prostitutes worc
nation sacks.

'21 For examplc, LaVm defines "dry long so" as "a dialectic description of an
impovenshed condition. In this case,it relates specifidly to not having enough
necessities to last through the winter" (iincr notes, 29).
 107

long so....We got tu feed 'emsorne~hin'."~~' Johnson may have design4 this stanza to tie

in with the refrain and close off îhe song. Interesthgly, the original matenal of both the

third and final stanza is dropped in takt 2, and replacecf with iraditional stanzas.

Take 2 reordcrs the stanzas held over h m the first take: îhe stylized fkst and

fourdi stanzas are kept in their original position while the second and third have a new

place. The last three couplets of take 2 arc al1 new, and cach are highly conventional.

Stanza five appears as a wholc elsewhere; the word "crave" occurs 42 timcs in Taft's

corpus, 30 of which h c t i o n as a rhyme word (most oftcn with "grave"). The letter-

writing theme of the closing line murs rnuently in blues, most often gaicrated witb the

x-formulas 1 got a letter b m rnv babv and J'm s&g to &te a lam. Lettas bring bad

~ sornetimes found within the prison song:

' ~ are
n e ~ s ,and

Write me a letter : and send it by mail

1 want you to tell my dear old mother : I'm in t h New Huntsviiie jail (EvanJ-1).

As a device, the letter emphasizts the absence of the lover or relative, intensifying the

speakeis isolation.

The mountain of the sixth stanza in take 2 is inherited h m the spirituals.lM Blues

speakers typically clirnb a mountain to eithcr look, as in Johnson's linc, or cal1 to their

128 "Idiorns" 56; for the citation sec Hurston, Deir E v a Wm Watcbipp C i (1937;
New York: Harpcr & Row, 1990) 42. Calt offcrs the translation "For no fc8son; for
nothing" and concludes, "Johnson's couplet appactlltiy implia that a homeles girfimd
will find it necessary to traâe semial favors for shelter."

Iz9 For example: J rcceived a letter :that my man was dying (SmiC-10).
lover. l 3 I The closing iine, w lonesomc blues eot m e is a

popular conjoined unit. The r-formula is sigdcant in prcsenting blues itself as an active

entity with which the speaker sûuggles. Four days later, Johnson reused the couplet as a

standard AAB stanza in "If 1 Had Possession Over Judgmcnt Day."

Another echo of the spintuals is evidcnt in the "motherless child" theme of the

final stanza. The rnothedfather construction in blues lyrics typically explairis the absence

of family. Johnson's r-phrase"papa weii's to be*' maintains the balance (mamdpapa) but

with a unique half-line. The contraction "weli's"(might as well be?), seen also in "Kind

Hearted," appears to be a characteristic of Johnson's speech. Conventionally, the x-

formula Mv marna's deaQ always appears with an r-position half-linc describing the

whereabouts of the father. Johnson's stanza rcflccts the tcndency in blues to cluster the

motherless child formulas with isolation formulas; the following w o stanzas exhibit

analogous configurations:

N o w m y marna's dead :and my papa can't be found

1 ain't ctot nobody : throw my arms around
(Sam Collins, "Devi1 in the Lion's Den" 1927; ColIS-2)

Mv marna's d a : my papa's across the sea

That leaves no onc : $0love and carc for mç
(Tom Dickson, "Dath Bell Blues" 1928; DickT-1).

Johnson's decision to replace his onginal matcrial with "-y-made" lines and

stanzas m a y have becn infiucnced by the change in music. Eitha Johnson fclt that the

faster tempo of take 2 was not appropriate for thc orninous poignancy of a statcxnent nuh
 109

as "You can't make the wintct, babe" or his concentration on the musical revision

superseded attention to the lyrîcs. Regardlcss, the ~~ the non-verbal fim stanza, and
the spokm couplet of the fouth stanza rrmallied as the basic structural futum of

"Kitchen." Under pressure, Johnson was able to draw on conventional lines and stanzas

to reinforce the idea of aloneness and dienation, and wastnrct the sheltering refhin a s a

bridge between hunself and his audience.

"Phonograph Bluesm

In light of the fact that many listeneas of Johnson's contemporary audience owned a
Victrola, it is surprising that "Phonograph Blues" is one of the very fcw blues songs to

refer to the phonograph. Bob Groom observes, "The lyrics arc striking. Other bluesmen

have used the jukebox as a fernale sexual image (e-g. Washboard Sam's 'Let Me Play

Your Vendor' Bluebird B-8967)but the use of the home phonograph is less u~ual."~~~

There does occur one "victmla" in Leola B. Wilson's "Do It Right" (1929):

When your pal buy your gal : a Coca-cola

You can bet your life :he's playing her victrola (WilsW 3).

The double meaning of Wilson's closing iine is the basis of Johnson's "Phonograph

Blues." Like "Good Friend," "Phonograph Blues" was never heard in Johnson's tirne,

'" "Standing at the Crossroads: Robert Johnson's Rccordings," . . 119

Il-
( 1976): 11. Washboard Sam's "Let Me Play Your Vendor" was rccorded in 1941.
"Phonograph Blues"
Take 1 Take 2
Beatrice, she pot a ~honogra~hand it won't sav a lonesome word Beatrice eot a phonoaraph and it won't sav a lonesome word
Beatrice. she got a phonoera~hbut it won't say a Ionesorne word Beatrice got a phonomaoh and it won't say a lonesome word
What evil have 1 done what evil has that p o r girl heard What evil have 1 done what evil has that -par nid heard

vc mv ~honoOIgehbut you have broke my Beatrice. 1 love rny diono-p~&but you have broke my
windin' chain windinBchain
1 love rnrnbpno~aI-oophoney, you have broke my Beatrice. 1 love mv ohonoptaah but you have broke my
windin' chain w indin' chain
BaQyou've taken mv lovu jmd nive it to vour other man And you've taken mv lovi~'and eive it to vour o t k m q

Now, we playod it on the sofa, now we ~ l a ~ ite 'side

d the wall And we played it on the sofa md we DI@ it side the wall
e n

My n d l e s have got msty, baby thev will not olav ai al1 And wc playeà it on the sofa pnd we olaypd it ' w* e wafi
We played it on the sofa md we plaved it 'side the wall But boys, my needlcs havc got M y yid it will UV a-t'al1
But my n d k s have got rusty gnd it will not ~ I a vat al[
B*. 1 love m b a u d 1l m 1 bout tO
W .1 will losemv mind lo= mv niind
cm- bonçy. 1 will lose mv mind t to lose mv min4
briu vour c l o w back ho= p â trv me ons ur clothes bac- babv, trv me one

md it won't pay a lonesome word Now,my phonograph, mmm m.it w w v a l o m e wora

goo won't sav a tonesorne word My little phonograph wd it won't sav a lonwme worQ
What evil have I done pç what evil have the Door girl heard What evil have I done what evil have the m r &l heu4

Now, Beatrice won't vou bnng vour clothes back homp

Now, Batrice won't you bwvour clothcs back homp
 and is thought to have bem ccasored by the record company.'" The song w u the l u t to

be recorded on November 23d,and immediately followcd another double e n t e n e song,

"Terraplane Blues" whicb plays on the imagay of an automobile as an expression of

sexual desire: 'Tm gon' hoist your h o d , mama I'm bound to check your 0i1."'~ Hm,the

metaphor of a phonopph is useci, but unlikc the bravado of "Terraplane," the sexual

desire of "Phonograph" is undermined by the implication of sexual dysfûnction. The

topic of impotence is quite unusual in blues, but murs in Johnson's wo* in 'Pead

Shrimp Blues" and, possibly, "Stones In My Passway."

Despite the unusual choict of a phonograph, the song's composition is 75%

forrnulaic in take 1 and 69% in take 2. The lyrics of both takes arc essentially the same,

except for the structural adjustrnent of stanza th= and the addition of a oew stanza 13'

As a (Iiterary) text, "Phonograph" is not as straight forward as 'Terraplane;" whcrc

"Terraplane" exhibits conml and focus in its wordplay, the exact naturc of the

phonograph is hard to pin dom: it is variously an object owncd by Beatrice, Beatricc

Of Jobnson's "Phonograph Blues," Oliver writes, "the Vocalion company chose to

censor it and it was unissud....P-s it was the specific refercnce to Beatnce that
occasioned the rejection of the tccording...."6-188).

IY Johnson al= employs extcnded scxual metaphors in 'Peod Shrimp Blue,"

"Miikcow's Calf Blues," 'They're Red Hot" and, possibly, "'Stones In My Passway."

13' Take 2 is also different musicaily; Groom, 'Standing," 119 (1976). states, "The
two takes of Phono-h B l u provide
~ an intereshg example of Johnson trying out
different guitar accompanimcnts to the same lyrics. The f b t taLe is at a slowa tempo
than the second and uses a guitar accompanimcnt similar to the slow boogie of 'Dead
Shrimp Blues' w h m a ~ take two has a recunhg 'Dust My Bmom'-like phrase dding
urgency to the performance" (11).
 112

herself, and the speaker himself (or, more specifically, his "equipment"?). However the

metaphor is read, it is plain that the ''phonopph" neeh rcpak "you have broken m y

v &"
windin' c h a h ...My needles bave got nisty md it will not ~ l a at

As in "Gwd Friend," Johnson employs a framc by rcpeating the k t stanz.in the

final position of take 1. The fiame is disrupted in taLe 2 by the addition of a new final

stanza. Johnson's fïrst line, Beatnce. shc a d it won't sav a lonesomç

word, produces an unexpected and clever Mst The half-line and it won't sav a lonesom~

-
word can be read as a description of a brokcn phonograph (on a litcral and mctaphorical

level). Also, "lonesome word"can also be rcad as a syntcdocbal tcnn for the blues

record-the phonograph will not play a blues record. In Taft's corpus, "lonesome" is
employed fifieen t h e s in the phrase "lonesome song," a seIf-reflexivc description of

blues. '36 At the metaphoncal level, the phonograph rcprtsents Beaûice and the

"lonesome word" of the blues record rtpresents the speaker-blues singer: Beatrice will

not have sex with the speaker.

In take 2, Johnson replaces the opening x-formulas of the fourth stanza with the

repeated statement Beaûicc. 1 love muhono- resulting in the mention of

"phonograph" in cvery stanza but the third. What rnight appear tedious on paper is made

lively by Johnson's vocal stylistics. As in 'Terraplane," a varicty of vocal and

instrumental effects cornplment the wordplay of the lwcs. Johnson's revision of the

fifth stanza might reflect his inclination to change wfut w u origuiolly the final aPming

136 For examplc: "Whm 1 get down aud out : sing this lonaomc song9*
(WiUJ-8).
 113

section. Of the new closing stanza, Johnson reuses won? vou b n n ~

vour clothes back

home in the r-position and reworks elcmcnts of "Tenaplane" for the last line. Htrt,

again, recent performance influeaca composition; but, even while unda pressure.

Johnson is able to put one last innovative spin on a conventional fornula His version of

the despainng r-formula hear me moan hans the sound of somw into one of sexual

pleasure with 1 wanna wind vow little ~honoerabhiust to hear vour little motor moan.

"Cross Road Bluesn

Today, "Cross Road Blues" is one of Johnson's most famous blues. In a brilliant set-

piece of despair, the song voiccs the anxiety of a speaker stranded at a desolatc mssfoad.

Recorded on the last day of his fim session, take I of the song was issued with 'Xamblin'

On My M i n d (Vo 035 19). Conttary to his practice of adding a staaza to the alternate

take (as seen in "Kind Hearteâ," "Kitchen," and "Phonograph'~.Johnson reduces the

length of "Cross Road" in take 2. The formulaïc content of "Cross Road" is 73% for take

1 and 79% for take 2.

Johnson establishes the setting with the unique substitution of b'mssroad" for the

more famiiiar "station" of the x-fornulas went to the station and at thç

station. The rcsulting statcmcnts,J wcnt to the crossro~and at the crossroa

are repeated throughout, each time connectai to a ncw rc-formulation of distress. In

combination, the formulas prcscnt a past and prcscnt to the speaker's amival at the

crossroad. The absence of auy of the numcrous formulas that express possible friture

plans (such as 1believe 1 wilLpo back hnmr)d a U a h o p and escape.

 The o p d g stanza initiates the song's "Cali" with the iconographie fomiula of

the piea The convention of Johason's collocation cau be seen in many songs as speakers

fa11 to their kaees before lovcrs, judgcs, and evm gravcdiggcrs, as in Mattie Hite's early

"Graveyard Blues" (1923):

Went to the gaveyard :fcll d o m on rnv kneg

And 1 asked the erav- : to givc me back my good man, plcase (Hite-1)

Robert Wilkins employs his own version of the image in "Faliing Down Blues" (1929),

in which the first three couplets anticipate Johnson's "Cross Road":

I'm tired of standing :on the long lonesome road

Thinking about my baby :and got nowhcrt to go

It's far down the mad : fnend as 1can sec

See the woman 1love : standing waving after me

I nui to her fncnd : fell down at ber

Crying take me back baby : God knows if vou ~ l e a s ~ .

Although prayer in blues is usually presenteà ironicdly or as parody, Johnson's Askd t h

Lord above appears, on the SIUface, to be serious. In the conte- of train songs, this x-

formula (1 asked the conducto~traditionally initiates a dialogue between the speaker and

railroad official; but, hcrc, the cd1 is unanswercd-the speaker is alone in bis

helplessness.

As noted prevïoudy, blues singers OA m name thnaselves in their songs, but the

13' Here, the explicit cal1 to God significantiy contrasts with the prrsmce of the Devil
in Johnson's later work such as "Me and The Dm1 Blues" and "HCU Hound On My
Trail," both recordcd in 1937. Johnson's danonology receives much attention fiom
today's blues audience; for example, sec David Evans, ''Robert J o h n : Pact With The
Devil," Biues Revuç 21 (1996): 12-13; 22 (1996): 12-13; 23 (1996): 12-13.
use of a k t name is unusual. Whilt Johnçon's use of "poor Bob" may have bcen

triggered by the very common phrase "poor boy,""' it dramatically pcr~onolizesthe blues

The namuig of the

"1," promoting an intimacy bctwan Johnson and his listcn~rs.~~~

speaker in the third pmon also emphas~esa JeiiJe of seEdiscomeaion.

In the second stanza, the speaker's Plienation continua in the temporal reaim as he

vainly attempts to connect with passing m g a . ASwill be seen in Chapter Thrce,the

x-formula Nobodv knows me is one of many that evoke anonymity and isolation. In the

third stanza, the approacbing darkness hcightcns anxiety. The secrningly contradictory r-
- d o m is striking in its succinct expression of regret As the light
formula risin' sun nom 1

fades, so too does the spcakcr's psychological strcngth. The historical reafity of curftws

and the dangers of being on the road aione aftcr dark informs the sense of fear evoked in

this stanza. The closing line, J klicvc to mv soul. now m r Bob is s"
i hP down,

profound in its simple expression of vanishing hopc, elicits intense exnotional distress by

juxtaposing the disassociated "Bob" with the idiom "sinking down." Movement away

f k r n God, fiom hope, and fiom himself, is expresscd as physical descension in "sinking

'31 "Poor boy" occurs 39 times in Taft's corpus.

139 Johnson is the only singer to namc hirnself in this way; " p r Bob" recurs in
"Preaching Blues"-"'Travel on, poor Bop-and "Stones In My Passway": "My cncmia
have betrayed me have ovcrtaken poor Bob at l a " The device leads writers to believe
his songs are autobiographical; Jeff Todd Titon, m.fo f
..
Recordin= Blue 94 (1990) States, "themain difficulty with the way blues
collectors and w r i t m intcrpmJohnson's lyrics is thot they assume he i s aiways singing
about himself. Because, aprt h m the songs, so little is lmown about his lifh and
because of the romantic primitivism projectcd upon him, it's understandable that blues
fans would want to thinic his wngs w a c autobiographicai;..."(62).
down."

The fourth stanza of take 1 contrasts the action of ninning with the previous

inaction of standing. The pronoun "you" of the unique x-position half-line "You c m nui,

you can mn" emphasizes the speaker's own immobility, and turns the cal1 outwards to the

audience with the request that the listener contact Johnson's fi-iend. Willie Brown is

thought to be the Delta blues singer who recorded "M&O Blues" (1930) and "Future

Blues" (1930), and sometimes accompanied Johnson's mentor Son House. That 1 pot the

crossroad blues this mornin'. Lord is a manifestation of the major x-formula 1 got the

blues, which, as discussed in Chapter One, keys (evokes) the performance of b l ~ e s . ' ~

Although the word "morning" contradicts the sunset of the previous stanza, its

significance is traditional in the revelation of change.'"

In take 1, the finality of "sinking down" is intempted by the fifi and final s t - m a

with the return to pre-arriva1 at the crossroad. The effect creates a moment at the

crossroad both frozen and fleeting. The non-formulait r-phrase "1 looked east and west"

effectively emphasizes the state of indecision and of being lost. The lonely speaker utters

his anxiety in the final word "distress," a word strangely unique in blues; it can be read as

a psychological word-emblem encompassing the turmoil expressed throughout the Song.

Although Johnson's revision of "Cross Road" sacrifices some of the more

'" See Chapter One 25-6.

"' Occumng 563 times in Taft's Concordance, "morning" is the 83rd rnost fiequently
used word; it is most often found in the major x-formula 1 woke up this mominq; see
Chapter One 28-9.
 118

poignant and complex aspects of take 1, it d t s in a more streamhed and concise

version of the Song. The performance of takc 2 is slowa in tempo and iastnuncntally

more spare, creating a sense of open space.'* The alteration of the third stanza reflects

die significance of rhyme as a blues convention. To correct the repctition of "down" in

-.
al1 three iines, Johnson shifted the r-formula nsm' sun goin' do= to the x-position and

inserted a new r-fonnuia dark eon' catch me hcrç. The new configuration cmbcllishes the

scene of fading daylight with the device of pasonifkation, which magnifies the threat of

darkness and the sense of uneasc. In order to fiilnll the rhyme, he composed a new

closing line by reusing the 1 didn't have no swtct w o m a of the final stanza in take 1 with

a new r-formula love and feel mv carç.

8 8 8

The foregoing case study shows the significance of formulas in the composition of blues

songs, and the impact of coxnmercial mrding on the development of those formulas.

The overall fomulaic percentagc of the twtlvc recordings examineci above is 73%; in

other words, alrnost threequarters of the lyrics can bc found in the rccordings of other

blues singers. Takc 2 of "Kitchen*' contains the highest amount of "original'' matcrial; it

is only 56% fonnulaic. Mcanwhilt, take 2 of "Kînd Hcarteû" is the most formulait at

'" Groom, "Standin&"l19(1976). states, ''The second takc is slightly slowa-

tempoed, a less desparate but more orninous ('dnrL gonna catch me hm') pcrfomance
than take one*' (1 2).
8 1%, followed closely by take I o f "Ramblin"' (80%).I4j

The Parry-Lord oral-formulait theory is based on the idea of spontaneous

composition; Albert B. Lord States, "An oral poem is not composed for but

perf~rmance."'~As mentioned earlier, the fomulaic nature of Old English poetry has

led rnany scholars to believe that the poems were composed orally without the aid of

witing and, perhaps, transcnbed by a scribe. The altemate takes of Johnson's songs

provide an opportunity to view the process of composition.

The initial take of each Song exhibits a consciousness of design that departs fiom

the loosely stnictured blues of Johnson's mentors. Features such as refrain, enjambernent,

stanzaic fiaming, and intemal verbal patterns (such as the internai repetitions of

"Ramblin"') strongly imply carefùl pnor composition and rehearsal. An elaborate

opening stanza (ofien enjambed) and a core stanza stylized with vocal and instrumental

affects (as seen in "Kind Hearted" and "Kitchen") fiuther characterize Johnson's work,

and indicate memorization. Moreover, songs such as "Cross R o a d and "Phonograph

exhibit consideration of thematic cohesion and the creation of various kinds of

atmosphere and mood. The texts of the initial takes clearly reflect prior composition,

rehearsal, and memorization which, in effect, acts as a kind of writing. In this respect.

Johnson's blues would not qualiw as oral poetry.

On the other hand, the second takes show Johnson's ability to compose on the

la See Table A in the Appendix 258.

IJ4 The Singer of Tales 13.

 120

spot, as well as how the formula assists in improvisation. In take 2 of "Good Friend," it

appears that Johnson runs into trouble with the fourth Jtanzp; whcn he begias with a

major x-formula (Ilove mv baba instudof his non-fomulaic phrase "It's your opinion"

of take 1, he smiggles to find a suitable r-phrase. By the time he gets to the third lhe of

the stanza he decides upon mmm wonder whv we can't W . The expcricnce may have
influenced the quite different scenario of "Kitchen," recordcd immcdiattly following

"Good Friend." Here,take 2 shows Johnson rcplacing the unique matcriai of the f
k
t
take with well-established lines and stanzas. The combination of the compositional glitch

of "Good Friend," fatigue, stress, and the dcmand of musical revision in takc 2 might

have led Johnson to draw on conventional formulaic units. Regardless of the rason, take

2 of "Kitchen" can be viewed as cvidencc of composition performance.

Of stable (or "ossified") lines and stamas, John Barnie States, ''Lines and stanzas

of this kind are widespread in the recordings of country blues made during the 1920s and

early 1930s,and some singm, at least, had clearly lost the potcntial for creative change

that is an essential featurt of any truly oral-formulait tradition.""' IatCrCStiLlgly, these

"stock"stanzas show up offen in Johnson's highly praised art. In his discussion of

conventionality of blues lHcs, Taft concludes,

The function of the formula in the blues is acsthetic. It gives the audience

a securc feeling, in that the pattern is rcwgnizable. At the same tirne, it

"shocks" the audience with evcr ncw combinations of formulaic elcmmts.

 121

And fiirthcrmorc, the formulas are both plcashg and extra-significant to

the audience because of thcir accumuiated psycholinguistic ovcrtones.le

The blues formula enables the singer to connect with a distant audience. It defines the
genre as a particular kind of expression, and givcs the smg rclevance withui the social

environment of its singer and listcacf. The blues rccord dots not adhm to the principles

of oral poetry. Moreover, blues records influcnccd live performance of blues. As

mentioned earlier, singers likc Johnson wnc ofkn cxpccted to perform the songs they

had recordeci.

The issue of "originality" oAen &ses in discussions of f o d a i c poctry.

Although a non-formulaic phrase such as '1lookd east and wcst" ("Cross Road," takc 1)

can be considerd "original" or "unique," innovation is most active in the singer's

manipulation of fonnula The case study demonstrateci the various ways Johnson, and

other singers, varied formulas, illuminating what Niles observes in the Old English peûy

of Beowulf: "When one rcviews these lines, one immcdiately sees the extcnt to which

flexible formulait systems rather than fkcd formulas fomed the corc of the pet's

Moreover, Taft concludes,

traditional vocabula~y."~~~

Because the blues is paradoxically constraincd and flexible at the same

tirnc, and because the blues fonnula is both a theoretical and a c o n d e

construction, the rules of blues structure arc comspondingly flexible and

 122

informal. . . .the blues formula is not a 'building bloc&,' for thme arc no

sharp edgcs and hafd surfaces to this basic unit. The structure of the blues

is a very "human's t ~ ~ c n i in ~ almost ail the niles may be bent, if not

r cthat

broken, and there are exceptions to the n o m at almost evcry stage of the

analysis.

It is the practice of modem editors of OId English po&y to cmcnd broken d e s of

composition.

Wayne ONeil's formulaic analysis of the Old English "clegies," finch "that t k

out of every ten verses has an exact couterpart tlscwhcrc in OE poetry, and nearly six of

every ten have close analogies.*"* More specifïcaliy, he calculves the formulaic

percentage of Deor to bc 71%, The Seafm 56%, J'he Wandcrcf 64%- JkWife'~

Lament 6 1 %, and Wulf and Fadwacg S3%.lM Interrrtingly. the figues align with those 1

calculate for Johnson's songs. However, although OWeil has trcated b e "elegies" as a

separate category of poetry, he has analyzed their texts in the context of ail Old English

poeûy. The question ariscs: if ove^ half the verses of a lament also exist within diffeterit

types of poetry, such as long narrative pocms, thm what role docs the f o d a play in

distinguishing the lammt h m ,Say, the epic? What makes 'Ihe W a n m différent h m

Taft, '2yrics" 4 18.

Is0OTJeil, b'Oral-formulai~"
72. O'Neil aiso includs statistics for Pcowqlfas
comparison in tems of poem lcngth and genre; Bpg 1is 79.h forrnulaic and Bpp II i s
70%.
 123

Guthlac A or The Phoenix? The next chapta will addrcss this question through an

examination of certain formulas that converge in the lamcnts to evoke the themes of exile

and imprisonment The preseire o f the k s t pcrson speaker gives these formulas

additional power and resonance.

The blues songs of Robert Johnson and the Old Engiïsh lamcnts sharc the
charactenstic fomulaic composition, which, according to some scholars, associates both

with an oral tradition. Howevcr, the rcc~rdcdblues song is prcparcd and ttirearsai in

anticipation of performance-a performance that will not be witnessed until the record is

bought and played. The singer utilizcd the blues formuia to negoti* the gaps in time

and space. III this light, it is possible thaî the Old Engüsh lameats, as they have corne to

us. were designed with the manuscript context in mimi, and an awareness of delayed

performance. The medium of writing likely encouraged the developmcnt of formulas that

were parcicularly effective in engaging the audience.

 Chapter Three

Jailbreak

The contradictory ideas of movement and stasis in the lyrics of OId English laments and

blues songs underlie the themes that distinguish the poetry of each, and are significant in

the production of the emotive intensity that characterize the poetry of sach. This chapter

examines the fonnulaic expression of displacement and confinement in the laments and

blues of male speakers. First. 1 compare the conventional motif of exile in the laments to

the pewasiveness of dienation in blues in order to detemine how and why the tests of

each separate and isolate the speaker from society. Second, I explore two distinct settings

of isolation: the road as a location of motion and creative fieedom. and the prison as an

immobilizing. oppressive structure. When the movement of exile and the stasis of

confinement interact within the text. the speaker enters an interior realm and directly

engages in persond psychologicai struggle. In the final section of the discussion. 1

examine how bondage dramatizes emotional state and enables the poetic voice to enact

release.

The Lonely Speaker

The formulait introductory cluster. represented by the first line of The Seafarer--"Mreg ic

be me sylfum soi5gied wrecan" (1 can make a tmth-song about myself)-establishes a

singular voice. Deor also makes it clear that he speaks from and about persona1
experience. as does the Wanderer who explicitly States that he speaks of his cares alone.'

The singleness of each voice, however, is intensified by the circumstance of exile, a motif

that recurs throughout Old English poetry, subjecting a range of characters, saints to

Satan, to the misery of displacement. In each case, various combinations of certain

formulaic phrases reassemble to assert particular aspects of exile. The poet manipulates

these formulas according to the needs of rnetre, modifier, and alliteration.' Exile finds its

fullest expression in the laments whereas a subject in itself, it provides an "identity,"

albeit a probIematic one, for the speaker and a setting apart fiom orderly society.

The exile formulas concisely initiate the theme of exile and provide a template of

emotional distress, depnvation, travel and search. Notably, relatively few of these

specialized formulas are required to set up the context of displacement.' The formulas

function in the larnents as basic structural units which guide and stabilize the description

of the speaker's expenence of transition fiom order to disorder. Emphasis is placed on

the psychological impact of displacement on the individuai. The trauma of alienation

resides within "wrzc," a word meaning both "exile" "misery." in The Wanderer the

Deor 35 and Wan 8-9a. The introductory ciuster is discussed in Chapter One 26-9.

See Stanley B. Greenfield, 'The Fomulaic Expression of the Theme of 'Exile' in

Anglo-saxon Poetry," Speculum 30 (1 9 5 5 ) : 200-6.

Only ten occur in the 1 15 lines of Wan; six within the 124 lines of Sfr. eight in the
156 lines spoken by Satan in XSt, and only one (possibly, two) in 42 lines of Deor.
When they occur in these poems, the exile formulas tend to cluster in concentrated
groupings; for example, five of the ten formulas in W m occur in lines 20-25. Cn Wan and
Sf?,the groups appear in the first part of the poerns. in Deor, the one exile formula
-
appears in the final passage of the poem, and in XSt, Satan's second and fourth lament are
cach anchored by exile groupings.
exile fonnula eannne anhogên (miserable solitary one, 40a) associates cmotional anguish

with the idea of isolation? The exile's discomcction h m human society is configureci

with wineleas m g (fiiendless man.45b), a variation of the on-verse formula winelea

-

wrecca (fkiendless exile).'

The exile expresses the loss of a sense of sccurity with a cornmon formula of

deprivation, most conveniently identifieci in modern English as x dcmivrd.6 This formula

tolerates a number of noun and v a b substitutions; the murring v a b s of deprivation and

separation are '%&lan," "%esciaian," ''bcrtafian," "bcdreosan," ''benaman."? The

Wanderer describes himseif as &le bidatld (scparated h m the homeland, Waq 28b) and

the Seafarer is win- bidrom (depriveci of dcar-kin, Ma). In Q&t and S m

the formula occurs thme times in Satan's larncnts: in a double construction, he cornplains

of being wuldre bençmed / hiigu6um bcdclcd (depriveci of glory / separated h m the

hosts, XSt 120b-1a), and, later, in a more usual single occurrence, he admits to k i n g

' Earmne anho= occurs vcrbatim in &Q (23680) and Max a (19a). A variation,
enge anhoga, appears in J(ç (997a).

' Wineleas wrecca lppurs in 10a and & 91a The substitution of "guma" in
the Wan "avoid[s] alliteration in the Off-verse" (Grrenfield. "Formulaïc" 201-2).

Greenfield states, "The chief formula for the exile's deprivations is an A-verse
consisting of the instr. or gen., sg. or pl., of the "propcrty"rcmoved togcther with the pp.
of a verb of deprivation. The propettics range b m the physical ones of gold uid land to
abstract concepts of cornforts and joys" (Tormulaic" 202).

Accordhg to the C o w e to the -0-w P a t i c RCCO* cd., I.B.

Bessinger, Jr. (ithaca: Comell UP,1978). tbe m u e n c y of the vabs, in t h e various
foms, in a l i extant Old English p c t arc ~ follows: 'btdclsn" 23% '%cmafisii" 1%
~ as
"bescyrian" 14x, 'benannan" 10x, and '0akoren" 9x.
goda bedæled (separated from good, 185a). And, finally, Deor speaks of one who sits

sælum bidzled (separated from joys, Deor 28b). Within these instances the various noun

substitutions refer to elements of comfort and stability; the exile has lost his homeland,

family, and the joy associated with a place of belonging. Inherent in the formula of loss

is a past in which the exile enjoyed the cornforts of social stability.

For Deor, the Wanderer, and Satan, stability is embodied in the figure of the lord.

In their larnents, the type-scenes of lord and devoted servant recurs specifically within

passages of memory which intensiQ the speaker's present disconnection From a

meaningful social contexte9 Outside the relational system of lord and servant, the exile

must redefine himself. Poetically, the conventional scene provides an opportunity for

embellishrnent. The memory of the lord not only emphasizes an absence but also

provides a canvas for the imaginative activity of the exile-poet.

Deor articulates his present emotional state through episodic allusions to mytho-

histoncal figures. Only at the end of his poem does he speak in first person to tell us who

and what he no longer is:

Dæt ic bi me sylfum secgan wille,

bcet ic hwile wæs Heodeninga scop,

W o n a l d K. Fry, "Old English Formulait Themes and Type-Scenes," Neo~hiioiogus

52 (1968), defines a "type-scene" as "a recumng stereotyped presentation of conventional
details used to describe a certain narrative event, requiring neither verbatim repetition nor
a specific formula content" (49).

Robert Edwards, "Exile, Self, and Society," Exile in Literature, ed. Maria-Inés
Lagos-Pope (London/Toronto: Associated UPs, 1988): "Exile does not simply magniw
persona1 separation to a collective displacement; rather, it intensifies the dialectical
relation of the individual within the social" (17).
 dryhtnt dyrc. Me wacs Dtor noma.
Ahte ic fela winira folgaô tilne,
holdne hiaford, o w t Hconcnda nu,
leodcncftig monn londryht &ah,
bgt me mrla hleo a r g d d e .
bzs o f d e , bisses swa mag!

(That1 will say about mydfthat 1once was the scop of the Hcodenings,
dear to my lord. My mme was Deor. 1had for many wintas a good
place, a loyal lord, uatil now, Heorrcnda, a songcnffy m a rcccived the
landrighu that, before, the protector of men gave to me. That passeci over,
this so may. 35-42)

The problem of identity outsidc the borders of socicty is rcadily seen: when Deor loses

his job, he ioses bis lord, his land, and his ~ r n e - - ~ ~wes
M e Daw ~oma."'~
The
replacement of scops has depnvcd Deor not o d y of his p1acç in socicty but also an

identity. Furtber, even though Deor associates himstlf with a mytho-bistoncal figures,

his own name cannot be fomd outside of the pocm."

The Wanderer states that since the dcath of his "goldwine" (gold-fiend, W m 22b)

he has "sohte sele dreong sinces bryttan" (homesick, sought a treasure giver, 25) who

will know and comfort him (27b-8a). The Wanderc~then switchts to the impersonal

third person to speak knowingly of the exile:

'O
..
Anne L. Klinck, The Old E w h ElePicr: A C n t - i dAF
-.
(Montreal and Kingston: McGilJ-Qum's P, 1992). states that the "'use of the past tenrc
has provoked some discussion. Lawrence ["The Song of Deor," Philology 9
( 19 1 1- 12): 23-45] thought that the name w u an appellation givai to the speaker white he
was skald among the Hcodenings; otbm have attributcd the past teme m m l y to the past
nanue of the evmts dtscribed. . . .Wbctha an epithct or n regular proper name, "Deor"
re flects the speaker's respectcd status at the court of the Hcodenings-a status which he no
longer enjoys." (167-8)

The Heoànllngs and Hcorrcnda appear in Gcnnanic kgend, but "Deor d- aot
appear in the Hild story-or elsewhcn in heroic litctaturew(Klinck 167).
 Gernon he selesecgas ond sinchge,
hu hint on geoguk his goldwine
wenede to wiste. Wyn eai gedhas!

(He remembm the hall-waniors and treasurc-rcceiving, how in his youth

his gold-fiend entertaincd him at fcast. AU joy has pcrïshcd! 34-6)

The memory of former plcasurt, carricd by &e allitcraîive markers "selesecgas"/

known dream passage:

Pincd him on mode kt he his mondryhtcn

clyppc ond cyssc, ond on cneo lecge
honda ond hcafod, swa he hwilum ier
in geardagum giefstolas brcac.
Donne onwzecnd efl winelcas guma,
gesih6 him biforan fealwe wegas,
babian brimfllglas, bratdan febra,
hreosan hrim ond saaw, hagle gemaiged.

@ seems to him in his mind that he embraces and kisscs his lord, and lays
hand and head on his hee, as he, in times beforc, in days ago, enjoyed the
@fi-throne.Then the frimdiess man awakcns again, secs beforc him grcy
waves, bathing sa-birds sprcading theu wings, falling rime and snow,
mingled with hail. 4 1-8)

The vivid and tactile presentation of the lord and servant dramaticaîly contrasts the

The exile's loss of

warrnth of human contact with the bitternes of the exile's loneiine~s.'~

identity is reinforcd lexically: outside the hall the man- the 'tvincleas

(hail-wuriors). The otohis of "se#

guma,"-remembm his wmrades-thc '4dcsccgas~*

(wmior, h m ) and ''eorl" (brave man, warrior, leader) belong only to those inside the

walls of society. Ihe ides of mrelation is striking as the exile "onwacne6," awakens, to

l2 Robert Edwvds discusscs mcmoy in exile litaatun as a "mode of

transformation," using and as examples (245).
the harsh reality of exile. The contrast of the two scenes ad& a poignancy to the passage

that threatens to collapse the distance the Wandercr crects bctween himself and his

subject of exile. Hcre, beyond the bordm of human society, the ide- memory of the

lord is an attempt to c-tc order.l3

in Christ and S a m the sccae of lord and thane cmphasizcs Satan's displacement

fiom a harmonious existence by contrasting the hostile surroundings of Hel1 with the joy,

security, and comfort of Satan's former home in the kingdom of Heaven. As in BppL and

The Wanderer, the lord-thane scene functions as a memory of a lost past, but here, in the

context of a religious narrative, the sccne carries additionai significance as an icon of

heavenly bliss. In his first lament, Satan exclaims,

Hwat, we for dryhtene iu drcamas hefdon,

Song on swegle s e l . .tidum,
bacr nu y m b &ne accan æ k l e stondaU,
h e l d ymb hehseld, heriga6 drihtcn
wordum and wcrcum, and ic in wite s c d
bidan in bmdum, and me biettran h m
for ofcrhygdum =fie ne went.

(Lo! we, beforc the Lord, once had joys, Song in heaven, in betta times,
where now the noble oncs stand around the etcrnai one, hcroes about the
hi@-thronc, praise the Lord in words and works; and 1in tonnent rnust
endure in chahs, and for myself, a better home-bccause of pride-ncva
expcct. m44-50)

')At the very end of Wpn the "namator" rcconfigurcs, in Christian temrs, this lost past
af stability as a fiiture state sought by the faithfiil: ". . . . Wel bi6 barn him are d, /
fkofke to facda on hcofonum, brn us eai sco kstnung stade6 (....Weil be it for him who
seeks grace, consolation £hmthe Father in hanen, w h m for us ail stability mides,
114b-115). Within the Wandcrcis manory of the lord rcsidcs, for the Christian narrator,
spiritual hope; the extemal conflation of past and fiinirt within the lord-thane m e se&
to consol the W a n d d s despair of carthly transience.
Epic elements-"Hwaf' remcmbrance of tirnes past ("id'), and nobility ("adele,"

'%eled")-celebrate the image of ritualistic praise of the lord-figure in heroic temis. As in

The Wanderer, the scme of bliss is butted agabst the exile's prcscnt condition,deepcning

the sense of deprivation. Satan's l o s is compomdcd by the knowlcdge that pow, in his

absence, the angelic host continues to cnjoy the picasurc ofthe Lord's Company. The

Iord-thane scene recurs in the third lament whm Satan rcalizes that his misery is

increased by having once experiencd the joy:

1s me nu wyrsa b t ic wuldr# lcoht

uppe mid englum a h cuUe,
Song on swcgle, pzer sunu meotodcs
habbai5 eadige bearn ealle yrnbfangcn
seolfa mid sauge.

(It is worse for me now that 1ever kncw the giory's light, up with angels,
Song in heaven, where the son of the Ruler has al1 the blcssed childrcn
sunound him with song. 1 M a )

Satan's embellishrnents of the type-scmc featurc sound, particularly song. The

recmence of the half-line "song on swcgle" (143a and, above, 45a) highlights sound as a

key element of the icoq and plays with the aura1 simiiarity of "wegle" (heaven) and

"sweg" (sound, song, harmony), found a fcw lines later in a third lord-thane scene:

Ealle we syndon ungelicc

bonne we iu in heofonum hstfdon m r
wlite and wcorhynt. Fu1 oft wuldrcs sweg
brohton to btanne bcam haclendes,
bacr we ymb hine utan calle hofaa,
leomu ymb leohe, l o h n g a word,
drihtne d o n . Nu ic corn d d u m fah,
gewundod mid wommum; . . .

(WCare complctely difkcnt h m befort when we wcm in heavm-we

had then beauty and dignity. V a y often wc, childrai of the L a d . , brought
 the somd of glory to his bosom; thch we round about him, scrvants
around the beloved, al1 raiscd the words of praise-songs, sang to the lord.
Now 1 am staincd in dtcds, wounded with evils;... 149-Sa)

The past state of beauty and prcscnt tamish of cvil fiame the image of inclusion. The

idea of "sweg" is again featured as the primary componcnt of the hcavenly cmbrace, h m

which Satan and bis dcmonic troop arc now excludeci: 'WCare completcly diffcrcnt."

The scene of lord and sewant embodies a past lost to the original audience of the

larnents. Whiie the actual historical implications are problcrnaîic-especially in regards to

the laments-it is clear that the religious poet tran~fomiedthe dcpiction of an idcaiized

heroic past into a Christian future. For the exile himscif, the mcmory of the lord combats

the anxiety of disjunction with the temporary M o n of narrative.

In blues, as far as 1 can tell, the word "exile" dots not appcar. Nevertheles, the

experierice of displacement underlies the expression of personal stmggle. Stability, in

blues, is embodied by the lover, and the fail- of a love rclationship forces the speaker

into a realrn of transition.

Alone, the speaker takes on the role of outsider, configureci in a varicty of ways.

One instance of the word "outcastT'appears in Thomas A. Dorscy's "Broke Man Blues"

(1929):

I'm feeling W<c an outcast : lwking like a tramp. @orT-2)?

More commonly, the speaker identifies h i m ~ las

f a strangr, the x-formula a

I4 ''Tramp" and "hobo"mur, b u t 7 timcs and arc usocipted msinly with

train travel and poverty.
 133

has developed into two separatc fiill-iine units through the conventional accompanimcnt

of the following r-formulas:

I'm a stranmx h m : iust corne in vour t o w (WeaC-2)

I'm a stranncr h m : iust corne in on the (JefB-i O).

A sharper sense of dienation is produccd by I don't feel welcomc an x-formula that is

also found as an r-formula with the addition ofthe rhyming word "hem":

And 1 cadt ffctl wdcomç :babe nowhcre 1 go (Darb-3)

1 might l a v e :m u s c 1Qpn't feei wcico- (c~d-4).

Aloneness is s o m e h e s made explicit as in Walter Davis's 'The Only Woman": 'Wow

I'm left here al1 donc : ail in this great big world donc" (DaviW-24). However, the

phrase "by myself' is the key element of a common r-fomula used to convey isolation;

the most farniliar variations have been extendeci into the following two conventional

lines:

Marna 1 done not tircd : of slmirig bv mvself (BclE-1)

C ~ n 1aain't *down
. . road bv mySçlf
: this bin (JO hTo-2).
The psychological vulnerability of the isolated speaker is expresscd in a series of related

formulas based on the perception that nobody cares. The x-formula J ain't wt no- is

one of the more common renderings of social separation:

1 ain't Q O nobody
~ :ain't got nowhcrc to go (Blacw-8)

1 ain't qQt me nobody :carry my troubla to (COUS-5)

Ain't ~ onobodv
t :nobody feel rny carc (JamS-5).

The variation Nobodv w a n w occurs in a fcw instances; for exsmple,

 134

Ain't nobodv wants mç : thcy wouldn't bc in my shoes (Howe-7).

Nso, a closely related x - f o d a family is that of Nobodv knows. made famous by the

Song "Nobody Knows You When You'm Down and Out" An innovative variation is

seen in Johnson's half-linc Pidn't nobody secm to know me. babç, which, in the context

of "Cross Road Blues," dnmatically emphasizcs the spealrcr's struggle for self-identity. "

Loneliness pervades blues lyrics, sometimes conjoined with a statemcnt of

isolation:

1 said isn't it loncly : since I'rn al1 alone (Ba-3)

Don't the world seem lonely : when you got to baîîlc it al1 by yourself(JohLo-22).

More often, howevcr, isolation is articulated solely through the speaker's feeling of

loneliness. There occurs a mal1 x-formula group of rrn Io&:

Babv I'rn feelinn so lonelv : and I'm feeling so blue (Temp-4)

I'm so sad and lonely : love has becn r e W (DorsT-1).

After the words Wues" (as in 1 not the blues) and "womed,""lonesome" is the word

1 am lonaomc is a cornmon x-formula

most fiequentiy useà to describe a statc of ~nind.'~

found in Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain":

Well. 1 was lwesome. 1 fclt so loncsomç and 1 could not hclp but cry.

His repetition of "lonesome" is not unusuai. "bnesome" is d so fiesluently as a

modifier that certain phrases have developed into fomiulas. For instance, lpnesome sonp

l5 See my discussion of ''Cross Road Blues" in Chapta Two 1 13-18.

'' e ' ' 185 t i m s in Taft's Co-

b ' L ~ n e ~ ~ moccm ranking 174&in ~ u c M : ~ .
 135
is a common self-reflexive substitute for "Mua." Lontsome &y has stabilized into the

hlI-line formula

Todav has bccn :a long old loncsomc &x (Blacw-6),

and the "lonesome road is conveyed by an cstablishcd r-formula, as in

Look down look dom :that 1ouoJd loncsome rad (JohLo-9).

The expression of loss, in blues, fauses on human rclationships. Conespondhg

to the Old English deprivation formula is the familiar a moaerless CM

formula

inherited fiom the Spintuais. The ancestry of this formula gives it special significance;

bom in songs of slavery, J'm a mothalcss carries a legacy of endurance within an

alien and hostile environment. in blues, the formula is usualiy Linked to the r-formula

don't know neht h m wrom conveying the importance of the mothcr in the sociaiization
of a child. Booker Washington White aligns the absence of the motha with distant

separation fkom home:

I'rn a mothcrless c m :J'm a long wavs fiom homç

('The Panama Limited" 1930; WhiW- 1).

In a few instances, the formula is extendeci to include the lack of other family mernbers;

for example, Blind Lemon Jefferson sings,

I'm mothcrless. merl- :sister and bromless too.

("Broke and Hungry" 1926; JcB-13)

Lonnie Johnson provides a variation somewhat similar to the Old English -

'

wrecca" formula:

("Fricndless and Blue" 1938; JohLo-22).

 Akin tu the motherless child formula is the marna-papa configuration which

commonly be& with the x-formula M v mama's deoQ. and is bdanced by an r-phrase

stating the whercabouts of the fstha. Robert Johnson's stanza in "Corne On In My

Kitchen" is an example:

Mv marna dead pana well's to be

Ain't got nobody to love and carc for me.

Elsewhere, the father is "in the mines," "at s q " "can't be found," aad dcad "too,"

according to the deswd rhyme pattern. The mama-papa line is consistmtly followed

with a statement of isolation. Johnson chooses the Ain't aot nobody x-fonnula to firlfill

the convention.

Unlike the Old English exile, the blues speaker has littie mcmory ofbetter times.

Aside from the fleebig pleasure implicit in the speaker's reccnt love rclationship, a

couple of formulas do specificaily recall the past. One is found in the fom of a

conventionalized stanza:

Said 1 woke UD this mominn : 1 was f e t b so ba

Thinkine about the dt h e s : that I once had (Gill-4).

The other is the r-formula:-

My mind was running :back to d e s of 10-

And the one 1 love : 1don't sce her anymorc (CarrL-13)

1cm't help but mmember :aosc davs of -01

And then again 1 o A m wondet :ooo wtll well will they happen anymore
m e - -16).

Neither formula induca the kind of claboration of the past seai in the lameno, but savc

a similar function in reinforcing the expression of prcsent misay. Mcmory also occurr
with the topic of money, but is used for a critical view of an existhg society rather than

for an idealized glorification of a lost community. Moncy cornes and goes throughout

blues-eamed and spent, won and lost. The importance of money-or the loss of it-in the

songs is evident in the high fkquency of the worâ "money," which occun 359 times and

ranks 108th on Taft's fkquency list Nahually, money is a key elexnent in the large

family of Gambling B l ~ e s . ~H' o w e ~ the

a ~ concan for money is based not on its

financiai or econornic value but rather on its impact on intcrpcrsonal relationships. The
correlation between the arnount of money in one's pocket and the number of one's fnends

exists in blues as an expression that is in essence provcrbiai but is not conventionai in iîs

exact articulation. Tiic stanzaic collocaîion is initiatcd with the x-formula When 1 had

monev and generally balanced in the closing line with a version of its oppositt 1 have nQ

money. There exist a wide variety of combinations to express the samc essentiai idca:

When 1 had monev :J had a fncnd

Ain't not no money :1 aui't not no fnend
(Mississippi Braccy, "Ml Overcome Somc Day" 1930; BracM4)

Now when 1 had monet : hello sugar pie

Now I'm s~endinnal1 :g d b y e country guy
(Sleepy John Estes, 'Black Mattie Blues" 1929; Este-4))

1 had monev babv : I for fiietidfi am&

Well al1 the moncv : ooo wcll and my fnends cannot be found
(Joe Williams, "1 Won? Be in Hard Luck No More" 1937; WilU-11)

When 1 was do^ : lost my wife and my fnend

When 1 got -on- :they al1 corne back again
(Big Bill, "Wonying You Off My Mind, Part 1" 1932; BigB-12)

''See Oliver, Blues Fe11

. .
Mo- l p Blyg, 2'"' cd. (Cambridge:
M c ~ p ~ l pthe
Cambridge UP, 1990) 132-46.
 138

The memory of pleasant companionship enjoyed during prosperous times diminishes

with the realization of the nature of the attraction. Ln contrast to its relative flexibility in

construction, the cornplaint of fairweather fiiends is a persistent theme. The association

of money with a lack of human reliability and integrity severely undermines any sense of

community support and stability. The recurring motif of "fiends" disappearing in times

of trouble underscores the magnitude not only of need in general but also, perhaps, of the

inability to cope with that need.

Like the exile of the larnents, the blues speaker suffers disconnection fiom any

sense of comfort and stability. Both desire and seek the security of home, a place made

al1 the more elusive through the idealization of the larnent speaker, on one hand, and the

brutal honesty of the blues sinser, on the other.

The Road

An expected feature of exile is the necessity of travel and movement away fiom

what once was considered home. The road exists in the lyrics of both the blues and the

laments as a territory defined by the absence of anything representing ordered saciety.

Free of extemal obstacles, the road is unrestricted territory in which the speaker gains the

freedom to express persona1 thought. On the road, physical travel corresponds with

mental activity.

In the laments, the exile travels the "wnec!ast," or exile-track. Stanley B.

Greenfield sees this formalized aspect of the exile theme as an expression of "endurance
 139

of hardshipd*or "continuative movcmcnt in In both The Wanderm and a

Seafater the track of exile is located on the winter sea: the Wandcrcr is introduced as one

who

.. .. m o d c m
geond lagulade longe sceoldt
hreran mid hondum hrimcdde sac,
wadan wracclastgs.

(....hem-anxiou~,ovcr the sca-way, long had to row the ice-cold sea with
hands, 'wade' the tracks of a&. 2b-Sa),

and in a similar collocation, the Seaf- statcs that the land-dweller does not h o w ,

(how 1 wrctchedlv-agXiou~,inhabitcd the icc-cold sea for the winta on &

tracks of an exile, 14-1 5).

The exile-track in both poems is expcricnccd as a bitter, col& and inhospitiable

landscape. In each case a -carig compound lies in close proximity, associating anxiety

with the idea of travel. The formula wadan wraccl- occurs also in Christ & S a m in

conjunction with two deprivation formulas:

Forbn ic sceal hean and earm hwcorfan i5y widor,

(Thereforc 1must despised and miserabte wandcr the widcr, 'wade' t h

ved of maratai h m the.. ..
119-21a).

The tracks of exile for Satan arc undcrstood as Hel1 itsclf. In his thirâ speech, Satan uses

a furiher variation of the formula which ''emphasiza the 'laying' of tracks aird utilizes

"Fonnulaic" 204.
two verses" (Greenfield, "Formuiaic" 204). In combinaticn with a cearig compound,

Satan States that he, sceal nu wreclastas / settan sorhgcearig ( m u t now lay the tracks of

exile, anxious with sorrow, 187b-Ba). Similarly, the Seafarer speaks of jxba

k 57). Thus, the

wtæclastas widost lecead (they who widest lays the !racks of exile, &

exile-track represents a place outside of society, and setting out on that track enacts a

transition fiom the h o w n to the strange, h m order to disorder.

The road in blues lyrics gives f o m to the idea of transition. While the highway

offers escape and future possibilities, it is also a place where the sotitary traveler must

corne to terms with himself. The road in blues inherits h m the Spuituals a symbolic

quality of overwhelming difficulty. The arduous journey dong a seeming endless road

magnifies the lonely suff&g of the speaker:

That's a long old road : a long road that has no end (JohLo-9)

Says 1 ain't going down :this big old road by myself (Aker-4).

The raiiroad also serves as 'hcks"of the exile for the blues speaker. When not being lefl

at the station, the blues speaker often "rides the blinds" to escape his trouble^.'^ The

substantial number of Railroad Blues, featuring the names of railroad lines such as "New

York Central," "M & O Blues," "Southem Railroad Blues," attest to the significance of

l9 See Oliver's chapter, "Railroad for my pillow," Blues Fe11 43-68 for a discussion on
the railroad and travel in blues. He sees the association of escape and freedom with the
railroad as a tradition surviving h m the days of the "Underground Raihoad"; he sbtes,
"This symbolic importance of the railroad was imprinted on black religion and the
spirituals told of the 'Glonous Gospel Train;" . . . . As the blues developed in the p s t -
bellurn years the railroad figureci promincntly in the songs; the symbolic had become
reality and now the trains bore northwards innumerable black males who were leaving the
South" (58).
trains not only as vehicles of consolation but also as hostile mtities that cary lovers

away.

ïhere exist a variety of attitudes towprd the road. Like the Seafafef, some blues

speakers choose the road ovei staying put, eithn to satisa the urge to travel or,

sometimes, to avoid manual labour:

Mmmm 1 rather be outdoors-walking up-w-g up-and down the road

1 Say, 1 rather be outdoon, 1said, and walking up and down the road
Than to be laying amund h a worLing for my board and c l o t h e ~ . ~ ~

While the idea of travel is inhercflt within the sctîing of the road and the

'tc~ciast,"the tex& of the l a m e and blues songs M e r a sense of motion in a variety

of ways. In the lamcnts, the journey is sometimcs included withia the introâuctory

cluster. The Seafam, for example, will "sibas secgad* (of joumeys Jpcalr, 2a).*' The

sense of physical movemcnt involvtd in journey destabilizts the speaker, and rcflccts

psychoIogica1 commotion. The expression of somw and anxiety cornmody

accompanies the formulation of travel. As Greenfield obsewes, dong with the ''-cearig*'

compounds, the words "hcan" (despisad, lowly, poor), "carm" (wrctchd, miserable), and

"geomor*'(troubled, sad) appear in conjunction with movcment f o m i u l a ~ . ~

20 Son House, 'The Jinx Blues" (193O), Son House: Blueg. Biograph, 1991.
21 The introductoiy cluster of Jhc Wife's states thPt the speaker wili utta a
Song about 'kninrc sylfic s i r (my own jounicy, 2a).
~2 "Fomulaic" 203. Greenfield divides movement in aile into five e g o r i e s of
formulas found both separatdy and conjointly in Old EngliEh paty:"(1) a seiw of
direction away h m the "homeland" or "beloved'; (2) departurc (initiative movement);
(3) Nming (ulltiative-contiauative movmicnt); (4) endurance of har&hips (continuativc
movement in exile); (5) seeking" (203).
and metaphorically. A typicaI example occurs in the lament of Gutidac's disciple:

. . . .He sceal hem -bonan

peomor hweorfan . . . .
(He must wretched go fiom th=, miserably wander, Glc B 1353b-4a).2S

The words "hean" (wretched, lowly) and "earm" (miserable, destitute) occur as elements

in the forrnulaic construction of wandering. Satan states, "Forbon ic sceal hean and e m

hweorfan 6v widor" (Therefore 1 must wretched and miserable wander the wider, XSt

1 19). Within the story of Satan's fall, the import of "hweorfan" is clearly infuseci with

aimlessness, a randomness that reflects the disorderly, irrational mind of the devil

himself. Throughout Old English poetry "hweorfan" occurs within the context of

transition, and in religious verse promotes several levels of meaning. In Genesis, when

Eve finally convinces Adam to eat the fniit, "bis hige hweorfan" (his rnind changeci,

669a). Once the devil-thane is successfbl in his mission to lead Adam astray, he

anticipates his master's pleasure in howing that the sons of men must forfeit the

kingdom of heaven and "on bæt lig to be / hate hweorfan" (into that fiarne, to you,

scorching wander, 753-4a). God's punishment of Adam and, later, Cain includes that

they "on wræc hweorfan" (in exile wander, 928b and 1014b). The sequence of these

instances of "hweorfan" in Genesis combine spiritual loss of faith with the state of being

physically lost. In the context of exile, "hweorfan" marks a transition h m one state to

another as the subject crosses a bounàary h m belonging to disphcement, h m stability

Another collocation occurs in Juliana, when the devil states,

. . . . ic sceal feor bons
heanmod hweorfan. hrobra bidaeled
(. . . 1 m u t go far h m there, wanda downcast, deprived of pleasure, 389b-90).
 144

to instability, h m abundance to necd.

In blues, six of the twenty major blues formulas initiate movcment: the x-formulas

ç 1 leave lsome ~ l a c tand

I go to some ~ l a c and l the r-formulas ç v q w h c r t 1 eo, 1 will be

gone, I'm leavinn t o m and J'm no in^ back The disillusioned blues speaker

typicaiiy copes with a cheating lover or some other dissatisfjmg situation through

physical fiight, whether it be by train,bus, or on foot." The prroccupation with travel in

blues is evident in the large family of Rarnbling Blues, of which Johnson's "Ramblin' On

My Mind" and "Waiking Blues" arc prime examples. 'htraveling speaker oftm desires

to retum "home." As one of the 100 most fkequentiy uJed words in blues lyrics" "home"

remains more of an elusive idcal than an actual place. Many speakers, disillusioncd with

the promise of the North, rctum routhwardr in an effort to find recurity:

Lord i'm ~ o i n n
down sou* : w h m the weathcr sure do suit my clothes (PdW-3)

I'm eoinn back south : if 1 Wear out nincty-nine pairs of sboes (Sulv-2).

When not attempting to mach home, the traveling speaker moves with no apparent

destination in a manner similar to that of the Old English exiles; for instance, Mississippi

26 For examples of the t h e formulas sec Chapter Two 75-6 and 78-9.

'' The other available option for dcaling with problems in blues is physical violence,
evident in songs such as those h w n as "CaliW blues. The idca of working thbgs out
in a quiet, rational mamm does not exist in the blues of the 1920s and 309; Charles Kiel,
Urban B l u e (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991),statcs that "attempts to understand snd
patch up conjugal bonds and other pmblcms" &ses later as a thematic stance in the lyrics
of postwar urban blues (73).

28 y one place highn than "blues."

''Home" ranics 68th in T e s ~ u c n c list,
 145
John Hurt sings, "Ain't no tellin' how much fiirthcr 1may go.'" Like their speakers, the

singes thmiselves ofien Lived an itincrant Life, rrinforcing an image of the archetypal

rambling musician. Such was the life of Robert Johnson w b s e lyrics azc famous for

their restless quality:

1got ramblin' 1 got ramblin' on my mind

("Rambling On My Mind")

1 got to keep movin' I've got to k#p movin' blues fallin' domi W<e hail
("Hellhound On My Trail")

Travel on poor Bob just cant tum you around

("Preaching Blues").

The airnless wandering in blues corresponds ta the sense of " h w m W in the lamcnts.

On the road, the speaker is fhc of social restrictions. Although sepration h m the

security of society is a traumatic expcricnce, physical rnovcmcnt outside of the ordcr of

society is intimately associated with artistic creation. The chaotic space o f the road is

conducive to poetic endeavor.

in both the lamcnts and blues, movemcnt characterizes mental activity. In a

Wanderer and The Seaf-, htcftstingly, the verb ''hweorfil~l"is not used to describe the

movement of the speaker but rather the mind. The idea of the mind sceking cornfort, is

made manifest in the visuai prcsentation of mcmory. Whm the winel-

(fiendles man, W a 45b) awakens nrwi his mcmory-dream of mibraciag his lord to the

cold reality of wavcs and birds, the Wandmr explains,

bonne b d 5 by hcfigran htortan benne,

 sare æftcr swasne. Sorg bid geniwad,
bnne maga gemynd mod geondhwcorfe&
greted gliwstafum, geome gcondsccawa6
secga geseldan. Swimmaô cft on weg!

(Then the hart's wounds arc htavier, sorc aAer the dcar one. Sorrow is
reneweâ, when the memory of kinsmen moves throagh the mind, he
gr- it with joyfiil words, watchcs eagerly cornrades of warriors-they
swim away again. Wm 49-53)"

The ebb and flow of the memory that "moves through his mind" (5 1) is reproduced in the

text with the repetition of the scene of lansmen. ïhe fleeting nature of mcmory is

interwoven with the shifting of cmottional rcsponsc as sonow is "renewed" @Ob),

replacing joy.

In The Seafarq, the speaker explains that bis urge to travel originates in his

"modes lust" (rnind's desire, 36a) for his "f- to fnan" (spirit to go, 37a). Shortly &et,

he descnbes his wide-roaming thoughts as a bird:

F o w n nu min hyge hwcortcd ofer h*rlot.n,

min modsefr mid mereflade
ofer hwacles epel bweorfta wide,
eo@an sceatas, cyme6 eft to me
gifk ond gmdig, delle6 anfloga,
hweted on hwelweg h r c b unweamum
ofer holma gelagu.

(Thmforc now my miad winders beyond my hart-locker, my hurt-

spirit with the sea-flood ovcr the whale's homeland wanders widt the
regions of the carth, and cornes back to me ravenous and g d y ;the lone-
flyer cries out on the whale-road, encourages the heart imistibly over the
ocean surface. 58-64a)

The repetition of "hwcorfd" (58a and 6ûb)presents the minci's movemcat with a seilse of

30 For commentary on thcse lines, sec Klhck 1 15.

 147

hedom. The metaphoncal presentation simultaneously describes a mental process and

anticipates the S e a f ' s subsequcnt physical travcl. The dcpiction of mental activity in

association with travel in both poems is at once the subjcct and the basis of poetic

creation. While the idea of tuming or wanderuig in "bwcorfan" carries a sense of

desperation within the formulation of exile, it works hem to explore and enact crcative

possibilities.

In blues, 'tnind" is one of the 100 most fhquently wd words," and it offen

occurs in conjunction with the action of travel:

Got a mind to ramble : ain't going to settle down @dl-3)

I'mgoing away : to wtar you off my mind (Clev-1)

1 got the railroad blues : the boxcars on my mind (Rach-2)

An even closer association occurs between the mind and the vert, "rambling":

1woke up this momhg :with rambiing on my mind (Blacw-5)

My mind got to rambling : like the wild geese h m the west (Tanp-2)

Jailliouse doors open :thcn you got a rarnbling mind (Pett-3).

As with the Seafarer, the "rambling mind" urges the blues speaker to move on, and is at

once the source of poetic inspiration and crcativity and his song. The dep- yid tnivcl

of the speaker enacts psychological uphcaval; on the road, poetry embrws

incompletmess, indirection, and uncertainty.

mm*

31 "Mind" o c c m 533 times and nnl;s 86* in h p m c y .

Tbe Prison

In contrast to the open space of the road, the prison separates the speaker from society

through physical enclosure. Within the walls, boundaries are al1 too evident as space and

time become agonizingly concrete. The setting of the prison appears in a large nurnber of

blues songs, as well as many Old English poems. Poets of both genres use formulas to

convey the experience of stasis, bondage, and oppression.

"Jailhouse Blues," "Parchman F m Blues," "Bal1 and Chain Blues," and "Death

Cell Blues" are only some of the many titles of blues songs devoted to imprisonment.

Although commercially recorded prison blues differ fiom the work songs of convicts in

several Fundamental ways," the texts of both focus on physical surroundings of the prison

and the forces that deny the inmate his fieedom. In the work songs collected in Texas

prisons by Bruce Jackson there occurs many references to lovers and places outside the

walls. However, Jackson observes,

a man also thinks a great deal about the things that keep him korn his woman. the

tliings that restrict his freedom. And those restrictions are far more concrete, more

'' According to Bruce Jackson, ed., Wake UD Dead Man: Afro-Amencan Workson~s
from Texas Prisons (Cambridge: Harvard UP,1972), worksongs are Sung specifically to
accompany work: "The aesthetic has always been one of particiriation, not performance;
.... The songs differ from al1 other folksongs in one regard: they do not posit an audience"
(29). Worksongs "supply a rhythm for work," help ease the boredom of work, and "offer
a partial outlet for the inmates' tensions" (30). The complexity of a song's l y i c s and
melody depends upon the work it accompanies (the less stmctured the work, the more
highl y structured the song). The solo songs used when picking Cotton sometimes take the
structural form of blues, and many in Jackson's collection, compiled in the 1960s, contain
lines and phrases found in the blues of the 1920s and 30s.
 149

corporeal, than a distant femaie or an abstract concept that can be identified only

by its absence."

h a sirnilar manner, prison blues focus on physical suz~oundings,such as the cell, walls,

the key, restraining equipment, and on legai proccdurts and authority figures. The

speaker typicaliy h d s himseif in a ceil, described variously as "loncsome" or "dark" or

even more bnitdly as "the death cell." The wdls of the ceil are refend to most
frequently with the developed hill-line foxmuia

1 laid in prison mv back (facd &to the w e

Typically found early in a song, this fomula identifies its p h s e and promotes the idea

of immobility. The image of lying down tumd toward a wall effcctively conveys thc

prisoner's entrapment and a sense of helplessntss.

While locks and keys appear elsewhert in blues as scxual metaphors, the key in

prison songs is associated with the denial of fkdom, as in Blind Willie McTell's "Dcaîh

Ce11 Blues" (1933):

Goodbye : oh here cornes the jailor with the key

1'11 have to cry farcwell to nadom : 1 want none of you women to pity me
(McTW-2 7).

" Wake UR 37.

" The formula is oftni found in conjumtion with anothcr hill-line which blamcs the
lover:
.
1m- 1
I'
. .. : a mv facc m e d to the w u
And that w o m I'me-01 was the cause of it 4(Wiik-1)
in a fomulaic stanzaic collocation, the absence of the key is humornus yet painful:"

. .t a
She brinn me coffee :and she brinn me
She brinn me everythian :excet the iguihousc kcy (ThoH-9)

Handcuffs, chahs, and sbackles, although mentioncd occasionally in blues, do not seem

to have developed as formulas. Instead, the bail and chah is the subject of the favouritc

r-formula I'm wtaring a ball and cbain, as a stanza from Cbarley Patton's ''Hsmma

Blues" (c. 1930) illustrates:

Got me in shackled,wearinn a bal1 a& ...

ïhey've got me shackled, J'm w u a bol1 and chab
An' thcy got me rcady for thai Parchman train."

One last example of the physicality of prison lifc is musual but particularly striking in its

subtle expression of the shock the inmate suffcfs in his ncw cnvuOnmcnt. B w k n

Washington White's "When Can 1 Change My Clothcs" (1940), rcpeats the Mage of

"looking down on my clothes," until finally in the last stanza the significanct of the

clothing is explained:

So many days 1 would be sitting down

1 would be sitting down looking d o m on my clothes.
1 wondcr how long beforc 1 can change my clothes
1 wondcr how long bcfore 1 can change my clothcs
........*...
So many days I would be walking down the road
1 could hardly walk with looking down on my clothes.
1 wondn how long before 1can change my clothcs

" Any potentiai lightness of the stanza t a is denicd by Rubïn Lacy in his aptly titled
. D e l ~ l u g Blues
"Mississippi Jail House Gman," -1
m . .

, Masters 8, Rhino, 1993,

which is an extendcd ''groan," sung with a dclihraîe slowncss that moans the pain of
being denied the kcy.

36 Charlev Patto~:F o w a of the Del@Rluq, Yazoo, 1989.

 1 wonder how long bcforc 1 can change my clothes

Never wiIl forget the &y when they taken my clothes

Taken my citizen's clothes and thmwed thcm away
Wonder how long befort 1can change my clothes
1 wonder how long before 1un change my clothes.''

Even on the road (here, rcferring to the chah gang), an image associatecl with fiee-

moving traveling blues, the prisoner's clothing stands in for the prison wall, marl9ng his

transition h m "citizen" to inmate.

The lyrics of prison blues, in gcneral, exhibit a more ngid thcmatic cohesion than

the looser associative structure of traveling blues." The wntcxt of the prison not only

govems specialized formulas, imagery, and motifs but a h , in many songs, orders those

componmts in a saquential manner. In songr decply mtrenched within theV subject

matter of uicarceration, the sequencc of events is dictatecl not by the speaker's actions or

feelings but rather by extemai forces such as legal procedure. For instance, after

introducing himself as a prisoner, the speaker invariabiy recollocts the trial with particular

attention to his verbal exchange with the judge, which most oftcn talces the fom of a plea

Lawyers and clerks can also play a part in this phase, and occasionally a jury. The

announcement of the sentence is usually given prominence. Finally, the speaker might

express his grief, usuaiîy with the major r-fonnula J cry, and somctimcs lammts that his

circumstances will kill him. Pcg Leg Howell's "Bal1 and Chain Blues" (1929) illustrates

" The Com~leteBukka Whitç, Columbir/Legacy, 1994.

38Unless othcrwise spccifiaï, "traveling blues7'=fer to those blua songs which

employ the road as a setting and express fiadom of movcment.
the narrative pattern:

I'm lying in jail : my back tumed to the wall

Says a Georgia woman : was the cause o f it all.

They arrested me : canied me before the judge

Say the judge wouldn't like me : and he Say a murnblin_gword.

1 asked the judge : what might be my fine

Get a pick and shovel : dig down in the mine.

1 told the judge : 1 ain't been here before

If you give me light sentence : 1 won? come here no rnoree3'

Mr judge Mr judgew : please don't break so hard

1 always been a poor boy : never hurt no John.

So the next day : they carried the poor boy away

Said the next day : 1 *led* a ball and chain.

Take the stripes off my back : chains from around my legs

This ball and chain : about to kill me dead (Howe-8).

Howell's four stanzas devoted to the trial are a relatively extended version o f the dialogue

between the speaker and judge. Similar exchanges with authority figures occur in

Railroad blues where the speaker pleads with the engineer or brakeman to ride the train.

In prison blues, however, courtroom dialogue marks a specific phase in the sequence of

events leading to imprisonment. The courtroom drama o f prison blues consistently

'' An unissued recording by Julius Daniels includes similar stanzas:

Judge : what'll be my fine
Says a pick and a shovel : way down *Joe Brown's* coal mine.

Be light on me judge : 1 ain't been here before

Give you ninety-nine years : don't come back here no more ( D d - 2 ) .

'O This half-line is probably infiuenced by Bessie Smith's "Send Me to the 'Lectric
Chair" ( 1927; SmiB-28) in which it is repeated throughout.
presents the law as merciless and crud, and, as might be expected, the speaker never

pleads successfidly at the trial. Rather, the judgc consistmtly "suqniscs" the speaker

with a heavier sentence than expectcd; as in Howell's song above, the requested fine is

typically replaced with a sentence of enforceci labor.

The premise of capture and confinement by an oppressive systcm affccts the

compositional structure of the song itself. The second part of Hambone Willie Newbem's

"Shelby County Workhouse Blues" (1929) furthn illustrates how within the prison, order

is forced upon the sang:

Lord the police amst me : carried me befort ttic judge

Well the lawyers talk so fast : didn't have time to say not nary word

Well the lawyer pleaded :and the judge he done wrotc it down
Says I'11 give you ten days buddy : out in little old Shelby town

And they stood me up : *tied me around the p e e

Guard said to the tnistec : said put the shackles * d l * around his leg

Mmmm : Lordy Lordy Lord

Lord the guards done treat me : like 1 was a lowdown dog (Newb-3).

Newbem shows the hi11 legal process of amst, trial, scntencing, and finai incarceration.

The courtroom detail of the half-line and the iuQgç he dont uq~&it d o w ~
(stanza 2

above) is a very cornmon r-formula, found more typically as part of a judgeclnlt

combination:

Now the iu- he r m t :fie clerkhe wmtc it dowg (LcwN-1)

Oh the iuQOe he smtcnced mç :fie cclerk hc wmte it d o q (MooAI-2).

in the songs completely subsumcd by the prison system, the social relationships and

interactions between lovns and fiends ftatiirrd in traveiing songs arc rcpiaced by legai
 154

and institutional relationships in prison blues. Jackson States,

To express both hope and longing, both his sense of self and his lack of control

over that self s rnovements, the singer is forced to document the concreteness of

the enemy, the prison itseK because that is d l that & concrete, and depend on

rhetonc to retum to his real themes [of his woman or his fieedom]."

In Newbem's Song, the prisoner's inability to speak for himself heightens the sense of

helplessness and confusion, and emphasizes the speaker's loss of control within an

unfamiliar environment.

The nanative of legal procedure tends to d i h e and displace the ernotive

eiements that characterize traveling blues. Although the prison is a prime context for a

lament, the songs that are entrenched within the jail ce11 give relatively little attention to

the expression of emotion. When stated, the most cornmon response to confinement is

carried by the major r-formula 1 cry. A typical variation occurs in Bob Coleman's "Sing

Song Blues" (1929):

And 1 locked in the death ce11 : and drov mv wearv head and cried
1 told the sing sing prison board :this ain't like being outside. (ColFB-1)

As seen in traveling blues, the action hang mv head and crv marks the helplessness

associated with deep loss, as the prisoner responds to the reality of his situation. The

inherent despair of confinement ofien gives way to the pervasive theme of death. While

the speaker of Sam Collins's "The Jail House Blues" (1927; CollS-1) contemplates

suicide--"I believe I'll lay down : take morphine and die*'-more O Aen the prison itself is

Wake UD39.
 155

seen as the killer, as in J o t Evans's "New Huntsville Jais' (1931):

Now ï'm laying h m in this New Huntsvi1le jd :and Pm almost dead (EvanJ-1)

or Fred McMullen's "De Kalb Chain Blues" (1933):

Take these rings and chahs :h m al1 around my legs

Well 1 believe to the Lord : these going to kill me dead. (McMu-2)

As the speaker becornes subsumed by the prison, his cmotional capacity shuts down, and

death is the ultimate expression of loss of self within an oppressive system.

in the Old English laments, Satan is a prisoner both physically and

psychologically. The issue of control underlies the prcsentation of his f d in mt and

s

Satan. His attempt to gain possession of heavcn is defmcd and punished by the

expulsion into the "dcopan wslm" (deq turbulence, 30b) of Hell. His exnotional

speeches rendcr the turbuimce of the hell-prison dcvoid of rational thought, and reflect

his loss of selfcontrol. Like the blues prisoner, Satan is prtoccupicd with his

surroundings. In his first lament, Satan introducts his circumstance of imprisonment,

Dis is b s t m ham -le gebundcn

; is on welme . . . .
faistum ~ l o r n m u mflor

(This dark home is scvcrely bound P y J

f h fircchains; the floor is buming, 38-9)
ironically, Satan does not dircctiy refa to Hell as a prison but rather, with a mixture of

surprise and regret, insists on calling it a "'home." ï h c nature of this home is not lost on

l the place a "fyrlocan"

Satan's fellow devils, howeva, who d (fiay prison, 58a). Filied

with fire yet devoid of light, his new home is defincd by the absence of spintuai

enlightenmcnt. Satan's perception of hell as a hostile "ham" (home) is the central

stnictural componcnt of his lamena, and convcycd through variations of the phrase "This

dark home." Frequent referaces to the "ham" reinforce the h n y of his exilic search for

a homeland, as well as the opposition of htll's jailhow to the hcavenly home." Hel1 is

depicted throughout the laments as a vast building with floon, walls and doon guarded

by dragons. and inhabitcd by snakes." In the second lammt, the two-vme collocation

"This x home is -"acts as a rcfiain: 7 s ôcs atola ham / fjlt onatled" (This terrible home
/ is inflamed with fhe, 9-a) is cchoed by "1s k s walica ham wites Pfylled" (This

woeful home is filled with tormtats, 99). A variation with a noun substitution follows

two lines kater: "1s ais witcs clom / feste gebundn" (This chain of torrnent is bound f-

102b-3a). W i h sevcn iines the haEline "to bissum dimman h a m (to tbis dim home,

t 1 Ob) carries the rcfr;iin with its similar constniction. The miteration of "This x home"

concretizes hell as a place of confinement and firmly locates Satan's prcdicament and

miser- in the present.

in the third lameni, the r e m develops into a more advanceci image:

. . . ic gelutian ne mzcg
on byssum sidan sele, synnum forwundod.
Hwzct, her hat and ccald hwilum mcncgd;
hwilurn ic gehcrc hellcscealcas,
gnorncnde cynn, grundas manan,
nii3e-runder nacssum; hwilum nacodc men
winnaô y m b wyrmas* 1s pcS windig. sele
eall inncwcarâ atolt gcQ1lcd.

* *
d2For a discussion of ''ham" in sec Charles R. Sleeth. SglPIg in
(Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1982) 93-7.

43 "Ace at helle duru dracan eardiga6" (Forcvcr at heIî's door the dagoru dwell
97). ''Hm is nbdtan swag" (Hm,is the sound of snakes,lOlb).
 (...I cannot hidc in this virt b.U, wounded with sins. h,herc hot and
cold somctimts mihglc; sometimts 1 hear hell's abjects, a lamenting kind,
bernoan the abysses below the earth; sometimes naked men stmgglc
among serpents. This windy hall is cornpletcly fiiled inside with homr.
129b-36)

Hell's architectural design becornes a perversion of the epic hall, ordinarily a site of joyfbl

drinking and convershg arnongst iansmeen. "Ni& under m~ssuxn,"l i t d l y "down unda

the headlands," locates the "sidan" (vast) and 'kindiga" (windy) hall befow ground and

at the border of stable land and chaotic ses.''

Bondage imagery is an integral part of the Old Engiish prison, but the

"~clommum"of çhrist and S a m are strangcly intangible whcn compared to othcr

instances of imprisonmcnt. For cxarnplt, in Genesis (alsu in the Junius manuscript) Saîan

descnbes his bondage in elaborate detail which is fûrther concrctized by accompanying

illustrations. The Genesis Satan's cornplaint emphasizes his loss of power and motion: if

he had control of his han&, he would escape,

Ac licgad me ymbe ircnbcnda,

rideô raccntan sal. Ic corn rices leas;
habbad me swa hearde helle clommas
fæste befangcn. Hcr is fyr rniccl,
ufan and ncoC)one. Ic a ne gcscah
Iaaran landscipe. Lig ne aswama6,
hat ofcr helle. Me habbaU hringa gapong,
sliahcarda sa1 sises arnyrred,
afjmed me min f*; fa synt gcbundcne,
handa gchdk. Synt bissa heldora
wcgas forworhte, swo ic mid wihte ne m g
of bissum lio&bcndum.

'?.liber under nrssum" is a formula that occurs at 9ûa and in (&563, a h in

reference to the location of hcll.
 (But bonds of iron lie about me, a collar of chains chafès me. 1 am
powerless; such hard hcll f*tas have frst smunded me. H m is g ~ t
fire, above and below. 1 have never seen a more hostile landscape. The
flamc will not die away, hot throughout heu. A clasp of rings, a cruel-hard
collar, has huidcrtd my journey, has dcpxived me of my mobility; my fcet
are bound, han& shacklcd- The ways through these hell doors are
blocked, so that 1 cannot at al1 [escape]h m this limb-bondage. 371-
82a)

" hell fetters) rtstraining Saîan are describeci in rcaiistic

The "hearde helle c l o ~ (hard

terrns: he is bound by iron chains and a wllar; bis han& and fcet arc shacklad, and the

doors are blocked off. The lexicon of bondage includes the poctic word "clamm" (chain,

bond, fetter), the %end" (bond) o f "irenbenda"(bond of iron) and "iiobbendum" ('1imb'-

bondage), and "racente" (chain, fetter). Verbs meanhg to bc tied or bound include

"gebunden*'and "gehacAan" of which the noun '%zefte" can mcan captive or slave. The

restraining collar (%al") and clasp of rings ("gespong") are unique to this passage, as is

Satan's description of his surroundings as a "la6ran landscipe" (more hostile landscape).

The attention to detail evokes a realistic scene of bondage.

In contrast, Christ and S a m prcsents a more surredistic version of Satan's

bondage. Satan is " k l c gebundm" (scvcrcly bound, 38b) by "f@lommum" (h-

chains, 39a), a unique and imaginative compound which is oxymoronic in its

juxtaposition of the material concretmess of iron chain with the instabiiity of h.The

contrast is fûrther enhanced by the modifier "fzstum"(6rm, fixcd), and rcirirorced by

Satan's cohorts who accuse Swin of king a criminai "in fyrlocan feste gebunden"

(bound fast in a ficry-prison, 57b-8). The half-linc festc a manifestation of the

 m d m concrctc a psychological or metaphorical condition
formula family x nebundc11,4~

of bondage. This fcaturr of abstract confinanent is san once again a! h e s 1O2b-3a:

. . . .1s ais wites dom

feste nehyndc~....
(This chah of tormcnt is bound fast, 102b-3a).

The association betwecn state of mind and physical bandage is again secn whm Satan

cornplains that he

. ...in witt sceal

bidan in bendm
(in tonnent must aidure in bonds, 48b-SOa)."

Confinement and psychological statc codate so thai Satan's distress becornes not only a

response to bon&ge but also the matcrial of the chahs.

While, in Gcnesis, the detailcd cquipment of bndagc is fealistic evidcncc of

God's punishment, the intangible shacklcs of m s t an- mdcr, spccificaily,Satan's

psychological fesponsc to the expulsion, and, generally, his deviation fiom God, which

led to the expulsion in the first place. In other words, Satan's bondage is self-induced.

Significantly, the passage of bondage, citcd above, is devoid of exile formulas:

the Genesis Satan is not identifiai as an exile, nor does he speak with the rcflective voice

of the laments but rather in a manna designed to advancc the poem's plot As a mult,

the two characten exhibit quite diff- aîtitudes towards their imprisonmcnt: whac the

'' X eebundm (x bound) occurs o v a 20 timcs in the -CC AS=

46 A variation of the formula occurs later in Evë's speah as -& in (~UR~S

in bonds, 412a). The foxmula is found al- in rt h c 147a and Pt 880
The p e t did not takc dvantagc of a bordage formula th.1 c k h e r e
occurs verbatirn four times.
Genesis Satan is angry, vengefùl, and, despite his bondage, aggressively active, the Christ

and Satan Satan is immobile in his sorrow, confusion, and contemplation."' This is not to

say that the latter is passive: the Satan of Christ and Satan works emotively through

lament to convey the misery of excommunication. His action lies in his art, as he seeks

rekase from psychological paralysis.

Release

Paradoxically, the prisoner of Christ and Satan is also an exile; as seen above, he

complains he must hweorfan dv widor, / wadan wræchstas (wander wider, wade the track

of exile. i 19b-20a). The contradiction between the motion of exile and the stasis of

bondage can be seen elsewhere in Old English religious poetry. In the poem Christ 1, for

instance, the theme o f exile unifies the lyrical divisions," but is complicated by images of

impnsonrnent. The condition of hell's inhabitants, presented as a combination of bondage

and exile, is extended to al1 living Chri~tians:"~

'" For a character cornparison of the two Satans see Robert Ernmett Finnegan, Christ

and Satan: A Critical Edition (Waterloo: Wilfid Laurier UP, 1977), 48-9; he concludes.
"the [XSt] poet ought to be credited with the artistic wisdom of having transposed this
Satan to the border area between etemity and time wherein the angelic rebellion took
place" (39).

" Stanley B-Greenfield, "The Therne of Spiritual Exile in Christ 1." Philoloeical
Ouarterlv 32 (1953), sees the sequence of exile imagery marking the phases of "man's
spiritual history" (324).

") Thomas Rendall. "Bondage and Freeing from Bondage in Old English Religious
Poetry," JEGP 73 (1974): "a principle way in which the expanding relevance of the
poem's subject is brought home is through the expanding application of the image of
bondage" (505).
 . . .be we in carceme
sittai5 sorgende, sunnan w d ,
hwonne us iiffica lcoht ontyne,
wwr& ussum modc to mundboran,
ond bst tydn gewia tire bewiade,
gedo usic bes w y r k , @ hc to wuldrc forlet,
cç hweorfan sceoldan
to pis cnge lond, &le bescvrcde.

(...forWC in prison, sit somwiag, b p h g for the sun, for when. to us, the
Lord of life may show the light, bccome to our hcart a protector, cntwine
our wtak undcrstanding with glory, of that make us worthy?which he
allows into hcaven when we had to wictchgdlv wan& into this confining
land, bomelwd d g r i v 4 - ÇhE 25b-32)

The static endurance of the Christian sitting, waiting, hoping within the prison of this life

is opposed by the formulaic imagcry of movcmcnt in exile as the prisoners, homeless,

wander through life, this "enge**-confiningor narrow-land The combination of

imprisonment and exile nsults in the delitealization of both: the assertion of exilic

movement destabilizes the prison as a litcral structure, while imagery of confinement

forces movement into an interior rcalm to dcpict psychological process.

Prison elements frequently inûudc upon travcling songs as a mcthod of ptescnting

psychological stmgglc. The motif of confincmcnt, verbalized through images of stasis,

bondage and oppression, is essentid to the procas of release. In blues lyrics,

impediments to the speaker's attainment of "satisfaction" are perccived as extemal

entities. Whethcr it be the mi-g lover or the more gcneralizcd phenornena of "hard

times" and '%adl~ck,'~exteinal hindrances undcfscore a gaierai fbmtion in king

s ''luck'' in Taft's corpus, 85 or so patain to %ad luck":

Of the 95 o c c ~ c e of
Bad luck and trouble :and the blues without a dimc (GibC-15)
Hard luck and trouble : m m mc at the dwr (&Li-13)
unable to gain conml of one's own life. In this sense, the blues speakefs anxiety is that

of the prisoner. Confiontcd by his own pownles~ne~s

to overcome social. economic, or

even political obstacles, the blues speaker oAen taies advantage o f the one fiedom he

does have--escapethrough travel. Yet, on the mad, exterior restrictions am replacecl by

interior forces as the solitaq speaker tums inwards and engages in the real smiggle of self

rescue. Within this interior world the dtimate jailor is the blues itself, the speaker's own

psychological state.

In traveling blues, stasis signals a moment of intense anxiety. At the crossroad,

for instance, Robert Johnson's travelcr f u s to bis knecs and prays for mcrcy. Within the

shifting landscape of the road, motion ceases at a place where a choice must be made.

Immobilized, the îraveler States, "1 lookcd east and wcst," and can go no m e r without

the assistance of those he reaches towards-the Lord, passiag strangers, his listener, his

friend, and an absent lover. At the very ccnter of the first take of "Cross Road Blues,"

lies one of the most powerful stanzas in the blues corpus:

Standin' a .the crossroad, baby risin' mn goin' down

Standin' at the crossroad, baby cet, nsin' sun goin' down
1 believe to my soul, now poor Bob is sinlun' d o m

Having reached the limit of his psychological strtngth, the speaker cornes to a standstiI1.

The position of standing. as we have seen, is most oftcn cacountcfed at the train

May bad luck overtake you : pile up on you in a hcap (Wha-31).

"Hard tirne(s)" occurs 29 times, rcferring, in most cases, to a g m d economic statt:
Hard times here :evcrywherc you go (JamS-4)
Hard times don't worry me :1was broke whca it hrst starîai out (JohLo-17)
But hard times : is knocking on cverybody's door @aviW-3).
station:

Standing at the station : watch my baby ltavt town (JefB-45)

1 was standing at the terminal :amis fold up and cried (HicR-12).

The static scene of standing is countcred with the mental activity of thiakiag, but d i k e

the association, seen earlier, of the mind with rambiing, the thought linked to standing is

And I'm just standing and I'm wonderhg :Lord just how to make a meal
(Este-1 1)

Standing hcrc a-wondering :will that car pass my way (JohBi-2).

- .
s thinking and wondering, as in
The position of sitting also b ~ g on n m hcrç
thinking. "Seated" thought tends to be modified by the r-position haif-line as

contemplation:

I'm sitting ha-

- . : about the girls 1 left behind (McFa-1)

I'm sittinn h c n wonderif10 :why is my baby gone (DaviW-27)

. .
down hem
Sittin~ :yes babe 1believe I better go (Bond-3)

d o w hen wondciiqg :would a matchbox hold my clothes (JefB- 19)

Sittin~

Arthur Petties uses a variation of the x-formula in the cdntext of jail and "canncd hcat" in

his "Good Boy Blues" (1930):

You sit and vou wond- :you lwlring through your mind
You don't want w more canned hcat :whcn the judge give you your time (P~tt-3).

In this example, the unusuai r-position half-line "lwking through your mind" actcads the

idea of deep contemplation in the fsse of shifting circumstaace. Wh= the speaker is

stationary, the process of thought is brought to the SUrfàcc, often taking on an

 Ln blues, descension works aga& the horizontal movcment o f travel, The word
"down" is one of the most frequmtly used words in blues; occurring 1 524 times in Taft's

Concordance, it ranks 23rd in fraquency. "Dowu'' most o h implies geographical

movement ("down south," "down the road"), but whcn used to describe a state of mind,

the idea of descension produces an image of burdcn. A number of phrases reinforce the

image. The discouraged speaker ofken describes himsclf as "down-htarted," a state

directly related to sadness and feeling

1 was fecling so blue : dom-hcarted as could bc (JohK-2)

I'm so down-hearted : feeling sad (*Li- 13)

Just as won as you fctl down-hearted :the whok world round world tums blue
( ArnK-24).

Financial circurnstance and psychological state corne togcther in the phrase "down and

out," the core of a numba of x- and r-formulas. An example of its expression of mental

attitude occurs in the line,

deilndown and ou? :and I've got the blues today (DorsT-6).
fe
n

Many "down-heartd" speakers are thosc ofwomen's blues:

I'm so disgusted hm-brokcn too :I've got those down-hearted blues
(Bessic Smith 'DomHearted Blues" 1923; Smi- 1)
Always down-hcarted :bluc disgusted and sad
(Georgia White "Tb Blues Aint N o W But..." 1938; WhiG-3)
Because I'm bmke-down-hearted :got t k down-south blues
(Clara Smith 'Pown South Blues" 1923; SmiC-1)
But I'li never be down-hcarted : if 1csn exphin these blues
(Gertrude "Ma" Raincy "Explaining the Blues" 1925 ;Rain-18)
The more common expression of efonomic hardship OCCLUS in lines such as,=

Because I'mbroke :J'm down and out (COUS-13).

Being "out," prcsumably =fers to behg out of "circulation*' or "out of the garne," a s it

were, in the sense of normal socid interchange. AS \r kforc, social ostracization is an

unfortunate consequcnce of hancial hardship:

Now I'rn d o m and out :ain't got no friends amund (CarrL-40)

Nobody wants you :whcn voufrc down ggb a@(LecX-2).

Even when used in its cconomic seast, "down and out" circles back to a state of mind as

the alienated speaker d e r s the loss of human companionship in his time of nead.

In Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" the travtla expresses his dcspcration as

"sinking down." A "sinking"speaker is ovcrwhelmed by his own powerltssntss, and, in

that, is losing himself. Loss of control can be sten in Blind Darby's "Built Right on the

Ground" (1 93 1):

1believe 1 bciievt : I'11 stop my bamihousc ways

For 1 feel myself : sinking cvcry &y (Darb-3).

As in Johnson's song," the formula J beliwç ironicaily marks the SUCfacing of personal

revelation as the speaker sinks under the weight of psychological distress. Commonly,

the speaker sinks into a "hole,"a confinhg enclosure that rrsmibla a grave:

Down so long : down don? worry me

s2 OED: "dom and out, &. J&. orig.-u ....Completely without I~SOUTCCSor
means of livelhod; absolutcly 'done."' The earliest recarded citation is h m an1889
Kansas newspaper-
 Don't believe l'm sinking : bclieve what a hole I'm in (Brac-6)?

This stanza opens Ishmon Bracey's 'Trouble-Heartcd Blues"(1928). a song in which the

speaker visits the graveyard whm his lover is Iitcrally buried. In Lonnie Johnson's "Blue

Ghost Blues" (1927), the speaker, haunted by the %lue ghost," associates "sinking down"

with death:"

Mmm : 1 fttl myself sinking dom

My body is fieczing :1fccl something cold crccping =und

My windows is r a t h g :rny doorknob t&g round and round

This haunted house blues is killing me : 1 feel myself sinking down

1been fastencd in this haunted house : six long months today

The blue ghost has got the house sunounded :Lord and 1can't get away

They got shotguns and pistols :standing al1 around my door

They h a u t me a i i night long : so 1canY slecp no more."

I3 In Taft's Concotdançç, the opening Line occurs only in the songs of Bracey, but it
occurs much l a t r in Billit Holiday's 1954 "Stormy Blues," Çlassic Blues Womeg Blues
Masters 1 1, Rhino, 1993. The closing linc is formulait and often paireci with, or in close
proximity to, the lhe,
. .
If y u don? bclie- :look what a fool I've b e a (ThoH-7).

Y Ln women's blues, sinLing and death arc cxplicitly Linked, as in Victoria Spivey's "1
Can't Last Long" (1936; SpiV-14):
Lonesome, lonesome : yes, I'm sinlring sinking sinking below my grave.
5s The shotguns and pistols, of the fourth Jtaazp. are perplexbg detailsuarc 'UKy" the
'%lue ghost"? The firrsmio disappear in his rcvised version of the son& rccorded elcvai
years later, which begins,
Mmm : something cold is mcping mund
Blue ghost has got me :1 fctl myself siiriring down,
but goes on to identi@ the ghost as his dead lover:
1 feel cold ymo wund me : and ice iips upon my check
My lover is dcad : how plainly piaïnly I can h e p her sperl.

M y windows begin ntiling : and m y d o o h o b is turning around and amund

 The blue ghost hauts me d l night : the nightmarc ride me al1 night long
They worry me so in this hauntcd house : 1wish 1 was d d and gone (JohLo-6).

Here, death itself replaces the grave-lilrc hok, surrounding and conhning the speaker in a

The notion o f "sinking down," LiLe many othcr clcmcnts in blues, can be eafed

back to the spirituals where the enslavcd singer-speaker stniggles, physically and

mentally, with the literal burdni of w o k " Ahhough antebelhm images and thanes

provide the blues singer with a traditional expression of social smiggle, the secularization

of this received tradition closes off the possibility and hope of uitimate consolation.

Where Spirituals move the group heavenward (and northward), blues songo move the

. ~ "punding" of traditional religious elcmcnts un be

displaced individual h e l l ~ a r d The

seen in Mississippi John Hurt's "Blue Hanest Blues" (1928), in which the distress of a

poor harvest burdcns the speaker

Standing on the mountaia far as 1 can ste

Standing on the moutain just as far as 1can sec
Dark clouds above me clouds ail around poor me

Feeling low and wtary Lord, Fve got a-trouble in mind

Feelin' low and wcar Lord, I'vc got trouble in mind
Everything that gcts me, everybody's so unkïnd

My l o v d s ghost has got me : and 1 h o w my timc won9 k long (JohLo-28).

As in, ''Oh, Lard, Ob,my Lord, Oh,my good Lord! I Keep me h m sinLiag down,"
3 1 B in Christa Dixon, Wesenund- . . V o w e r-N ..
(Wuppertal: Jugenddicnst-Vcrlag, 1967). The imapc of being physicplly burdcned d o m
in the Spyituals passes eapily as a metaphor o f psychologid despair.

'' L'Bl~es
is Uce the devil : thcy'll have me hcll bound too" ( S u r Martin "I&ath Sting
Me Blues" 1928; MartS-2).
 Harvest tirne's coming and will catch me unprepared
Harvest tirne's coniing and will catch me unprcparcd
Haven't made a dollar, bad luck is al1 I'vc had

Lord how can 1bear it Lord what will the h m & bring
Lord how can 1bear it Lord what will the hanest bring
Puning up al1 my money, and 1 isn't got a doggone thing

I'm a weary traveler, roaming around h m place to place

I'm a weary traveler, roaming around h m place to place
If 1 don't fmd something, this will end me in disgrace

Ain't got no mother, father lefi me long ago

Ain't got no mother, fathcr leA me long ago
I'm just like an orphan, whert rny f o b is 1don't know

Blues around my shouidcr, blues art al1 aromd my head

Blues around my shouidcr, blues are al1 around my head
With m y heavy burden, Lord 1wished 1was dead?

Weariness, trouble in minci, the wcary traveler, the orphan, and the heavy burden are al1

traditional expressions of cnduring hardship. The mountain, too, is h m thc Spirituals,

but, here in the blues world, its promise of eventual salvation is literally clouded. In the

1st stanza, the blues s m u n d and burden the speaker, and, like the clouds of song's

opening, impair his outward vision and hope.

The most prominnit burden of blues is anxiety, e x p d primarily as "worry,"

and secondarily as "trouble." Thcrc accur 392 instances of the various f o m of 'îuorry"

in Taft's Concordamg, with "womed" raaking within the top 200 most fkquent words."

. .
Mississwl J o b Hurt:1928 Stssions.Yazoo, 1990.

s9O c c ~ 201 g tima, "wonicd" ranics 166th in hquency. Aftn "blues," to bc

"worried" is the next most common expression of mental distrcss: '%vonies"occurs 21%
"womsome" 2x, 'iuorry" 122% "worrying" 46x. "Trouble" is not far bchind 'îuomai,"
ranking 173rd with 186 instances in TaA's corpu.
The major x-formula I"m worricd pcrpetuatcs a fetiing of mental agitation ttiroughout

blues, cuntributing to the restltss nature of the road songs:

I'm womed about mv baby : she's on my mind (CamG-1)

You know I'rn w o m d : womed al1 the timç (Weld-1 t ).

As in the second example, wony plagues the blues speaker as a chronic condition,

threatening to Wear him down. The lover is directly a d d d as the cause of worry in a
very common stanzaic configuration fcotiiriog the closing Line You L e m me womed :and

bothered al1 the tirne." The opening iinc varies, but dways ends with the rhyme-word

"mind." Examples includc:

Now honcy babe :you got me troubled in mind

You kem me womed : and bothercd al1 the (Vinc-8)

Lord marna : what's on your mind

You k m me womed : and bothered al1 the (SM-1 1 ) .

I'm going away : to wcar you off my mind

For vou k e a me worrid : and bothmd al1 the (Virg-2).

The first emphasizes the turbulence of the speaker'smmtal state by using the distraction

and imtation of ''womed" and ''bothmd" to explah "troubled in mind" Although the

lover is blamed, the speaker's distress miss b m his inabiüty to control hcr, which

prevents him h m obtaining his idca of "love" and "satisfaction." The incvitable

"solution" of escape appesn in the last example above, the most popular of the tlaa

* Of the 29 instances of "bothcmi," 16 occur within this formulait linc. Blind

Lemon Jeflerson hps a slightly différent version: "She kœps me womed :and bothacd in
the mincl" (JefB-28). "Womed" and " b o t h d " arc also paircd in an x-formuia
worried and b o t h m .
 While the basic emotion of depression is somw, the responsc to loss, the basic

emotion of h e t y is Fear, fonnulaicdy expresscd through worry and trouble.

generates a significant mergy in b l u e ~lyrics. Wony as a fiindamental characteristic of

the psychological state of bcing b h e can be sccn most d l y in the cornmon phrase

'Worried blues," of which Son House and, later, Robert Johnson sing:

Well, some people tell me that the worrïed blues ain't bad
Worst old ftclin' 1most evcr hacl."

When worry and blues mect in the lyrics, the speaker f?quently turns his attention

inwards to dwell spccifically on the nature of his anxiety. In thesc cases, the inncr-

condition of the blues is descnbed in tangible temis. Johnson's "Rerhing Blues"

(1936), for instance, focuses cxclusively on the '%omcd blues," describai in the third

and fourth stanzas as a discase:

The bluues is a low-down shakin' chi11 &es, preach 'em now)

Mmm is a lowdown shakïn' chi11
You ain't neva had 'cm, 1 hope you never will.

Well, the blues is a achin' old heart discase

(Do it now. You gon' do it? Tell me al1 about it.)
Well the bluues is a lowdown acbin' hem disease
Like consumption killing me by degrces.

6'Philip C.Kendall and David Waîson, eds.. &g&v and :n-

. . .
J'hsgecbvç
Features and O V a (San Diego: ~ P. 1989)state, "...f- is the
~ Acpdcmic
dominant emotion in anxiety....In contras&depression centers on the ntperience of
sadness (also called distress or anguish)" (7).
62 in,respectively, ''My Black Mama, Pt. 2" (1930; Hous-2) and "WIUOng Blues"
(1 936).
 171

The anxiety of blues is seem as a life-threatening extanal force over which the speaker

has no control.

The device of personification plays a major role in the manifestation of the

psychological state of the blues: "the Blues" appc~s

in the songs as a figure who pursues,

overtakes, and confines the womcd speaker. The issue of control &ses again when,
rather than "having" the blues, the Blues %as" the speaker. At the litcral lcvel, the Blues

takes the place of the lover: "Somc other man got my woman, ionesorne blues got me.'*

in this, thete anses an intimate yet antagonistic rclationship betwem the speaker and the

Blues, akin to that seen in the prison songs bawtni inmate and jailor. Like the prisoncr,

the anxious speaker becornes prcoccupicd with the Blues as a source of his confinement

and misery to the extent that many songs are entkly dcvoted to the subject. Ironicaliy,

the physically active and aggrcssivc character of the Blues dramatizes the speaker's

psychological paralysis.

Some of thc genre's most lively and imaginative goctry occurs with the device of

personification. Relatively simple instances of the devîce arc ofkn signaicd by the x-

formula Blues and troubk?

Blues and trouble :both runnïng hand in hand (Blacw-9)

Blues and tmublç :have been my best fiimds (McFa-1)

63 Robert Johnson, "Corne On In My Kitchen" (take 2).

6j Trouble can also be found with bad luck:

Bad luck walces m e every morniilg :trouble follows me all night long (GibG IO)
Bad luck is my buddy :and trouble is my fiend (LcwN-9)
 Blues and trouble : have overtaken me (BogL- 15).

Trouble often replaces wony in its partnership with blues, perhaps because the word

offers a more appealing a u n l combination. Moreover, unlike worry, the idea of trouble

efficiently blends actual external dificulty with intemal distress. In "Back Door BluesT'

( 1933, Kokomo Arnold employs one of the above lines along with a conventional line

that presents the Blues as a walking character:

Says the blues come down the allev : headed UD to mv back door
Says I had the blues today marna :just like 1 never had before

Blues and trouble : have been my best fiends

1 says when my blues leave me : my trouble just walked in

Now some folks says blues is trouble : nothing but evil mnning across your mind
Lord when you setting down thinking about someone : have treated you so nice and
kind ( ~ r n K - 7 ) . ~ '

.4nother example is found in Kid Cole's "Niagara Fa11 Blues" (1928) which employs

conventional material in an innovative manner:

1 got the blues so bad : that it hurts my tongue to talk

1 got the blues so bad : that it hurts my baby's feet to walk

NOWitrsrun to your window : heist your shade up high

It's stick you head out the window : see the womed blues pass by

The three stanzas appear in a different order in Charlie Specks McFadden's "People
People Blues" (1 930):
People people : you don't know my mind
I'm sitting here thinking : about the girls 1 lefi behind

Blues and trouble : have been my best fkiends

When my blues leave me : my trouble just begins

Blues come down the allev : backing UD to rny door

I've got the blues today : like 1 never had before (McFa-1).
 1 looked down the Ionesme road prctty marna :far as 1 could sec
Another man had my wifc :and 1swear the Niagara blues had me (ColeK-2).

In both of the above songs, personifidon enhances particularly intense fctlings of

distress, and dramatizcs the disintegration of the scE Yct, at the same time,

persmification difhlKJ the distress with a kind of self-iroaic humour. The poctic

conjuration of the Blues revcals an assertion of control through language, and a delibcrate

playfulness significant in the process of rcleast.

In Afncan Amcrican oral tradition, verbal play is the domain of the trickster

Signifjing Monkey, whosc cousin Brer Rabbit possesses an amapllg, "magical" ability to

play musical instruments. Trickster tales infann the storics many blues artîsts tell of

themselves and their music.& In tum, the p e ~ n i f i c dBlues is yet anothcr version of the

trickster. Like its Yoruba anctstor Esu, the Blues (dong with its creator-singer) resides at

the crossroad of the abstract and tangible rcaims, and is associatecl with language,

sexudity, ambiguity, and ~reation.~~

As was seen in Lonnie Johnson's "Blue Ghost

Blues" (above), the Blues is often a supcmatural entity transgrcssing the border of the

temporal world. In Thomas A. Dorsey's "Maybe It's the Blues" (1930). the Blues appcars

in the Iiminal place of dttams:

See Bennett Sicms, "Brcr Robert: The Bluesman and the Afncan Amcrican
Trickster Tale Tradition,"S
o-rç 48.2 (1991): 141-57.

67 Henry Louis Gatcs, Jr., a . .

Monkcv: A ïhporv of Afb-

.. .
Literarv Cnbclgn (New York: Oxford UP, 1988), states, "Esu is the guardian of the
crossroads, master of style and of stylus, the phallic god of gcncraîion and fccundity,
master of that elusive, mystical barricr thu separates the divine world b m the probe"
(6).
 Something pounding : in my brcast
When 1 lay down :to takc my rest

Horrid nigbtmares :scary dreams

Then the blues : steps on the sccne

Oh maybe it's the blues :that keeps me womed al1 the tirne
If 1could lose thesc weary blues :that's on my mind

Happiness that cornes around :but ncva cornes to stay

If I only had someone :just to drive my tears away (DorsT-5).

The combination of othcrworld, pursuit, and fcar m i s t in the common association of the

Blues with the devil, another border-stepping Uicksta.' Blues' usual partncr, trouble, is

replaced by the devil in Loimie Johnson's "Devil's Got the Blues" (1938):

Good morning blues :wherc have you btcn so long

1just stopped by to leave you enough of worria :to last you while i'm gone

My brains is cloudy :my sou1 is upsidc down

When 1 get that lowdown feeling :1lmow the blucs must be sornewhert close
around

The blues is Iike thc devil : it cornes on you like a spcll

Blues will leave your heart full of trouble :your poor mind full of hell

Some people say that's no blues :but that story's old and stale
The blues will drive you to drink and murda : and spend tht rest of your life in
jail

The blues and the dcvil : is your closest fricnd

The blues will leave you with m d e r in your mhd :that's when the dcvil out of
hell steps in (JohLo-23).

The joint afiliction of the Blues and the devil portends a hopcless situation-but not for

The devil. sometimcs known as Lcgba, plays a significrat role in the lon of blues,
especially in wnncction to thc rcctipt of musical ski11 at the crossroods. Both Robert
Johnson and Tommy Johnson were said to have undergone the ritual.
the speaker. Rather, "you" are the one in poteatial danger. Rotation, howcvcr, lies

within the song-and its singer-poet. 'The c d of blues is most evidcnt in songs that

evoke the Blues. By "craft," 1 include, dong Mth the composition of the lyrics and

music, the dynarnic of performance in activating the tramforming power of poetic voice.

In songs like Lonnie Johnson's above, pmonification maka dangerou forces visible and
thus combatible. As a poetic device, persaification draws attention to the poetry itself.

and, in doing so, brings the prrsaice of the singer-pat to the foregmund at the thrcshold

where anxiety and craft meet.

At this "crossroad," the singer-poet mects and addrtsses the BIucs; Lonnie

Johnson begins his son&

Good moming blues@: w h m have you bcai so long?

The apostrophe to blues convcntionally accompanics personifkation. Eurreal "Little

Brother" Montgomery employs the stratcgy in T h e First Tirne 1 Met You" (1936), a title

that seems to promise a love song:

nie first time 1 met the blues marna :thcy came walking through the wood
They stoppai at my house first mama :and donc me al1 the hann thcy could

Now my blues got at me : Lord and run me h m trce to trct

You should have heard me begging :Mr blues don? murder me

rnom&lug :what arc you doing h m so soon

You bes with me every moming : Lordy mry night and noon

The blues came down the alley : mama and stoppai right at my d w r
They give me more hard luck and trouble :than 1cver bad kfore (MontE-5).

69 Good m o m is an x-formula oftcn uscd to bcgin a song- The ddrcssec is most

cornrnonly the Blues, or the judge of prison soiigs, and one iastsace of 'Ur.Devil."
Leroy Carr also employs apostrophe in two ciiffernt songs, each devoted to the subject of

blues:

Blues why do you wony me : why do stay so long

You come to me ycstcrday :ben with me d l night long.
("Midnight Hour Blues" 1932; CamL- 13)

About four this morning : blucs come in my doot

PIease Mr. blues : dont come hcrt no more.
("1 Keep the Blues" 1932;CarrL-12)

Robert Johnson's apostrophe in "Prtaching Blues" beücs the complcx cntanglement of

singer, speaker, and pasonal anguish; the scmg opmr Mth a pemnification of blues that

anticipates his lata overt trcatment of the devil:"

Mmrn
1's up this momin' blues walkin' like a man
1's up this momin' blues walkui' lilce a man
Worried blues give me your right hand.

And the blues fell marna's child tort me al1 upside down
Blues fell marna's child and it tore me al1 upside down
Travel on, pour Bob, just can't tuni you 'round.

He refuses to temper the intensity of emotional turmoil as the two addrtssees, the Blues

and "poor Bob," blend into one anotha. In the moment of apostrophe, the singer/speaker

tums away from the song's audience to dincctly adcires the Blues, the source of misery.

For example: "Me and the Devil Blues" (1937):

Early this mornia' when you knocked upon my door
Early this momin' ooo when you biocked upon my door
And 1 said, "Hel10 Satan, 1 bclieve it's time to go."

Me and the devil was wallrin' side by side

Me and the devil ooo was wallin' side by side
And I'm goin' to beat my womaa 4 1 1 get satisfied.
Jonathan CulIer States "to apostrophize is to will a state of affairs, to attempt to cal1 it into

being by asking inanimate objects to bend themselves to your desire."" The use of

personification and apostrophe presupposes a power to evoke, confront, and reverse the

debilitating effects of psychological distress:

One who successfiilly invokes nature is one to whom nahue might, in its

turn. speak. He makes himself poet, visionary. Thus, invocation is a

figure of vocation."

The apostrophe draws attention to the crafi, and business, of the blues singer. In the

written text, it marks the 'poetic presence" of the singer, and a "poetic act.'"' Live

perfomance fully activates the power of the apostrophe to dispel the Blues.

The Old English laments reveal a similar impulse to extemalize emotional turmoil

as a method by which the speakers actively wrestle fiee of constraining forces. Likewise,

the lament speaker articulates amiety as an oppressive, imprisoning entity. Bondage

imagzry specifically occurs in the preliminary sections of the laments, making it a

significant feature in the expression of personal struggie. This strategy is especially

evident in the The Seafarer and The Wanderer, where the initial sections most closely

''"Apostrophe," The Pursuit of Signs: Semiotics. Literature. Deconstruction (Ithaca,

NY: Comell UT, 1981): 139.

'' Culler 142.

" "The poet makes himself a poetic presence through an image o f voice, ... A phrase
like 'O wild West Wind' evokes poetic presence because the wind becomes a thou only in
relation to a poetic act, only in the moment when poetic voice constitutes itself*(Culler
142-3).
correspond to blues not only in mood but also in the a s s d o n of an intimate howledge

of suffering, a knowledge that rcvcals and authorizts a poetic voice that claims

tramfonning capabilities.

In The Seafartf, the wintcr sea plays an important rolc as an inhospitable physical
setting which, as seen before, serves as a transitional location in which the exile suffers

separation h m the cornfort of home. Opposed to the stability of land, the naturally

shifting environment of the sea provides a particularly apt metaphor for the exile's

psychologicd turmoil. Winter storm furthers the expressive capability of the rnctaphor

by providing tactile imagay of physical diromfort. Through &ter a d stonn, uu<icty

is configured as an oppressive binding cntity.

While the description of a pcrilous nightwatch that opcns The Seafarer indecd

conveys the experience of sca voyaging, the focus ou the surrounding t h t of the sea

moves inward as an equation dcvelops betwecn physical d i c t i o n and psychologicd

turmoil. The main emphasis of the passage is "ceam." The word occurs in consecutive

lines within two compounds: the Seafarcr bas kaown "bitrc brcostceare" (bitter brcast-

anxiety, 4a) onboard the "cearselda" (abode of anxiety, Sb). Awiety is articulateci

through the language of bondage:

. . . bacr mec oft bigeat

nearo nihtwaco act nacan stefnan,
p0me he be c l i b c n o d . Calde ge@tmgcn
waron mine fct, forste gebunden,
caldum ciommum, . . .

(...th= oppressive nightwatch often occupied me at the ship's pmw when

it tosses by the cliffs. Cold pinchcd w a e m y fm bound by hst, in cold
chains,...6b-Ma)
Personification intensifies the anxiety of the "nearo"-narrow, constricted, oppressive-

nightwatch: cold pinches and binds. The formula forste eebunden and the poetic "caldum

clommum," remhiscient of the "fyrclomrnum" of heil," transform a familiar discornfort

of "pinching" cold into active atrapment. With the chains of cold, physical and

psychological merge; alliteration directly links the literal coldness and figurative chains

to anxiety:

caldum clommurn, bzer ba ceare seofedun

hat ymb heortan; hungor iman slat
merewerges mod.

(cold chains. There, anxiety sighed

hot about my heart; hunger inside tore
the mind of the sea-weary one. 10- 12a)
h x i e t y is joined by desire in an oppositional pattern: cold-chains-ceare / hot-heart-

hunger." The inner-tonnent the Seafafef experiences is similar to that suffered by one of

Robert JO hnson's speakers:

And the blues fell marna's child, tore me al1 upside down
Travel on, poor Bob, just can't tum you 'round.

As with Johnson's speaker, the Seafarer h d s an outlet for his emotional distress

in physical travel, but the desire to travel constitutes a behaviour that puts the Seafaret at

odds with expected social practice. The choice to t u . away h m wciety, as well as the

75 The hunger of the muid is emphasized later at line 62 whm the speaker's thoughts

travel "gifie ond grædig."

anxiety arising h m that choice, is negotiated through the use of exile formulas:

. . . . Pæt se mon ne wat

pe him on foldan fegrost lirïlpd
hu ic earrncearig iscealdne sæ
winter wunade wræccan lastum,
winemæaum bidroren,
bihongen hrimgicelum; k g 1 scurum fleag.

(.... That the man does not know, he who most agreeably belongs on land,
how 1, wretchedly anxious, inhabited the ice-cold sea for the winter on the
tracks of an exile. depnved of dear-kin, hung about by icicles, hail flew in
showers. S f i 12b-17)

Here, the Seafarer distinguishes himself fiom the land-dweller, a distinction based not so

much on his vocation but rather on his experience, hence knowledge, of sufiering, evoked

in the conventional terms of exile. Anxiety, conveyed through the emotive element

earmcearïq, continues its alliance with the winter sea in four half-lines. With the

introduction of the "exile tracks," however, anxiety becomes a source of creative energy

wi th transfomational properties.

In The Wanderer the winter sea accompanies formulait expressions of movement

in exile, and, as in The Seafarer, it intensifies the emotive element of the exile

coilocation. The Wanderer, modcearig (anxious in min& 2b) rows the

. . . hrimcealde se,
wadan wræclastas . . .
(ice-cold sea, wades the exile tracks, 4b-Sa).

The two half-lines are conflated, condensing movement, winter and anxicty into one

verse unit at line 24a: wod wintercearig (waded winter-anxious). These two instances of

winter and movement in exile fiame the Wandem's main concern about the disdosure of

emotion.
 Like the blues speaker who has "no ont to takt my carts to," the Wandeter

desires to reveal, to "swcotule asecgan" (cltarly tell, 1 la), bis "modsefan" (mind-

thoughts, 10a). While his mcd to bc hcard is fnistrated (withlli the confins of the pomi)

by the fact that he no longer bas trustcd fmiily or fiieads, pcrsonal voice is d c t e d

even in the Company of others. Anxicty intertwines with voice as social deconun dictates

that the expression of emotion be suppressed. The orda of socicty depends upon
individual control of the ''brco hygc" (stormy minci, Ma) and is manifest in silence-an

"act" of self-bondage.

. . . . Ic to s e wat
b ê t bib in wrlc indryhtcn beaw,
b z t he his fcrUlocan facste bu&,
healde his hordcofan, hycgt swa he wille.
Ne macg werig mod w y d e wi6stondan,
ne se hreo hygc hclpc gekmman.
Fo&n domgeome dreorignc of€
in hyra brcostcofan bindaç) fa~stç*
,-...

(.... 1, in truth, know that it is, in a warrior, a noble virtue that he bind fast
his rnind-prison, hoId his trtasurc-coffer, think as hc will. Nor may a
weary heart withstand fatc nor the troubled mind p d o n n hclp. Thereforc,
the reputation-cagcr ofien, in their brcast-coffcr, bind sorrow f a . 11b-18)

The body becomes a prison and the public self a jailor. The mind and heart are

represented as chambers within which thought and emotion arc locked. The "fdlocan"

recalls the "fjcflocan" of hell in ÇhCist wd Sam in its containment of psychologieal

turmoil. The metaphorid "hodcofan" (trtasury) attaches value to personal feeling, and

the b'breostcofan"physically locates the source of cmotion within the body. Throughout,

the action of binding dominates the passage, ~~~lphasized

with tbc rcpetition o f '%indan"

in line 13-
 t>æthe his ferôlocan fæste binde

- and echoed in lined 18:

in hyra breostcofan b i n a faeste.

Once the Wanderer introduces his situation as an exile, the "feriSlocan" opens, and

there occurs a reversal in control when ernotion is externalized.

swa ic modsefan minne sceolde

fieomægum feor fetenun sælan,

sibban geara iu goldwine minne
hnisan heolstre biwrah, ond ic hean bonan
wod winterceariq ofer w m a gebind,
m . . .

(So, I-often rniserably aaxious, separated fiom home, far fiom kinsmen-
must tie my mind-thoughts wîth fetters, since, years ago, 1 covered my
gold-fiend with earth's darkuess, and wretched, 1 thence waded winter-
anxious over the fetter of waves. .. 19-24)

On the exile-track of the se* the Wanderer is confronteci with his own anxiety. While, in

the previous lines, the objectivity of social custom simplified the dictum of silence (one

should "healde his hordcofan," for example), beyond the borders of community the

silencing fetters are distanced from the "modsefan," delayed by the insertion of exile

formulas. Two lines later, the fetters are transferred to the winter sea when the Wanderer

explains that he "wod wintercearig ofer w+ema gebind*'(M).'' The echo of fsste

binde (13) and bindaô faeste (18) reinforce the oppressive nature of the waves. As in

blues, the exile's personal struggle is manifest in the extmaiization of the psychological

76 -DOE "gebind": 1. "w-a gebind :binding, M g , h z m bonds of the waves

(cf. isebinde Beo 1 133)." See Lars Malmberg, "The Wanderer: W a m a Gebind,"
Neunhi loloische Mitteil- 7 1 (1970):96-9.
forces that threaten to subdue him.

Within the transitional space of the exile-track, the Wanderer voices his emotion,

and indeed after line 25, his focus turns to "sorg" (sorrow, 30,39, and 50) and "cearo"

(anxiety, 55). As in The Seafarer, the experience of suffering in exile is presented as

authoritative knowledge. Here, sorrow is penonified as a traveling companion : "Wat se

be cunnad / hu slipen bid sarg to geferan" (Learned is the one who knows how cruel

sorrow is as a companion, Wan 29a-30). Again the Wanderer asserts that he who is

separated fkom his lord "wat" (knows, 37a) that:

..sorg ond slaep somod ætgædre

earmne anhogan oft gebindaa.

(...sorrow and sleep gathered together O ften bind the miserable solitary-
one. 39-40)

In both cases, the knowledge of sorrow utilizes personification to present the emotion as

an oppressor. Sorrow's partnenhip with sleep aligns it with the penonified Blues as an

occupant of the threshold between reality and illusion. The lines above introduce the

lord-thane drearn passage, a sequence that vacillates with the movement of the winter sea.

The appearance and disappearance of images of past comfort enact poetic creation which

specifically demonstrates transformational powers: sea birds are changed into people.

When the lord and kinsmen fade, "Sorg bia geniwad (Sorrow is renewed, 50b) and,

again, "Cearo bid geniwad" (Anxiety is renewed, S b ) : the sea and its wildlife are further

transfonned into emblems of misery.

In Deor, emotion is personified in a manner reminiscent of the blues line "Blues

and trouble are my best fnends"; Weland

 hæfde him to gesippe sorge ond longab,
wintercealde -ce;

(had as his cornpanions sorrow and longing, winter-cold exile; ... 3-4a)

Again, the binding nature of winter brings a physical aspect to the rnisery of "wmce,"

anticipating the following account of actual bondage. Niahad "nede legde" (laid fetters)

on Weland. Sorrow and longing preside over the poem, embodied in tuni by a succession

of mytho-historical subjects. linking together each distinct moment of social struggle.

The subjects are joined through their experience of psychological paralysis.

Deor employs the iconographical posture of sitting to convey the notion of

entrapment. As in blues lyrics, sitting here marks deep thought and misery. Under the

oppressive nile of Eormanric, the grim king of wolfish thought,

Sæt secg monig sorgurn gebunden,

wean on wenan, wyscte geneahhe
bæt bæs cynerices ofercumen waere.

(Many a wanior sat bound in sorrows, in expectation of woe, wishing

frequently that the kingdom were overcome. 24-6)

Sorgum gebunden, a variation of the binding formula seen in Christ and Satan (38b, 58b,

103a). evokes sorrow as the oppressor binding those who can do nothing but wish for
--
freedom.') The stasis of sitting and thinking bridges the last section of the poem which

moves into Deor's present:

Site6 sorgcearig, sælum bidæled,

on sefan sweorced, sylfùm binced
baet sy endeleas earfoda d d .

--'
Simi M y , the imprisoned sinners of Christ "si ttad sorgende, sunnan wenad" (sit
sorrowing, expecting the Sun, 26a).
 (If a man sits anxious in somw, scparakd h m joys, he grows dark in
mind; it seems to him that his share of hardships is eadless. 28-30)

Sorrow and anxiety arc unitai in which, dong with the deprivation formula

szlurn bidæled, recalls the 'tvrace" of Weland. Althougb sitting hstratcs the

expectation of physical movement in exile, hcrt again we sec the activation of emotive

thought. In collapshg history into the p-t, Deor-a p e t by vocation-mergcs himsclf

with each of his subjects. In doing so,he demonstrates his poctic powm, and asscrts

himself as aa authority on misery.

The texts of blues and the laments disconncct the speaker h m the order of society in

order to reconncct the singer-poct with his audience. Within the chaotic space of the

road, the speaker is forccd to confiont his own anxicty. Bondagc imagery intensifies the

emotional distress of loss and fcar, and tmphasizes the issue of self-control. Whcn the

psychological state is extenialized through personification, the poetic voice is most

strongly felt. The conmthtion of cmotion draws attention to the tramformationaI

p o w m of the singer-pat who presumes the ability to dispel anxiety rad somw. A

successfbl blues artist is mort than an mtertainer, hïs "business" is similar to that of the

preacher in that he guides his audience through the release of etnotionai distress. The

lament speaker, by working through the bondoge of personal anxiety. cstablishcs his

authority to voice his view of the world: the Wiandner gocs on to lament thc tnnoitory

d Deor offas a consolatory re-

nature of life, the Seafàrcr gives a short sermon, a
 186

throughout his poem. Even Satan asserts his voice, and in a manna vcry similar to the

Wanderer. Satan's "Eala drihtcnes I,rym! Eala duguôa heim!" speech shares with the

Wanderer's "Hwm cwom mearg? . . .Eala beorht bune!" outburst an aura1 quality of

incantation. The lammts may have been the blues of th& day in the smse that the poems

did more for theu audience than express cmotional distress and offer words of wisdom.

They aiso actively engaged an audience through a cornmon cxpMence of anxiety in order

to overcome that ernotional trauma

 Chapter Four

Anthologizing Sorrow

When an oral text moves beyond the boundaries of its original pedormance context. it

encounters an audience lacking in the culturai interpretative skills with which to tùlly

participate in its rhetorical strategies. The text's original meaning and purpose ultimately

remain hidden fiom new listeners. removed in time and place. who attempt to gain access

through what 1s apparent--its formal quaiities. This chapter discusses how the blues Song

and the lament were received by their second audiences. Specifrcally. 1 examine two

anthologies--the tenth-century Exeter Book and the 1952 Fol kwavs Anthologv of

American Folk Music--as documents significant in the presentation of oral texts to a new

audience. By virtue of their membership in these two collections. texts that once esisted

as individual entities in their former settings are re-contextualized and thereby re-

interpreted.

In both cases. technology enabled the anthologization. and hence

recontextualization. of the oral text: writing not only fixed the poems of the Exeter Book

but also introduced inter-reiationships between them; the relatively new medium of the 33

I G " LP in the 1950s allowed up to fifieen songs to be pIayed in succession. facilitating

the cornparison of songs. Although. today. The Wanderer and Blind Lemon Jefferson's

"Sse That My Grave is Kept Clean" are both considered to be works o f art in their own

right. the anthologies that passed these songs on to us presented them as illustrative

pieces within a large and very diverse collection of vernacular poetic expression. The

anthologies participate in the construction of a "tradition" which may

 188

not have been recognized by the original audience of the texts. The Exeter Book and the

Follcwavs Antholow of American Folk Music speak less of the original cultural context

of their contents and more about the second audience's interest in the texts as aesthetic

modes of expression.

The Exeter Book Anthology

The Exeter Book survives as MS 3501, housed in the Library of the Dean and

Chapter of Exeter Cathedral. It has become standard to identify the manuscript as the

book itemized in a list of Bishop Leofnc's donations to the Cathedral: ".i. mycel englisc

boc be gehwilcum Pingum on leodwisan geworht" (one large English book about various

things written in poetry).' The Exeter Book's square Anglo-saxon minuscule

script indicates that it was copied in the second half of the tenth centu$ by a single

' Krapp and Dobbie, eds., The Exeter Book ix; Bernard J. Muir, ed., The Exeter
A n t h o l o s of Old Enelish Poetrv (Exeter: U of Exeter P, 1992) 2-3. For information on
Leofiic (d. 1072) see Frank Barlow, "Leofnc and His Times," Leofnc of Exeter (Exeter:
U of Exeter, 1972) 1-16; K.W. Blake, "Bishop Leofric," The Devonshire Assoc ....R e ~ o r t
and Transactions no. 1O6 (Tiverton: Devonshire P, 1974) 47-57. Leofric was appointed
bishop to Crediton in 1046, and then moved the bishopric to Exeter in 1050. While it is
possible that Leofiic brought the Exeter Book with him from Credition, Patick W.
C o ~ e rAnelo-Saxon
, Exeter: A Tenth-Cenhuv Cultural Historv (Woodbridge: BoydeII
P, 1993), condudes that it was produced at Exeter along with two other manuscripts
written in the same hand: London, Lambeth Palace, MS. 149 and Oxford, Bodleian
Library. MS. Bodley 3 19 (94). See also Muir, "Watching the Exeter Book Scribe Copy
Old Engiish and Latin Texts," Manuscri~ta35 (1991): 3-22.

N.R. Ker, Catalopue of Manuscri~tsContainine Analo-Saxon (Oxford: Clarendon P,

1957) item 116, p. 153. Muir offers the period "circa 965-75" (Exeter 1). Conner
concludes a slightly earlier time frame of ''a950 x ca 970" (Ando-Saxon Exeter 76).
scribe.' The location and date of the Exeter Book suggest that it was a product of the

monastic revival?

In cornparison with the omate illuminated manuscripts of the time, the Exeter

anthology is relatively plain in appearance. MS 3501 contains 131 parchment leaves

measuring "on the average 3 1.5 by 22 centimetres."' The anthology begins on folio 8.6

and consists of seventeen gatherings.' The parchment used for the col1ec:ion varies in

Muir. Exeter 27-30. Corner, "The Structure of the Exeter Book Codex" S c n ~ t o n u m
40 (1986), believes that "[olne scribe probably did write the manuscript, but at different
times" (238).

See Kenneth Sisam, "The Exeter Book," Studies in the History of Old Enelish
Literature (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1953) 99; for a discussion of Exeter during the
Benedictine Reform, see Corner, Ando-Saxon Exeter 21-32, who sees the production of
the Exeter Book coinciding with Bishop Sidemann's influence at Exeter 968 to 977: W e
can expect that those nine years would have seen the minster at Exeter turned into a
devout and disciplined Benedictine monastery with a restored sense of mission and
certainly a well developed library and scriptorium, since the Benedictine rule assumes a
literate brotherhood" (3 1).

Krapp and Dobbie, Exeter xi.

Max Forster, "The Preliminary Matter of the Exeter Book," The Exeter Book of Old
EnoIish Poetry, facs. (London: Percy Lund, 1933) explains that the first seven folios
contain records of Leofric's and Canon Leowine's donations to St. Peter's, Exeter, a Latin
abstract of Leofnc's donation list, and 12th-century legal transactions such as
manumissions and conveyances of land (44). It has been determined that these
preliminary folios beIong to Cambridge University Library MS Ii. 2. 1 1, "but were
probably removed from that codex and bound with The Exeter A n t h o l o . ~when the
former manuscript was given to Archbishop Parker in 1566" (Muir, Exeter 3); see also
Krapp and Dobbie, Exeter x-xi. Thus, the Exeter Book proper consists of 123 folios.

For a detailed codicological examination of the Exeter Book see Con.net, Ando-
Saxon Exeter, 95-147; Muir, Exeter 3-16; Krapp and Dobbie, Exeter ix-xvi; John C.
Pope, "Palaeography and Poetry: Some Solved and Unsolved Problems of the Exeter
Book," Medieval Scribes. Manuscripts & Libraries: Essavs ~resentedto N.R. Ker, eds.
M.B. Parkes and Andrew G. Watson (London: Scholar P, 1978) 25-65.
The gathenngs Vary in length from five to eight folios. Gathenngs 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8, 10. 11,
quality;' seventeen folios were defective at the time of copying, forcing the scribe to write

text around a number of holes? There also exist drypoint drawings, but they are

unrelâted to the adjacent text and at least four predate the writing.iO Omamentation

occurs only in the form of decorative initials used to open poems; there are no ink

illustrations. Patrick W. Connefs codicological and palaeographical analysis o f the

Exeter Book divides the manuscript into three booklets: the first is comprised of folios 8-

52 (Christ 1 through Guthlac B), the second of folios 53-97 (Azarias through Partridge 1-

?a), and the third o f folios 98- 130 (Partrid~e2b-16" through Riddle 95)." The soiled

condition of folio 53r indicates that it was exposed at some point, serving as the front leaf

and 13 are complete with 8 folios; gatherings 1, 2, 5, 12, 15, and 16 lack one folio;
gatherings 9 and 14 lack hvo folios; the 17th gathering is comprised of five singletons.
It appears that an entire gathering has been lost between the sixth, ending with the
incomplete Glc B, and the seventh, beginning with the fragment k a . Missing individual
folios would have supplied the beginning of Chr 1, a section of Chr 3 (aAer 1. 556), a
section of Glc A (before 1. 369)- two sections of JuJ (after 1.288 and 1. Ss'X), the end of
Ptg and the beginning of HmF 3, and possibly additional nddles (before Rd 20, after
10,and aAer Rd 70). A lost folio would also complete the two fragments known as Rse
-
A and Rse B either as separate poems or as one unified piece.
-

T o n n e r , "Structure" 234-5.

Muir, "Watching" 1 1-12.

' O Conner finds that four of the seven drypoint drawings contained in MS 3501 were

written over ("Structure" 236-7). Muir finds four more etchings in addition to Corner's
seven (Exeter t 6).

'' Krapp and Dobbie. Exeter, treats this fragment as the conclusion of & 1-Za, but
there is probably a leaf missing; Muir separates the texts, naming the second HmF 3
(Exeter 276-7).

" "Structure" 233-42.

 191

of Booklet II and III." If he is nght, Booklet i may have existed independently before

being bound with the others, or, as Conner argues, was written last and then added to the

front of the book.l4 When not in use as reading material, the Exeter Book apparently

served as a cutting board (slashes exist on the fiont folio), a coaster (a circular stain fkom

a pot of liquid--beer? glue?), and a storage container for goldleaf?

The conservative, and even economical, production of the manuscript, combined

with evidence of its donor, location, and date, suggest that the book of poeny was copied

for (perhaps infonnal) use within a monastic c o m u n i t y . The actual identities o f and

' ~ scribe, and the anthologist are unknown. However,

reiationship between the ~ o e t ( s ) ,the

a number of textual anomalies suggest that the Exeter scribe was neither the poet nor the

compiler but, rather, employed to transcribe a completed exemplar. For example, some

of the riddles are nui together and, conversely, the Husband's Message is marked off as

" Conner, "Structure" 234.

'' Conner's theory that the first booklet was written last is based on the progression of
a;
the ligatures with l o n g s and the intial see Anelo-Saxon Exeter 1 10-28.

l 5 Krapp and Dobbie, Exeter xiv-xv; Muir, "A Preliminary Report on a New Edition
of the Exeter Book," Scri~torium43 (1989), finds goldleaf traces on 90 folios: "The
presence of these traces in a manuscript lacking illumination indicates that at some stage
after the Exeter Book was copied, and probably when the texts were no longer
understood, it became a repository for sheets of goldleaf used to decorate other
manuscripts produced in the scriptoriurn" (277).

lb The mnic signature of Cyn(e)wulf appears within the texts of Chr 2 (797-807a) and
Jul (704-8). See Earl R. Anderson, Cytiewulf: Structure, Stvle and Theme in his Poetrv
-
(Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson U P, 1983); Kenneth Sisam, "Cynewulf and His
Poetry," Studies in the History of Old English Literature (Oxford: Clarendon P, 1953) 1-
28.
three independent poems. " Kenneth Sisam points out a numbcr of persistent spelling

inegularities and unusual Linguistic fcaturts throughout the Exeter Book." Sisam argua

that the nature of such errors ')mint to a mccbanical copyist,"l9and originate with the

exemplar-possibly with the compiler. Although the question as to when the anthology

the pocms Widsi@ and Pear reflect a

was compilai will nevcr be answcrcd ~atisfactorily~

ninth-centwy interest in Gemianic legendFORcgardicss ofwhaha the Exeter anthology

l7Each nddle is begun on a new line witb a large initial capital and hished with end
punctuation. However, th= is no break (ie., end puncnution or cspitalization) in the
manuscript beîwccn the riddla Krapp and Dobbic number 2 and 3,42 and 43,47 and 48.
Within HbM lines 12 and 25 arc trtated in the samc manner as a closing line: the fimi
words are wrappcd and followcd by end-pmctuaîion, and the next line is b c p with a
large capital letter. Sec Muir, Exeter. v.2,357. The fact that thc scribe trtated Deor
similarly does not sccm to bothcr editors: tach section begins with a large capital and is
end-punctuated.

'' "Exeter Book" 98- 103. For instance, the non-word "-stT* appavs fimes for
"swift" and correcteci oaly once.

l9 "Exeter Book" 102-3: T t sews unl*ely that the latest Icriôe is rrsponsible. His
highly schooled, monumental han4 the fkqucnt confusion of similar lettes..., and slips
like Azarias 148 sacerdos &facg for çacerdas all point to a mechanical copyist "
But, see also A.N. Doane, 'The Ethnography of Scribal Wnting and Anglo-saxon Poctry:
Scribe as Performer," Oral 9 (1994):420-39, csp. 42%.

'O See Roberta Frank, ''Gmnanic Legend in Old English Litcraturc," The CmbriQgç
& ah.Malcolm Gcxiden and Micbpcl Lapidgc
(Cambridge: Cambridge UP,1991) 88-106, statcs, 'Betwcen 805 and 860, we can trace
decade by decade, a growing interest in the Goths and thch Ianguage ...."
on the continent
(94)-
Notably, English poctry authologia wcre mund in the mid-&th century; in his
biography of King AlneQ Asser, Mc of trans. Simon K e y a a d Michsel
Lapidge (London: Penguh, 1983), tells us that the young Aifitd won a book of English
poetry h m his mother by bcùig the k t of bis brothers to learn and rccitc its contents.
He was motivated by a combination of compe<itivedrive, "divine inspiration," piid an
attraction to "the beauty of the initial letter in the book" (75).
 193

was compiled in the ninth century or the te& it appcarr that its language was somewhat

alien, removed in time or place, to the ~ornpila.~'

For the modern rcader the Exeter anthology is a curious mix of sacred and secular,

pagan and Christian,narrative and lyric, didacticism and play; b m the hagiopphical

Guthlac poems and Juliana to the "jauntily i n d e ~ c n t nddla,

'~ the Anglo-saxon

anthology of 190 (depending on how you count th=) poems mis&modem cxpectations

of categonzation and orgauization. S.A.J. Bradley sees the Exeter anthology as "a kiad

of poetic cornmonplace-book into which [the compiler] enterai appdmg poetry as he

came across it? Kenneth Sisam observes, "the order of contents is gcaerally

haphazard. . . .It seems that the collection was put togethcr by tacking on ncw groups or

items as codices or single picces carne to hanC2' If the anthology was plannui, why arc

the two Cynewulf pocms not together and why arc the two main groups of riddles

separated by intenming pocms? Why arc the laments scattered throughout?

Atternpts to disccm an overall organizational principle have priorititcd the

21 Roberta Frank, 'Whcn Lexicography Met the Exeter Book," Words ppd W e
Studies in Medievai F w Lit- in Homur of F& C.Robipqpg
eds. Peter S. Baker and Nichoias Howe (Toronto: U of Tomnto P, 1998),notes that the
Exeter saibe's confusion ovcr the language suggcsts that it hsd "early fdla into disuse"
(2 10).

2.' S.A.J. Bradley, &@O-Saxon Po- (Lnadon: Dent,1982) 202.

24 'The Exeter Book'' 98.

Christian material. Braâley ses a gencrai theme of p m i t ~ n c e .Muir
~ argua that the fim

eight poems (Christ I through Juliwp m t ''difkmt models for Christian Living.'*26

James E. Anderson reads Soul and Bad* J3-r and Wulf & Eadwacef as an allegorical

sequence on "the wasted life," and the group h m Wife'sLpmrm to as a riddlic

sequence in which Gcmianic traditions arc cmployed to panllel "the evcnts of the Eastcr

Corner argues that the Exeter snthology was written over a period of t h e ,
trid~um.''~~

reflecting issues specific to certain phases of the Benedictine Reform; accordingly, he

I and III as products of pre-Refom Continental innuence

sees the poems of Booklets X

(hk specific example king the lament) and carly Rcfonn concemq and the Chris?and

Guthlac pocms of last-written Booklct 1as "long, rfictorical cornplex compositions, al1

concerning issues important to the Refom, and al1 cmploying techniques of structure and

style appropriate to the artistic habits of the reformer~.'*~*

"The prevailing mood is pmitmtial; the prevailing pinpose is to induce in an

audience that state of compunction held prccious by contemporary commentators, in
which the sou1 is opcned to the acccss of grace" (Annio-won Poctry 202).

26 Exeter 25.

27 TWOLit- Riddlts in the Exeter Rook (Norman:U of Oklahoma P, 1986) 3.

28 Ando-Saxoq 148. C o m a offers Walphnrid Strabo's 'Zlegy on Reichenau" as an
analogue for W a and Bim,aU o f Bookla II (158-9). While his bookkt thmry
makes sense, 1 am not convincd that the ÇbE and & pocms nflcct a d ~ e i o p m c nitn
style, maidy because the Iast cxtant ünes of this booklet contain aactly wbnt Corner
identifies as prc-Refonn podry: 1346b46a contains a lament of exile, -km by
Guthlac's disciple. which is simik in tonc to Wsp. Exile passages can bc found as lote as
the 1065 chronicle poem "The Dcath of Edward": "Wes a blikmod bealuleas Iryng, I
Peah he lange gr, lande bcreafbd, / m o d e wralastum wide goond corhn,'' (ïhc
blarnelas king was always büthe in mood I though he. long bcforc, deprived of lad,
endurad the exile-pothc widely throughout the auth, 15-17). The poem appars in MS.
Cotton Tibcrius Bi and MS. Cotton Tiberius Biv.; 1have cited h m tbe edition of Eiiiott
 But the poems of the Exeter Book are not constrained by religious didacticism;

secular experience holds an equally important place in the collection. We might be

overlooking the obvious: the anthology brings together paems which are (as the donation

listing states) English and various. Multiplicity in itself is an important principle within

the collection of diverse genres, voices, and subject matter. The overall preoccupation

with transmission of wisdom, both secuiar and sacred, employs multiplicity both in

presentation and in method. The Exeter collection delights in enigma, indirection, hiding

and revealing, a technique most readily seen in the riddles. Plurality enables the

transfomative process of unlocking-unbinding-hidden truths, and the process is one of

wonder. Roberta Frank states, "A major theme in the Exeter Book h m the opening

Advent antiphons to the final riddles is the importance of wonder and the wondrous in

accessing the As she notes, the m u e n t occumce of words such as

& h d n i m "(wondrously) and 'îmetlic" (wondrous, rare) distinguish the Exeter Book

from the 0th- poetic codices?

The opening lines of Maxims 1 could serve as an epigraph for the Exeter Book:

Frige mec hdurn wordum! Ne k t binne fetd onhælne,

degol bæt bu deopost cunne! Nelle ic fK min dyrne gesecgan,
gif bu me binne hygecræfl hylest ond bine heortan gebhtas.
Gleawe men sceolon gieddurn wrixlan.

Van Kirk Dobbie, ed., The -10-Saxon Ninor Poems, ASPR 6 (New York: Columbia
UP, 1942).
'' "Lexicography" 2 15.
"Lexicography" 2 15-16
 (Sound me out with wist words Let not your mind be hiddm, nor ktcp secret
what you know most deeply. 1will not speak my secret to you if you hide fiom
me your wisdom and your hcart's thoughts. Wise men must exchange sayings. 1-
4a)

The act of reading the Exeter Book is an exchange between the poetic speakers and

reading listeners. The texts teach the mada to rccognizc and interprct wonder, and,

through the act of interpretation, the d e r apprcciata and participates in the wonder of

the texts. The collection prcsents its poew not only as examples of writtcn art but also as
. .
source material for the composition of poetry. For instance, P q
demonstrates a particular technical skill. The catalogue pocms, GiAs of Me%

Preceuts, The Fortunes of Mcn, and as a p u p , rcpnsmt a particula.mcthod

of communicating wisdom b a s d on muitipliciîy. Each poem has its own consciously

constructed "inner logic of form.'"' Explicitly derigned to teach, the cataiogue poems

itemize individual aspects of human life and the physical world, and weavc them togetha

into an intncate tapestry of existence. The "Sum"catalogues of human skiils and talents,

found in Gifts and Forbrnts. art delibcrately long enough to cmphasizc variety: one man

is strong, one is handsomc, one is gifted with song, and so on. Singly, the attributes are

interpreted as separate @fisfiom God; togcther, they dcmonstraîe God's artistic powers:

Swa wrsttlice wwroda ncrgend

geond middangcard monna cratfhs
sceop ond scyrede ond gesceapo f d e
zeghwylcurn on corban cormcncynnes.

(Thus wondmusly hPC the Saviour of the multitudes throughout the worid

' Nicholas Howe, The Old Catalogue P- 23 (Copenh.gcn:

Rosenkilde and Baggcr, 1985) 14.
 shaped and appointed the skills of men and directed the destiny of each of
humankind on earth. F~rtunes93-6)

The catalogue poems' consciousness of the crafi of poetry is most obvious in Widsith and

Deor which both feature a scop as speaker and employ the catalogue as an organizing

principle." While the catalogue poems teach their reader how to read the poetry of life.

they also offer source material for the further composition of poetry. Widsith and Deor

provide a list of aIlusions to other stones. Cynewulf utilizes the "Sum" list in Christ II

(lines 664-85).3' A maxim is uttered by the Seafarer: "Dol bib s e i>e him his dryhten ne

ondrzdeb; cyme6 him se dea6 unpinged" (Foolish is he who does not fear his lord; death

cornes to him unexpected, 106).3J

The reading lesson of the catalogue poems is continued throughout the Exeter

Book. The Phoenix, The Pmther, and The Whale describe an animal wondrous in its

physical appearance and behaviour, 2nd then interpret the description as an extended

religious metaphor: the Phoenix becomes the individual righteous soul, the Panther

becomes the Lord, and the Whale becomes the Devil. Notably, Phoenix contains eight

occurrences of "wundrum," three of which are combined with " ~ f æ t l i c . " ~

These
~ poems

3' See Howe's discussion of Wds and Deor in Old Enelish Catalogue Poems 166-201.

" The convention of the "Sum" list is alluded to in Deor at lines 3 1-34: the Lord
changes Eiequently showing favour to many and "sumum weana dæl" (to some a share of
misery. 34b).

Mau1 35: "Do1 bib se be his dryhten nat, to bæs oft cyme6 dead unbinged"
(Foolish is he who does not know his lord, so ofien comes death unexpectedly).

" -Phx: "wundrum wrætlice" (63a), "Wmlic is Seo womb neopan, wundrum fæger"
(307) and "aweaht wrætlice wundrum to life" (367).
are related to the "giedd" composed by Job in Christ n which we arc told employs a bird
in flight to explain the Ascension, but the pocm's mcaning can bc construed only by

certain people:

Wats bats fùgles flyht fwndum on eort,aa

dyrne ond degol, barn @ deorc gewit
hiefdon on brcbrc, htor~anm e .

(The flight of tbis bird was concealcd and hiddcn h m the enexnies on
earth who had dim perception in mind and a stony heart. 639-41)

The Jews could not interpret the pocm becaux thcy would not acknowlbdgt the "monig

rnislicu" (many and various) Eigns of God throughout the carth.' Thus, for their second

audience, the tcxts are prcsmted in the Exeter Bwk as containers of Christian

significance which can be unlocked only by a Chtistian rcader-

The emphasis placed on the d a to intcrprct-to uniock- metaphors is cxpiicit

in the riddles which demand "Saga hwct ic hatte" (Say what 1am calleci). Herc,

transformation, multiplicity, and wondcr is most pronounced. Pauline E.Head observes

that "Most generally, the nddles huiction as metaphors, involving the d e r in producing

similarity through ~iiffmnce.**~'

The challenge o f naming the objeet is cornplicated

because its "identity is not representcd as king stable and imified; the object/crcaturc

goes through hansfomations, and the readcr, glimpsing face&o f its world, witncsses

36'(Nol& hi Pa torhtan tacen oncnawan / C him beforan fiemade fieobearn godes, /

monig misiicu, gmnd middangeafd" (Thcy would not acknowledge the spiendid siens
which the Son of God p&ormed bcforc them. mmy and various, throughout the cprth.
-
Chr 6424)
 The "elliptic, fiagmented" description of the
contradiction and ~hange."~'

environment, often prcsented in a #ries of "hwilum'' (~omctimes)statcments, as Hcaà

but also cchoes the view

argues, sheds ligbt on the shifhg persptctive of the lament~13~

and rnanner of the catalogue poems.

A nurnber of the Exeter pocms cmploy a prison sctting to enact the process of

unlocking. The autiphonai tyrics of Q&t 1wo* to f

kthe impnsoned exiles of hell
and earth. In hariaq, rcligious faith, manifèst in son&protccts the f e t t d youths in the

fumace. The poem is an exccrpt b r n the story of Daniel, a d , in f ~ a&ans

, its f
kt 76
lines of the poem with lines 279-362 of the Jimius 11 m.*The cvmt in I)anit is
perceived by Nebuchadneaar as a miracle, a 'tvundoi' (458)-althwgh it does not

change him for the bettcr-and leads quicldy into khc two interprctation cpisodes in which

Daniel reads the king's dream and then the holy #ti. Within these 300 lines of panid

"wondor*'occurs eleven times. In selecting the fumace episode, the Exeter compiler

highlights the act (and result) of voicing inncr thoughts (Azarias "inge@ncum /

hleobrede," lb-2a), comects Azarias to other speakers in the collection, and also alludes

to a narrative of intcrpmation.

38 Head 41.

39 Head41.

a The 0 t h instance of overlap bawecil poetic &ces is Exeter Sou1 a

and the Vercelli S M M . The diffiraices exbibiteci in both cases of sharcd tact
give rise to many questions with reganis to excnplar and scribal intcrvmtion; sec
Kenneth Sisam, 'The Authority of Old English Poeticai Mamscxipts," . *

Historv of Old Lit- (Oxford: Clamdon, 1953) 29-44.

 200

In Juliana the imprisoned heroine physicaily forces a devil to disclose trade

secrets which are based upon deception-misguided interpretation. Only the poem's

audience is privy to the significance of her struggle; within the pocm, the heathens

outside the walk of ber ce11 nevcr leam. In sou1 and Rodv & the sou1 rants about the

eviIs of his fleshly prison, and indulges in a grisly ctlebraîion of his rclease. The Descent

into He11 recounts Christ's m u e of hell's miles: the "locu feollan, / clustor of barn

ceastnun; cyning in obrad" (locks and bars feu off that prison; the king entercd in, 39b-

40). The second half of Desçcnt comprise a speech of praisc similar to the praycrs of

Christ I; as in Azarias, the song is an integral part of the rcleasc.

Three of the remaining poerns 1wish to discuss do not ernploy a prison to show

the transcendence of the expression of faitù but rather facus on the transmission of

revealed wisdom. Vain~lorvand The Order of the World are f o n d in the neighbortiood

of the catalogue poems and like thcm arc concemd with passing on ancient laiowledge.

As with Precebts, both poems are explicit in the transmission of wisdom h m an

authontative source. In Vai@orv, the speaker discloses what he has leamed h m an

ancient sage, wise in books, who "Wordhord onwrcah" (revealed his word-hoard, 3a) and

in 'krcwide" (ancient speech, 4b) p k e of "sundorwundra fela" (many separate w o n d a

2b). In OrQa the reader is urgcd to ask the traveling otranger, a 'tv0abora" (speaker of

eloquence, 2a), about the world's creaturcs, those ''wundra fela" (many wondm, 7a) Gad

brings to humans. Each is a "orgeate tacen" (clcar sign, 8b) to the one who, uUOu&

wisdom, knows the world. We are told that the wise know what long ago w9s spokcn

with "gliwcr mefie" (music, 11b) and "gieddingum" (songs, 12a); through &@,
 201

saying, and remembering most men knew the "searonina geqon" (wcb of mysteries,

1Sb). Each poern acts as a xif-conscious transmittcr of ancient howledge. teaching the

new reader to interprct signs. In quite a different marner, ais isso

preoccupied with communication, not across time but across distance. In combination

with the preceding solvod as a reod pcn, a sequcacc &ses in which the

"mudleas" (mouthles, 9b) speech of the pcn is made visible in the nincs at the end of

Husband's Messa=. Pauline Head notes that in Bipdie 60 the two différent mediums of

speaking and writing are tmated as interchangeable modes of communication: ''The poan

describes the act of writing, but aiways in cornparison to îhat of speaiang: the insinment

of writing is mouthless, unlike a speaker, but it p d o m its fiinction at the mcad bcnch,

taking the place of oral speech*'"The paradox is inhercnt in the entire anthoIogy of

poems which transmit the spoken words by mtans of a mouthless Pen.

When seen in the contact of the Exeter anthology,the laments remain distinct in

their emotive intensity but also participate in the collection's premise of multiplicity and

communication. Like the trading strangers of Ordn and Wirisith, thcre is something to

be learned fiom the roaming speakers of The Wand- m e -S and RPQf. It is

probably no coincidence that The Wandcrq and The S m arc found among the

catalogue poems: they f c o ~ authoritative

c speakers who unîock theV thoughts and

wisdom. The Wandercr r a d s physical si- such as the '*weal wundrum ha&" (wall

(truth-son& Xb) is rclnted to the

wondrously high, 98a). Thc Seafafcis "LsoOgied"

' Head 109.

 202

"gieddingum" (Order 12a) of long ago that communicated the web of mysteries. The

male Iarnent speakers share with their female counterparts a predilection for indirection

and migrna. Wulf & Eadwacer and The Wife's Larnent occur at either end of the first

group of riddles with which they share their shifiing, tiagmented expressions. Each of

the confined speakers of these two poems present a "giedd (W&E, 19; W L la) which to

this day has yet to be unlocked.

The Exeter Book preserves and perpetuates the sound and sight of strange old

texts, giving their individual formal conventions a new significance. The many voices

are brought together to show variety, transformation, and communication of wisdom as a

method of comprehending Christian truth.

***

The Folkwavs Antholow of American Folk Music

Two years before Robert Johnson's first recording session, Leadbelly attended the 1934

MLA Conference in Pennsylvania. His role there was to demonstrate the folk songs

discussed by folklorist and Library of Congress archivist John Lomax. The first of two

presentations took place at the Friday night smoker, listed in the program as:

Negro Folksongs and Ballads, presented by John and Alan Lornax with the
assistance of a Negro minstrel from L o ~ i s i a n a . ~ ~

The second was given the following moming in a Comparative Literature session:

' "Proceedings of the Modem Language Association of Arnerica," PMLA 49 (1934):

1324.
 "Cornrnmts on Negro Follrsongs" (illustrated with voicc and guitar by
Negro convict Leadbelly of Louisiana). John A. Lomax, Libnry of

Leadbelly's appearauce at the MLA is signifiant in the introduction of Afkican Amencan

vemacular song to a new audience. Although John Lomax had prcviously played his

field recordings for MLA participants,' the actual ptcsence of Leadbelly "brought home

to one of the nation's largest gathering of acadcmics a sense of the living folk music

The image of Leadbclly's prcscnce at the MLA is an cmblem of incongruity,

capturing the factors fiécting the rcception of oral texts by a second audience. The

racial, cultural, and social divide betwtcn Leadbclly's music and the audience is

pronounced in the academic conférence setîhg. A bncf account of Leadbelly's carccr

traces how a second audience cmbraced blues as an artform with politicai significance.

43 "Proceedings" 1325. For an account of Lomax and Leadbelly at the MLA see

Charles Wolfe and Kip Lomcll, The Life and L e p d of -bel& (NCW York:
HarperCollins, 1992) 133-36; Nolan Porterfield, Mt Cavalier The Life and Times of
John A. Lomax 1867- 1948 (Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1996) 342-3. The program for the
smoker also included "Elizabethan Ayres to the V-s, sung by Mary Ptabody
Hotson" and "Songs and Chantces by the b e r s , with Leslie Hotson as Masta of
Singing." The evmt, Porterfield comments. "surely rates high in the dl-the annals of
cultural collisions" (Last Cavdiq 342).

" According to the "'Procetdingsof the Semi-Centennial Meeting,'* 48 (1933),

for the 1933 MLA in St. Louis, Lomax prcscntcd "Songs h m Negro Connct Camps"
for a Comparative Literinirr session and "The Foik Songs of Negro Convicts" for the
smoker held a f k the "Old Guard Dinnei'(1429 and 1442). Of the presentation at the
1933 M'LA, Wolfe and Lomell state, 'This was the 6im t h e that rccordings of black
vernacular music had been hcard at the MLA meeting....'*(
130).

Wolfe and Lornell 135.

 204

The aesthetic appreciation that white, urban outsiders have for blues music arises, to

some degree, h m a combination of acadcmic curiosity and a mmanticization of the

gem-its history and its petformas. ï h c second audiaice's courtship of blues reflccts a

desire for some kind of tmth within a c h a i e of sacial crisis. The 1952 Folkways

Antholonv of American Folk Music followcd Leadbelly in its offerîng of various types of

Arnencan vemacular Song, but prescrits them as rcmnants of a lost Amcrican ideal.

Lomax met Leadbelly (born Huddic Ledbctter) in the Angola State Rison F m in

Baton Rouge during a field rccording trip. The rcsearcha chose the segrqatcd and

isolated conditions of penitcntiaries as prime locations for hiJ search for matcrial fhc

fiom outside intemention. Lomax believcd that in such locations the folk songs of

Afkican-Americans "in musical phrasing and in poetic content, arc most unlike those of

the white race, the least contaminateci by white influence or by modem Negro jazz.'*

Despite Lomax's desire for "uncontaminatcd" matcrial, Leadbelly's work exhibits the

cross-pollination between Afkican-Amcrican song, traditional white rural songs (which

would corne to be known as "hillbilly" and, later, " C O U I I ~ ~ "music), and popular

mainstrearn tues." The exchange of musicd and textual matcrial bctween black blues

and white country can be casily hcarci on rtcordings of the late 1920s and early 30s. The

work of Jimmie Rodgen, for example, was heavily influenced by the Afncan-Amcrican

46 Lomax, Adventures of a (New York: Macmillan, 1947) 112.

'' in the work of Robert Johnson the incorporation ofpopulnr music «in be seen in his
"Honeymoon BIues."
music he grew up with in Missi~sippi.'~His trademark yodeling vocal style. exaggerating

the falsetto used by Mississippi blues singers (such as Tornmy Johnson), sold millions of

records to whites and bIa~ks.''~The cross-borrowing between white and black musicians

cm be seen with Rodgers famous "Blue Yodel" (the first of thirteen versions) which was

released the 3rd of February 1928.50Within a year, the song's line "T for Texas, T for

Tennessee" appeared in at least three blues recordings, the earliest recorded only ten days

aFter the release of "Blue Yodel?' Thus, when George Herzog, the music transcriber of

Loma'i's 1936 Neero Folk Songs as Sung bv Lead Bellv, observed that "More than half

of these melodies and texts have been published in other collections, in some other

-'"ee Nichoias Dawidoff, "Prologue: The Spirit of Jimmie Rodgers," In the Countrv
of Countrv: People and Places in Arnerican Music (New York: Pantheon, 1997) 3-19. In
Mendan. Mississippi, Rodgers learned blues and other African-Arnerican songs fiom
railroad workers and in bars. Dawidoff states that contrary to the belief that country
music is "pure white," it developed as a "hybrid form conflating many extant styles of
popular and religious music with whatever individual innovations people like Rodgers
brought to it," and many well known country musicians had "black musical mentors"
(10)-
Dawidoff 12. For Rodgers's record sales, see Nolan Portefield, The Life and
Times of Arnerica's Blue Yodeler: Jirnmie R o d ~ e r s(Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1979) 381-5.

O'In the wake of his successful "Sleep, Baby, Sleep," "Blue Yodei" sold "at ieast
1,000,000 copies" (Porterfield, LifeJimmie Rodeers 382).
'' Mooch Richardson's "T and T Blues" was recorded 13 Feb 1928, and is the earliest
usage of the line "T for Texas..." listed in Taft's corpus. The others include Frank
Stokes's "Nehi Marna Blues" (Aug 1928; Stok- 16), Billy Bird's "Alabama Blues--Part 1"
(Oct 1938; BirB-Z), Willie Brown's "Future Blues" (1 93 1;BrowV-2), and Bo Chatman's
"Shake 'Em On Down" (1938; ChatB-23). Regardless of where or with whom "T for
Texas, T for Tennessee" originated, 1 assume that the success of "Blue Yodel" (which
later gained the subtitle "T for Texas") had a lot to do with the line's inclusion in the
repository o f blues fornulas.
version. Others are of white parmtage, somc are white tunes pwê and simple,*62his

(perhaps inadvertent) contradiction of Lomax's belief of a b'purr"music was equally

inaccurate.

Leadbelly's MLA appeatance attracted much media a t t ~ ~ ~ tushcring

i o a the singer

and his "discoverer" Lomax into New York City for a threc month whirlwind of

interviews and perfomuuices, both live and on s c r e e ~ lThe

~ ~ ~pair workcd together

Lomax contextualized the songs and Leadbelly pcrfomed them. Although Leadbellyk

vast repertoire includcd blues and popular songs, their white audiences heard only

Lomax's idea of Afncan American "folk" musicULeadbtlly was kept to "old-tirne"

hollers, work songs, and ballads.

Despite the publicity, Leadbeily n e v a achievcd commercial succtss with black

audiences. ARC recorded forty songs for its "race" labels, al1 of which werc blues,

inciuding a few versions of Blind Lemon Jefferson sangs? Two records w m relcased as

test cases, and both failed to sel1 enough copies to warrant further releascs." Wolfe and

Lornell comment, "It didn't stem to dam on ARC that Huddie's audience was not

52 John A. Lomax and Alan tomax, N c m Folk S o w as S w bv J d Rdly (New

York: Macmillan., 1936) xi.

53 Lomax and Leadbelly w m featiued in a M m h of ncwsrccl: see Wolfe and

Lornell 164-8 and Porterfield, Cavaiia 354-6.

Y Wolfe and Lornell iffount the confiict b e n the commercial "scnsibility" of the
ARC officiais and Lomax's insistcnce on "folk" music during the rrcording sessions
( 158-9). Leadbelly did record "Ircnt" (the song made famous by the Weavcrs in 1950)
but it was never issued.

55 One disc containcd the songs "'Packin'Tninlt Blues" and 'Woney, kn Al1 Out and
Down," and the o t h a "Four Day Wony Blues" and 'New Black Snake Moan."
necessarily among the black families that routinely bought race mords, but among

northern white audiences who likcd to hear Huddie's version of 'Irene' and 'Governor Pat

~ e & ' * " ~Poor sala may also have bandue to a shift in musical tastcs towards the sound

of "city" blues. For whatevcr rtason, Leadbelly nwer gaincd an Afiican Amcrican

following. Instead, to white rniddletlass wban audiences, he became, dong with

Woodie Guthrie, a "folk"icon in which pmtest and music rncrgcd.

Mer Leadbelly and Lomax partad ways, the singer was embraced by the political

and social activists associated with the Popdar Frontn In 1937, Richard Wright devoted

one of his Dailv Warka coliimns to Leadbelly, entitled "Huddie Lcdbetter*Famous

Negro F o k Artist, Sings the Songs of Scottsboro and His People." The piccc prescnts the

singer as a syrnboi of -cm-Amcrican history, art, and strength: "it stems that the entire

folk culture of the American Ne- has found its embodimait in him.*e8Wright

significantly reinterprets the prison story, shiftîng the focus h m the sensational details of

Leadbelly's crimes to the crimes of the Jhn Crow systcm: ''This bard stocky black man

sang his way . . . . out of two state prisons, where he was sent for protccting himseK

56 Life and Le- 159. "Govcmor Fat Neff' was the lcgcndary song said to have
motivated the Texas Governor to ml- Leadbelly from prison, a story much pubiicized
in the media Two months later, ARC mode one more attempt; six more son@ wem
recorde4 and one record was released. Unfortunately, it too failed and ARC wrote off
the venture.

57 Lomax's son Aian, who was aniliated with the le& and f h l y niend MW

Bamicle, a profe~~or of folklore and litenitrnc at N m York University and socid activist,
were instrumental in helping Leadbelly obtain singingjobs nt labour movcment events.

This and the following quota h m Wright's article, transcnbed by Wolfe and
Lornell200-202.
 208

against the aggression of muthem whitcs." Wright criticizes Lomax who "exploited

[Leadbelly], robbing h i . of his self-made cul- and then tumed him loose on the strccts

of northem cities to starve." The songs, ''Shqxd and molded by sumc of the harshest

social forces in American life," are powcrfiil wcapons against injustice; when the

Emergency Relief Bureau denied Leadbelly assistance "the foksingcr thmatencd to write

a Song about the rotten relief methods, and the relief authorities granted his demand."

The article interprets Leadbeliy's blues and ballads as effeçtive vchicles of protest.

Leadbelly appeared rcgularly with Guthrk, Aunt Molly Jackson, Pete Seeger, and

othen at Popular Front music events and on radio program such as Alan Lomax's ''Back
. .
Where 1 Corne From.'"' In 1940, he rccorded The MiQlOhtSDecial md Chhm Prim

Sonns for RCA Victor. AIso releaseâ thaï year was Josh White's Chain Chq (Columbia)

and Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballw (RCA). Michael Denning sees each record as "a

landmark in American vernacuiar music":

In al1 t k cases, the singers were packaged thcmatically: Guthrie's Dust

Bowl songs w m intendcd to capitaiizc on the success of The G q p of

Wrath, and the albums of White and Leadbclly were issucd to capitaiizc

on the popular exposés of the South's oppressive convict labor systcm,

which had corne to national attention through John Spival's muclaslulg

..
jomalism and the Paul Muni film, J Am a F w ave h m a Geowa

m.As a result the thrce albums are somewhat artificial. Nevcrtheless,

Michael Denning,
59 m m Front: The r g in
Twentieth Centurv (London: Verso, 1996) 91.
 each was a powcrfbl work of art, and their appearance on major labels

marked a unique moment in Amcrican popular culture.'

Josh White, along with blues singers Sonny Tcny and Brownic McGhee, and the Golden

Gate Quartef hailed h m the Piedmont, an industrial area h o w n for b l r k labour and

These singers, along with Leadbclly,pcrfomied with the Almanacs,

poIi tical a~tivism.~'

to which belonged Pete Seegcr, Bess Lomax, and Woody Guthrie."

"The Aimanacs wcre g&" states Robert Cantwell:

Through thern young urban audiences w m for the f

ht timt king
exposed to the music with which the singers were f d l i a r and which they

could bring to the graup-blues, hillbilly, moutain music, southeni

Methodist h y m n ~ . ~ ~

The group was noteworthy in mcouraging the audience to participate in sing-dongs;

Cantwell observes,

the Aimanacs wcrc altering the conventional relation betwccn ptrformcr

and audience in a nasccnt social spherc. The group's infannality and

60 The Cultural Froa

For a study of the blues of this arcs sec Bruce Bastin, R d River m:The Blue
Tradition in the South- (Urbana: U o f illinois P, 1986).

62 Robert Cantwt11, Whm We W e n Oood: The Folk Revivd (Cambridge: Harvard

U P , 1W6), 139. A nurnber of people wcre associated with the Almanacs which was more
of a singing organintion thaa one fixed group: the "informal mUing actuaUy rcsultsd in
severai Almanac groups, sometimes answniag différent boobgs simultancouslyon a
given night" (140).
 210

conscientious nonprofessionalism opened to the audience a new sense o f

access. . . . the entire performance space being redefined to bnng audience

and musicians together into active participation. It was a music of

symbolic social leveling ....@

Although Seeger and Company acted as intermediaries between "the people" and urban

audiences, they themselves were not the " f o l k of the songs they perfonned. The irony o f

the group's attempt to "impersonate" the working class, or, its somewhat romanticized

view of workers, was not lost on them:

"There 1 was," Seeger recalled, "trying my best to shed my Harvard upbringing,

scoming to waste money on clothes other than blue jeans. But Leadbelly always

had a clean white shirt and starched colla, well-pressed suit and shined shoes. He

didn't need to affect that he was w~rkingrnan."~~

Later, the Folkwavs Antholow o f American Folk Music would impress upon its audience

the distinct performance styles o f traditional perfiomen, a revelation that would spark

amonj folk music revivalists the hotly debated issue o f "'authentic" performance. In the

nieantime, however, po litical ideology took precedence: "Aunt Molly Jackson and

Leadbelly, though unquestionably authentic, were ideologically unpredictable, while in

the Almanacs the lefi had, through impenonation, both embodied folksingers and

'"'When We Were Good 142.

" C~anhvd145.
austworthy ideological exanplars.'" For its second audience. blues was a f o m of

entertainment, but one Ioaded with political purpose. Whethcr "original" performcrs,

such as Leadbelly, sharcd the political vision of thcu ncw audience is difficult to discem.
a+*

in 1952, while electric urban blues wcre enjoying peak popularity with Afiican-Amcrican

audiences, the Folkwavs Antholonv of Amcrican Folk Musiç introduced the folk rcvival

audience to twenty-year old acoustic blues and hillbilly f~cords.This thrte volume LP

set reissues 8 4 songs previously recordcd on 78 rpm discs b e m 1927 and 1932."

drawn £rom the exteasive collection of the avant-garde filmmaker, artist, collecter Harry

Srnithsa Significantly,the m l o g y re-introduccd the tccordings commercialiy but

within a whole new market of folk music. The LP format surpassed prtvious litcrary

colIections of songs in i!s ability to offer audio examples of a vast array of performance

styles. The Antholonv was the first part of a (never completad) series aimed at tracing

the development of Amerïcan music and the impact of mrding on that development. In

66 Cantwell (observation attributcd to Richard Reuss) 147.

67 Hariy Smith explains in the accornpanying Handboak, 'The eighty-four rccordings

in this set were made betweni 1927, when electronic rccording maâe possible accurate
music reproduction, and 1932 whcn the Depression halteci foIk music sales" (Forcword).

68 Moses Asch, 'The Birth and h w t h of the Anthology of Amcrican Fok Music as

told by Moses A s c c MaPus: cdSmith Paoloa

Igliori (New York: h o u t P, 1996). owna of Folkways Records, explains that Smith,
like himself, bought up large numbm of 78s durkg the war whcn a sheîiac shortage
forced the record companics to buy back discs b m their dealers: "New York Band a d
instment and ail the 0 t h deolm 1wd to pick up records h m haâ tabla full of this
stufi-the grcatcst music in the world that New Yox'iccrs knew nothing about" (94).
 212

the accompanying Handbook, Smith writes,

Oniy through recordings is it possible to I * u n of those developments that

have been so characteristic of American music, but which are unknowable

through wrinen transcriptions done. Thcn too, records of the type found

in the present set played a large part in stimulating these histonc changes

by making easily available to each other the rhythmically and verbally

speciakcd musics of groups living in mutual social and cultural

isolation.69

Smith's awareness of the culturai distance between the songs of his hthology and thcir

new listeners is evident in the physical packaging. His tsotcric interest in aichemy serves
as an extemal decorativc thcrne, encouraging an ovcrall cohsion and a view of the songs

as elemental vehicles to the mystical, and cmphasizing the &thoIo&s mie in the

initiation of outsiders. The original covcr art, as Canhuell describes it, was an etching by

"Theodore DeBry h m Fludd's four-volume Jiistorv of the Macmmsm and the

Microcosm, published in Gcnnany betwccn 1617 and 1619. The drawing shows the hand

of God tuning, on what appcars to ôe a dulcimer, the Celestid Monochorci, that is,

creating the heavcniy hannony to unite the base elcmcnts of earth, au, fire, and w a t ~ r . ' ~

Each record volume rcprcsentcd an elemcnt, issued in rd, bluc, and green (the proposcd

69 Foreword [il.

When We W e n C i 204.
volume four was to be brown)." Later, in the 1960s, Invin Silber replaced the cover with

a "Ben Shahn F m Security Administration photograph of a battered, starving f m e r ,

effectively transforming Smith's alchemical allegory into Depression-style protest art. In

the context of the time, . . . . with poverty understood as ermobling and the poor

themselves often perceived as art statements, it was a smart commercial rn~ve."~'

The inclusion of the 25-page Handbook anticipated the listenefs need for

assistance in his or her encounter with the Anthology's collection of diverse vocal and

musical styles. With the exception of some quotations appearing at the end of the

annotations, the Handbook departs fiom the alchemical theme and takes on the look of an

old-fashioned catalogue. An assortment of antiquated printer's devices, old record

catalogue images of perfonners, and pictures of musical instruments frame and decorate

the scholarly notes producing a visual notion of a quaint and curious past.

In compiling the Antholow, Smith's critenon for selection of material was one of

representation not excellence; he explains,

The Anthology was not an attempt to get al1 the best records (there are

other collections where everything is supposed to be beautifid), but a lot of

'' Of the original cover, Greil Marcus, Invisible Revublic: Bob Dylan's Basement
Tapes (New York: Henry Holt, 1997) observes: "[The hand of God] divided creation into
balanced spheres of energy, into fundarnents; printed over the filaments of the etching
and its crepuscular Latin explanations were record titles and the names of the blues
singers, hillbilly musicians, and gospel chanters Smith was bringing together for the first
time. It was if they had something to do with each othef' (93).

" Marcus, Invisible 9311.

The most recent (CD) re-release of the Antholow
(Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 1997) r e m s to Smith's original cover.
 these were seltcted because they werc odd-an important version of the

son& or one which came h m somc pariicular place. For exarnple, there

w m things h m Texas included that wercn't very good?

The 84 selections are organized into thrce broad musicological categork: Volume One

contains "Ballads," Volume Two "Social Music" (divided into secular and sacrai), and

Volume Three "Songs" which include blues. These catcgoncs dcliberately avoid the

segregation of singers by race or region, a significant fatme of the collection that

opposes earlia marketing practiccs." During a 1968 interview, Smith recalld,

Before the Anthology therc had been a tendency in which records wcre

lumpcd into blues catalogs or hillbiliy catalogs, and evcrybody was having

blindfold tests to provc they could tell which was which. That's why

there's no such indications of that sort (color/racial) in the albums. 1

wanteâ to scc how well certainjazz critics did on the blindfold test. They

al1 did hombly. It took years before anybody discovercd that Mississippi

John Hurt wam't a hillbilly.75

73John Cohen, "A Rut lntaview wîth Hamy Smith," :- H v S&

A Modem Alchemip cd. Paoloa Iglion (New York: inanout P, 19%) [126). Smith's
comments give rise to the question: On what grounds does a manber of the second
audience judge the work of anothcr culturc?

'' The Handbook prcsents examples of typicrl record slccvcs and d o g u e covexs,
some illustrated with nicial and nual stefcotypes. Smith'scaption rads, ''The advertking
on these envelopes gives a good i d i a [sic] of the wmpaniar] attitude t o w d theu
artists" [23].

Cohen, "A Rare Intmicw" 11341.

Along with Hurt, fican-Amcrican singm such as Charley Patton, Blind Lemon

Jefferson, and Funy Lewis appear side-by-side with white performers such as the Carter

Family, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, and Uncle Dave Mron. The racial and regional mix

also effective1y disrupted what Cantwtll c a s the "socialist romance9*of New Dealers

with "preïndustrial" peoples:

We do not have, then, Labor Songs or Mountain Songs or Songs of the

Cowboy or Songs of the Negro, picturcsque conceptions thaî edorce in

one rcalm distinctions proper to another by supposing that music observes

racial, occupational, regional, and oher social boundaries. Of couse

music gioq observe such boundaries-but with hopeless irrtgularity and

ùicon~inai~y.~~

The Handbook guides the Listcner through the "ocid" musical terrain. It is easy to

overlook the irony of rcading the written word as a ntctssary stcp in gaining access to the

oral traditions ofnual America While it is perfectly masonable for a newcoma to listen

to the Anthology without recourse to the Handbook, 1 am sure that the need to make

sense of the unfamiliar vocal and musical styles would motivate the intaestcd listena to

The Handbook tells the Listencr how to listen by drawing

seek additional inf~rmation.~

This would bc espccially truc in 1952 whm the ~ o i o g y ' sounds

s w n c d y new
to most of its audience members. In contrast, by the latc 1990s the Handbook is of less
importance to new iistcncrs (such as myscü) as an orientation tool, xnainiy because the
Anthology was insmmiental in opcning up a market for reissucs of early rccordings. As a
result, the blues and country tuna WEe those in the collection are now capily availablc and
thus familiar. But the latcst rclcase ofthe Antholopv on CD features a B O O U whicb
attention to the formal aspects of the songs, theu performance, and thcir transmission.

Smith'sannotations provide discographicll information on the ncording (title*name of

artist, recording date. issue n u m k ) , a codaued P.iircription of the lMcs, source notes

for lyrics of ballads, notes on m u s i d and vocai stylistics, and huiber bibliognphical and

discographical referencer." Smith employs the notes to idcntify a t a ' s rcprescntative

qualities and its similarities to othm.

The ballads of Volume One dwell on dcath and misfortune as we catch glimpses

of sinking ships, train wrecks, murda, the W o l d , suicide, failcd m p s , and outlaws.

The notes guide the listening d e r through this landscape according to historical

chronology: the scqucwe moves h m European dexnidcnts, which are ordercd

according to their Child ballad number such as "Henry Lee" (Child no. 68 as 'Young

Hunting") and "Old Lady and the Devil" (Child no. 278). to American onginals like

"Charles Giteau," whose speaker is Prcsidcnt Garfield's assassin, and "Gonna Die with

My Hamrner in My Hand," a version of "John H q . " For this volume, Smith

augments Smith's notes with updatod information on al1 aspects of each roag including
updated research on the Mormcrs. The B &&&, dong with the vast number of literary
publications on blues and country music which have apptatcd in the last forty Yeats,
attests to how the second audience expcrienccs the oral texts through reading.

For example*pelection 5: "Old Lady and the Devil I by Bill and Belle R d / V o d
solo with guitar. / Rccorded in 1928.1 Ongiirrl issue Columbia 1533dD(wi472ii). //
MEDIEVAL WOMAN DEFEATS DEVIL DESPITE HUSBAND'S PRAYERS Il The
motif of a wife who tcnorizes dacmons is widely distributcd in Europe md Asia Chilci's
two versions (no. 278) are both quite similar to the phsent recording. / S a also other
British versions in ALncd Williams' S o o f thep. 211 and H.R.
Hayward's Ulster S o w B M p.32. // Dirogmphy: 3 - Bill
Cox and Cliff Hobbs.Vocalion 048 11. . . . Bibliography: Bq-1-325;Bury-11-60;
Belden-94; . . . .**
concentrates on sources and variations of lyrics, and for the "The Wagoners Lad" he

explains how 3vord clusters and entire verses" recur in many songs. He refers the

reading listener to four other selections (al1 of which appear on Volunle Three) which

share formulas with "The Wagoners Lad."'9 With the help of the notes, the sequence of

ballads c a r y the listener geographically across the Atlantic and fonvard through time."

The "Socid Music" of Volume Two offers secular dance tunes on one record and

sacred music on the other. The secular selections provide examples of different musical

instruments and instrumental combinations For example, the first four songs are placed

together for comparison as the notes direct attention to the banjo of "Sail Away Lady"

and the violin-guitar of the following 'The Wild Wagoner" which is in tum compared to

a more cornplex instrumental arrangement in the next "Wake Up Jacob," and again to that

of the Acadian performance of "LaDanseuse - Fox Trot." There are four Acadian

seIections on this volume, employed to illustrate the distinct features of Acadian melody,

rhythm, and accordion playing. Smith also treats interesting interpolations of music such

as that of the "hymn tune 'At the Cross'" into "Moonshiners Dance (Part 1)."8'

The selections representing sacred music expose the listener to "lined hymns,"

"shape note" songs, and "tkguing tunes," along with performance techniques such as

9
' Smith states, "Al1 of these exarnples (principally £kom Kentucky) have 5-string
banjo accornpaniment which suggests that this type of compositional compounding
developed between 1850- 1875" (notes to selection 7).

S0 Cantwell sees the historical sequence of Antholow as a "mnemonic Iibrary" or

"memory theater" of a "prelapsarian Amencan h m o n y " (205).

Y' Notes to selection 41.

 218

chanting, cal1 and response, hand clapping. Throughout this section, a rough historical

progression emerges fiom "Must Be Born Again" and "Oh Death Where is Thy Sting" by

Rev. J.M. Gates, illustrating "one of the earliest modes of Christian religious singing in

this country," to the "advanced style of singing" of the last selection, "I'm In the Battle

Field of My Lord" by Rev. D.C. Rice and His Sanctified Congregation.''

The "Songs" of Volume Three encompass travel, disappointment, betrayal, jail,

and defiance. Technically, Smith aimed at the representation of as many States as

possible. The notes to this section specifically identiQ each singer's region: Kentucky

(represented by Buell Kazee), Tennessee (Uncle Dave IMacon) and specifically Memphis

(Cannon's Jug S tompers and the Memphis .hg Band), Lousiana (the Acadian Didier

Herbert and the New Orleans musician Richard "Rabbit" Brown), Virginia (the Carter

Farnily and the Stoneman Farnily), and Texas (Blind Lemon Jefferson). But while

regional distinctions are offered, attention to what Smith calls "folk-lyric elements"

contradicts performance differences with evidence of textual similarities. The notes to

the first Song, Clarence Ashley's "The Coo Coo Bird" remind us of the interchange of

phrases and verses between foik songs. For instance, "The Mountaineer's Courtship"

ends with the very familiar "Run and tell Aunt Sally" Five songs, al1 pertaining

'' Smith, notes to selections 42,43 and 56.

" '"Run and tell Aunt Sally that her old grey goose is dead / The one she's been swing
to make a feather bed."
to prison, are grouped together as examples of formulait comp~sition.~
For Julius

Daniels's "Ninety4%neYcar Blues," Smith refers the d e r to Robert Johnson's "Last

Fair Deal Gone Down" and Booker Washington White's "Parchman F a r d as two more

recent recordings (not inciuded on the Anthology) whkh ohuc the song's f o m i ~ i a s . ~

Themaûcally, the prison songs connect to Uncle Dave Macon's "Way Down The Old

Plank Road" which leads to another group of five songs, this time demonstrating work

songs. Of this group, Mississippi John Hurt's "SpiLe Driver Blues" is another version of

"John Henry'' which, in recalling "Gonna Die with My Hammer in My Hand" of the

bal lad section, shows how subject matter does not obey genre classifications.

Overall, the selutions and arrangement of songs offcr a vicw of life burdened

with hardship and incarceration, punctuattd by rcmcmbrances of murder, disaster, and

outlaws. In the midst of this life, and the Antholow. the Folk dance and find hope in

God. The listener is forcd to consider the songs in relation to each other within their

new context, despite the variety of vocal and musical styles. The Handbook emphasizes

intertextuai (and intermusical) relationships not just ktwtca the songs containcd in the

Antholow but also with those outside it. Throughout, the notion of isolatcd dcvelopmcnt

"In order, they arc '%or Boy Blues" by Ramblin' Thomas,"Feaîhcr Bed" by
Cannon's Jug Stompas, "Country Blues" by Dock Boggs, 'Winety-Nine Y m Blues" by
Julius Daniels, and "Rison Ce11 Blues" by Blind Lemon kffason. Smith explains that
the songs themsclves display little overlsp in lyrics, but in cach "most of the verses m
selected fiom a gcneraî stock of about 800 fiequently hcarâ couplets d m g Mth prison"
(notes to 71).
Smith, notes to selcction 74.
of musical traditions is simultaneously prcscnted and questionedM The Hancibook's

index meticulously cross-rcfercnces thcmts and Iexicon, such as "prison," "raihaci,"

"death," and bbdreams."The and its apparatus harmonizc its diverse voices,

instrumentations, and styles through a vision of an alternative musical hcritage,

challenging 'khat was considered to be the world culture of high class music.'" It was

highly significant in stimulating the reception of folk music, including blues. by a second

audience which celebrates the collection as "the founding document of the American foik

r e ~ i v a l . ' ~Many
' listmen wcre inspird to emulate the performances, collect eviy

recordings, and seek out the perforrnm h e d on the An-. Artists such as

Mississippi John Hurt found themseives pdorming once again, but this time the venues

and audience were very differcnt. In 1959, Samuel Charters's publication The Country
Blues, which featwes a chaptn on Robert Johnson, led a blues revival which lasted until

about 1970 only ta rcsurface in the 1980s.

***
Both the Exeter Book and the Antholow o f Amcrican Fok M u i employ
~ the phciple

86 John Fahey. untitled, A c t of Iasavs. 9 . .

p o r # : m
Pertainine(Washington Music: Srnithsonian
Folkways Recordings, 1997) States, "The White and Blsfk f o b fouad [in the
Antholoszfj,despitc the persistent protestations of many white artists...,listened to and
drew h m each othds musics in a landscope of musicai interchange nonexistent during
this sarne period bctwccn any other traditions to be faund under the rubric of 'Amcrican'
music" (9).

Smith's words in Cohen, "Rare IllteMcw" 11271.

Marcus, Invisible 87.

 22 1

of variety to convey a vision of truth. The Exeter Book compiler employs multiplicity as

a formal feature and as an interpretative device to participate in the wonder of God's

power and the hope of fiiturt salvation. Harry Smith miploys multiplicity to contemplate

an American p s t , one connected to land and paple, authentic in its honesty and

simplicity. Both anthologies explicitly teach their audimcc how to lista to the spoken

and musical voices of the tmts. Both anthologies mnstruct meaning through seiection,

arrangement, and explanation. The original significance of u c h text is a l t d in its new

anthologized existence and by the vicws of its new iistmcrs.

The Foikuways Anthology provides a mode1 of transmission and rcception of oral

texts by successive audiences. Rccording technology of the 1920s had a profound impact

on the circulation and stabilization of initially isolatcd vcniacular expression. The

commercial success of blues records simultaneously reinforcd and limited the

development of the genre. The lyrical and musical formulas that identifiai a blues song

became even more neceâsary as a common language to be shared with an unseen, distant

audience. Commercial success also resulted in the transmission of blues through thc

object of the record to its second audience; it is only b e c a w a surplus of m r â s still

existed that Harry Smith discovercd blues and other forms of folk music and was able to

re-introduce thern through the Anthology. It took about fi@ years for the blues to travel

fiom its inception, as a form unto itself, to its reception by a new audience. nie ballads,

on the other hand, took anywherc h m forty y- to 500 yean to mach the &&&gy.*

g9 For example, 'WenThat Great Ship Wcnt DownT*is about the sinking of the
Titanic in 1912, and, according to Smith's notes, the Child ballad "Fataï Flowcr Garden"
 222

Almost another fi@ years has passed since the AnthologX's first release, and, as before,

new technology, this time the CD, allows the collection to be re-released to a new

generation of listcncrs.

At some point, the appeal of the orally tnamittcd lamcnt was recognhed and

wri tten down. Circulated in manuscript, the lamcnt stabilized as a form, distinguished by

its particular formulas, which like those of blues had to connect the poet with an absent

l these manuscripts cnablcd thc compiler of the Exeter

audience. The s u ~ v aof

anthology to include them as examples of old poetry. By giving its contents new

meaning, the Exeter Book preserved and papeniatêd the use of those poetic forms. As

we have seen, the old fashioned lament is put into the mouth of the ancient Saian in the

Junius manuscript, and is employed in poctic interludes of history chronicla.

The Exeter Book's cmphasis on the act of unlocking hiddcn mcaning illuminates

the significance of Smith's Handbook as a guide to new musical and lyrical tenitory. For

the audience of both anthologies, reading is integral to the expericnce of oral t e m . But

for al1 the attention the compilm give to fomai varieties of stnicturc, voice, and

technique, the texts thcmxlves m a i n ultimately rnystaious. The riddling poemo of the

Exeter Book which hide and reveal, shift and change, challenge the listmas of the

American Anthology to admit how littlc we d l y understand about those songs. Evni

f i e r the Antholoas "Masked Marvcl" is unveilcd as Charlcy Patton, and the wo& to

his "Mississippi Bowcavil Blues" are evcntually worked out, the urban, middle cl=

- -

recounts evmts that occuned in 1255.

 223

listener will never fully appmiate the significance of a talking boll-weavil. The Exeter

Book reminds us that the songs of the molow hidt more than they reveai.
Today's North Arnerican mainstream Society immediately recognizes the sound of blues

as an expression of hardship. Evidence of this is easy to find: in television advertising,

the authentic art of blues guitar regularly calls to a pre-middle-aged, hard-working, need-

a-beer population, and provides a background for the consumer's search for satisfaction.

Words are no longer required; uistead, product advertisers replace the lyrics with a visual

image, efiectively manipulating the vocal poetics of d e s k .

In a sense, this process of historical and cultural recontextualization, by which a

blues Song like Robert Johnson's "Hel1 Hound On My Trail" finds its way to 1990s beer

ad, takes the blues formula full circle. Once again, the blues presuxnes an audience that

c m interpret the essence of its newly diluted (and distorted) rneaning. Although the

symbolic quality of the music carries the intricate vocal utterances of thousands of earlier

blues songs, the erasure of the verbal text by advertisers disconnects the blues ?traditionw

from its vocal origins in order to facilitate a relationship between a revised "blues

tradition" and its new audience. A version of this process of reception for Old English

poetry (aside from the appearance of Beowulf as a comic book action-hem) is a recording

of Deor, to which 1have had the pleasure of 1istening.I The poetic text is Sung in Old

English and set to a popular style of rock music. In this case, the preservation of the

language honours the text by retaining its original utterance; yet, such an act in a society

' Meg Lunney, "Deor," The Margaret Anns, Big Deal Records, 1998.
 22s
where there no longer exist native speaLm of Old Engiish, in c f k t , erâses the text.

Further inquiry into the nature of the prescncc of blues and Old English poeûy in today's

popular culture might meal an audience in nced of o W t i o n of uninhibitcd expression

with which to utter pcrsonai and public disillusionrncnt, alicnation, and anxiety.

My study of Old English lamcnts and African-Amaican blues has listened to the

voices of their texts cal1 and respond to each other. As scen in Chaptcr One, both petries

are self-reflexive in their presentation of speakers who are awarc of their role as

perfomers. Formulait introductions and touchstona, such pr n ç g evoke a

performance environment wiîhin whjch the pet-singer engages his or hcr unscni

audience. The mechanical borders of the text sirnultanamsly capture and mlease the

expression of exnotional turmoil, chaotic in its shifting pcmpcctive and discontinuity. The

speakers' refusal to individualize thmiseives encourages the transformation of an

intense1y personal utterancc into a public expression of sharcd expericnce. This

experience--1ived by the original audience-is rooted in the here and now. The Old

English larnent is decidedly earthbound y*, likc blues, app«as to havc a perfonnative

affiliation with the uplifting sennon. The juxtaposition of lamcnt and homily in

and Satan suggests that the Anglo-Saxons may havc pcrceived the lament as a

performative poeûy.

Al1 that is distinct in the vocal poetics of the blues and the laments--the fbt-

person speaker, the melancholic rnooâ, the themes of hudship and loncünar-is

produced by formulas. The case study of Robat Johnson's blues rccordinp off& a

perspective with which c e N i n issues arising in the s c b o l d p patPinllig to the "orality"

 226

of Old English poeûy can be viewed. The context of blues rccording similarly

complicates the application of Parry-lord's thwry of o n l poeûy. The complex stnicnual

design of the initial take of aich Song clearly reflects Johnson's prior prrparation,

rehearsal, and memorization of his tcxts; at the lcamt tune, howevet, a number of the

second takes reveal improviscd composition. Writing playcd a rolc in both composition

and transmission of blues songs. The nlatively elaboratc, cohesivc stmcture of Johnson's

blues reflect the use of writing; even so, 7% of his lyrics employ conventional blues

formulas found in the recordings of othcr singcrs. The second take of "Corne On In My

Kitchen" replaces the unique (non-formuhic) matcrial of takc 1 with dcvclopad b c s and

stanzas. Some see the use of "stock" or b'ossified" stantas as a sign of a stagnant and

dying oral tradition, but my study of blua 1- me to conclude that such a suggestion

reveals the aestheticjudgemcnt of an outsider who imposes a conception of "originalîty"

that is alien to fomulaic poetxy. The view fails to sec how successful communication

with distant audiences rcquires a common language of stabilizcd formulas. Furthamore,

Johnson's lyrics reveal how the well-established blues formula can bc expresscd in

innovative ways. Familiarity combincd with surprise is a kcy factor in the

communication of blues. hnically, Johnson's departurc h m the blues convention of a

loose associative lyric stncturc, appeals to a ncw audience with West= expectations of

structural and thematic unity. Today's audience praises his work as an advanced f o m of

blues: "Robert Johnson's music mains the touchstone against which the achiwcmat of
 227

the blues is rneasu~ed."~

As in blues, the themes, mood, and landscapc of the Old English lamcnt arc

generated formulaically. Although the formulas a~ociatcdwith &le and with

confinement are found throughout Old English poetry, thcy converge in the laments to be

spoken by a voice of pmonal experience. Chapter 'Zbrre examined the paradox o f this

convergence. The exile is physically fke yet confined by hk own aaxiety. On the blues

road or Old English 'kmclast," apart h m socid restrictions, the speaker revcals

personai anguish, and that act of speech is also an act of crcaîion and transformation.

Within the poetic interior realm, the oppression of worry and s o m w is pcrsonified and

confkonted by the speaker. The proccss is a poetic rituai of release. For the original blues

audience, the value of this ritual was significant. Ralph EUison writes,

Bessie Smith might have bten a 'blues queen' to the society at large. but

within the tighter N e p community whcre the blues w m part of a total

way of life, and a major expression of an attitude toward Iife, she was a

priestess, a celebrant who affimicd the values of the p u p and man's

Peter Gunlnick, -.k for Robert J o b (NewYork: Dutton, 1989) 5.

Johnson's records aitractad a saond audience almost immtdiatcly. In 1938, John
Harnmond attmpted to locate Johnson for the landmark Yrom Spirihiols to Swing*
concert to be held at Carnegie Hall in Decernber, sa Gunlnick 53-4. The concert,
dedicated to Bessie Smith and billed as "An wening of Amcrican N e w Music," was
organized by "The New Masses" to expose white audiences to the sound of Afhcan-
Arnerican music. Unfortunately, Johason dicd, acmrding to the dcath aitificate, at the
age of 26 on 16 August 1938; Johnson's derth c a t i f i e is reprinted in Steve LaVat,
liner notes, Robert John: The Cornlete- R Columbia, 1990, 17.
 228

ability to d u l with chaos.'

Tlie Old English lamcnts may have m e d a similar purpose for their original audience.

If the lament was perfonned before an audience, the voice of lonely struggle would have

been shared publically as a self- and pup-ofnrmùig rituai, celebratory in the

acknowledgment, confrontation, and rclease of the of hardship.

The emotive intensity of blues and the iarncnts continue to attract ntw listcncrs

and readers, who attempt to understand the sbange wit~lderingsof these tmts. One of the

more farnous members of the second audience of traditional fok music is quoted as

saying in the mid-1960s:

Al1 the authorities who write about what is and what it should be,' Dylan

said, 'when thcy say keep it simple, [that it] should be easily understood-

folk music is the only music whcrc it isn't simple. It's neva becn simple.

It's wcird . . . '

Bob Dylan's observation, based on pdormancc expericnce, illuminates the bamers

encountered by outsidm to the patry of blues and the Iaments. As discussed in Chapter

Four, second audience membcrs, raiseci outside the bistoncal and social context of blues,

attempt to gain acccss to the meanïng of the tcxts through rcading. The tnilure to imlock

blues is ofken compcnsatcd for by a romanticized and politicized version of the music's

origins and rneaning. The Follova~s-010~~ of Aq)cricaa Musif was significant in the

"Blues People," (1953; New York: Vintagc Books, 1995) 257.

- . R-lic:
' Greil Marcus, &pmible Bob Dulpe's B
t- T w (New Yorlr: Henry
Holt, 1997) 113.
 229

rediscovery of blues and country music in America; thc collation presented the new

temtory of traditional sang as a vision of authenticity. Similady, the Old English lammt

came to be anthologued as an example of vexnacular verse. In its new context of the

Exeter Book, the lament can be reintcrprctd as a poetic cxercisc designad to teach thc

reader-listener how to unlock divine tnith. The second audience seeks stability in the

elusive worlds of both petries. The vocal poetics of the Old English lament and the

Afiican-American blues projccts the cal1 across t h e and space, and wc Iisten and

respond to those Ionesorne words.

 Appeadix

A Formulait Analysis of Robert Johnson's Recorded Blues

The following analysis presents supporthg evidence for each formula occurring in the

lyrics of the twelve recordings discussed in Chapter Two. A half-line is considered a

formula when at least two analogues exist elsewhere in the corpus compiled by Michael

Taft, Blues LMc Poetry: An Antholow (New York: Garland, 1983). While phrases and

collocations that recur in Johnson's own work are noted to show his personal formula

preferences, 1 do not include these instances as evidence of formulaity. My focus is on

the dissemination of fonnulaic phritses throughout the corpus blues recordings. The

analysis proceeds stanza by stanza, and each stanza is identified with a reference code.

For example, KH 1.1 refers to "Kïnd Hearted Woman Blues," take 1, stanza 1. The

correspondhg stanza in take 2 is identified as K2.1.Due to space restriction, 1 provide

only two or three (sometimes more) examples of analogues for each formulaic phrase

found in Johnson's texts. Because illustrative manifestations of major formula families

appear in Chapter Two (75-80), 1 do not present those examples here. At the end of the

analysis, a summary of the formulaic percentage of each recording appears in Table A.

Take 1: 77% formulait (26 half-ha, 20 formulas)
Take 2: 81% formulaïc (32 half-hcs, 26 formulas)

KH 1.1 and K E 2.1

1 ~ oatkindhcartcd womm do anything this world for me
I l anything this world for me
But these evil-hcartcd womcn man, thev will not let me k

I aot a kindhearted woman is a manifestation of the major x-formula 1 have a

woman; variations similar to Johnson's occur in b t a broc womgn (WilU-4;

AleT-2) and Savs 1~ oathard-hearted wo- (AmK 36). Although Johnson's r-position

phrase "do anythuig [in] this world for me" might be relatcd in ~nise
to the following r-

phrases, both of which are coupled with a 4: have a womag x-formula., thcre is no

satisfactory analogue:

bota m San Antow :1 declare is sweet to me (JonL-9)

1 eot a little woman :but I swear she trcats me mean (GibC-20).

In the closing line, the incornpletc x - p h . "But these evil-hearted women" has no

analogue. The final half-line, man. tbçv will not let me bc, is a fairly common r-formula

that also appears in the opcning h e s of Johnson's ''Little Queen of Spades":

Now, she is a littlc queen of spadcs and men will not let her bç.
Other analogues include:

1 had a goad woman :but the men wouldn't let her (DorsT 12)

Guess i'll travel :I e s s I'll let hcr (Blak 3 1).

KH 1.2 and KII 2.2
1 love mv babv p v babv don? love me
1 love mv babv aoo mv babv don't love me
But 1 reallv love that womm can't stand to leavt ber

1 love mv babv is the major formula J love vou. The second half-line c m bc found

elsewhere in the same conjoincd position:

Now I love mv b e :but mv babv don't love mç (CarrL-15).

A second instance occurs in the opcning stanza of Baml Houx Buck MacFarlandls 1934

"1 Got To Go Blues," which is configured dong the same lines as Johnson's:

1 got to go : got to leave rnv babv bç

A d n :but pi? wo- do not care for (McFaB-1).

Of the closing line, But I rcailv love that w o m is, again, a manifestation of the major x-

formula I Iove vou, and can't stand to leave hct be is another manifestation of the last

half-line of stanza 1 (sec KH 1.1 and KH 2.1).

KH 1.3 and KH 2.3

Ain't but the one thing makcs Mister Johnson drink

Oh babe, piv Iife don7 fée1 the

-y h m vou cal1 m e r S o - a So's

1 find no analogue for "Ain't but the one thing," and only one possibility for the r-phrase

"makes Mister Johnson drink":

The woman 1love : has drivcn me to drink (Blak-27).

Thus, the phrase cannot k considerd formuhic. Ofthe 149 o c c ~ c e of
s the word

"drink" only cight (two being Johnson's) fbction as end-rhymes. rs womed 'bout b w
you treat me baby is a codlation of the two major formulas k m and 1 treat vou
good/bad. Manifestations of the r-fomiula I
includc:

1 told her to give me time :p d let me (JohAl-2)

But 1 don? ncva sit down one time :you know wu~sit
t and (WilIS-21)

You keep on talking :till vou make me thi& Wb-11).

The f k t two exampics rtiyme "%hic"with "drink'' as in Johnson's couplet. Like "'ciri&,"

only eight instance of the word "think'' (again, two are Johnson's) function as end-

rhymes.

Of the second couplet, "Oh babe" is not a formula but rather a vocative element

that prepares for the r-phrase. Analogues for the r-formula mjLïife don? ful the

include:

Since we been apart :mv life dont sena thÇ- (SykR-3)

p
Says 1 fetl so different :f~ (M-34)

Now ever since Louisa you been gone :m l i f c (WillS-6).

In the closing line, the x-formula Y o u m my h m OCCUIS clscwherc six timcs,

including:

1 know it would break h a h w :if shc found 1was banelhousing this way
(BaiK-1)

Lord -it b :to sing about Highway Sixty-One (SykR-16).

The r-formula WY-OU w i s t c r So-and-So'sm is more commonly found as,

Look a - h a you gct mad : e v w I cal1 vour (McmM-2)

 IIH 1.4 and K H 2.4
She's a kindhearted womaq ~ h studics
e evil al1 the
Shefsa kindhearted w o m a ~ h studies
e evil al1 the timç
You well's to kill me as to have it on vour &

She's a kindheartad woman is a manifestation of a common x-formula that exhibits a high

degree of variation; examples include Shc's a beautifùl womgn (ChatP-8), She's a cotton-

(JefB-41 ). The half-iine she studies evil al1 is an intriguing variation of a

cornmon r-formula, defineci in g e n d tenns as J do x ail the e. ûthcr manifestations

include: she barrehouse al1 the tilgç (CarrL-23), J'd stav al1 the timc (LcwF-2), a

k e e ~ as eood man womed WC

tirne (JcfB-21).
nie phrase You well's to kill rnc [You may as welï kiU me?] can be seen as a f o m

of a general x-formula1 kill vou: Going tO kill cvcrvbody @ad-2), Now I'm nOinp to

-
her (KeW-9). You don't have to kill mç ( F a - 5 ) . Thc fhai half-Illie g,to have it on vow
. .
mind is a variation of the major r-formula mmt thme 1s on my M.

KH 2.5

Some dav. some dav 1 11 WC vour band nood-bvç

Some dav. some &y J will &&e vour W o o d - b v ç
'
1 can't nive vou anmore of mv lovm cause 1 iust am t
* I I

Although Johnson's doublhg of ''some &y" is unusual, its use as a line opcna is

common:

Babv some dav baby :you poor haut is sure going to ache (WsbS-33)

But some & baby :youll long for me (Vinc-20).

Analogues of I will s m vour w - b v s includc:

 You don't miss pretty marna : till vou shake your hand noodbvç (Ledb- 1O)

1 don't want you no more sweet baby : hake e b v ç

(Vinc 14).

In the closing line, J can't Ove vou anymorc of my lovin' is a negation of the
common x-formula 1 nive vou some t u : n l nive vou satisfaction (Bi@- 14), 1

done 9ive vou mv money (TowH-4), (WasbS-14). The

final r-formula occurs 20 times and is typically prcsc~ltedas J can't be satisficd:

Got the blues :çan't bc satisfiQP (Hurt-6)

Poor boy has bccn rnistreatcd :p~ (ButlS-2)

I've got these blua :mauis ki not s a t i s u (McTW-3).

Take 1 : 80% fomulaic (30W-lines, 24 formulas)

Take 2: 73% formulait (30 half-lines, 22 formulas)

1 got rarnblin' b t rgmblm1 on mv

1 got ramblin' mt - f on mv rnw
Hate to leave mv babv but vou trcat mc so

The opening x-phrase is a non-formulait prefacc. b o t U l m on m v I

is a

manifestation of the major r-foimuln ~ o m c The miad. The ~@IS Ath

a variation of the major x-formuia .-ak The r - f o d a but vou trcg

me so unkind occurs in the songs of at least eight other artists; examples include:

Because the man I'm loving : (TucB- 1)

Judge I donc Lillcd my woman :befo-e trç@ed so (CmL-20).

 236

In take I , the closing line is repeated as a refiain in al1 but the third stanza. In the fi&

stanza of take 1 the x-formula is altered to 1 eo to leave m_vbabv.

R 1.2

I got rnean things 1 got mean things al1 on mv mind

Little girl, little girl 1 ~ omean
t t h i n ~ al1
s on mv mind
Hate to leave vou here. babe but vou m a t me so unkind

The first x-phrase is a non-formulait preface. "Little girl, little girl" is a vocative preface.

The r- formula of the first two lines is another manifestation of the major r-formula some

thine on mv mind. For the closing line, see R 1.1.

R 1.3

Runnin' down to the station catch the first mail train 1 see
(1 think 1 hear her comin' now)
Runnin' down to the station catch that old first mail train 1 see
1 got the blues 'bout Miss So-and-So and the child eot the blues about me

The formulait construction of this stanza is discussed in Chapter Two (X-REF).

Analogues for the cornrnon x-formula Runnin' down to the station indude:

1 went down to the station : and 1 could not keep fiom crying (WilsL-2)

I'm going to the station : meet the Cannonball (CollS-5).

Two analogues exist for the x-formula catch the first mail train 1 see:

I'm gong to hit this old highway : catch the fastest thine 1 see (WashbS-27)

Going to stand right here : catch the first old gai 1 see (DickT-1).

Of the closing line, 1 eot the blues 'bout Miss So-and-So is a manifestation o f the major x-

formula I eot the blues. The x-formula and the child got the blues about me is found
- -

within the same line configuration in the foliowing examles:

 1 eot the blues for mv b a h :~ h eot
e the blues for 1 sav me (Barr-1)

I've not the blues for mv babv :fnv babe not the blues for mç (JorC-3).

R 1.4
C C c ' '
mI
l l - l'
And I'm leavin' this mornm wth
- I -
- mv gfm' fold' ub and crvin f

I hate to feave mv babv but she ms me so

t

The x-formula of the opening (and closing linc) is manifestation of the major x-formula

I'm leavine (some olace). The opming r-formula is a speciPlized version of the major r-

formula 1 c q . For the closing linc, s e R1.l.

R 1.5 (See R 1.2)

And now, babe 1 will never forgive you mymorc

Little girl, iïttle girl 1will neva forgive you anymorc
You know vou did not want mç babv. whv did vou tell me SQ

"And now babe" and "Little girl, little girl" (held o v a from take 1) arc vocative prcfaces.

The r-phrase "1 will never forgive you anymore" has no clear analogue. It coulâ,

however, be relatd to the r-formula J will never sec vou anvmort, but in al1 cases of this

formula, the verb is dcfinitely "see," with one exception of "htar." Thus, I consider

Johnson's r-phrase to be anomalou. In contrast, the closing iinc is a standardized

conjoined unit; analogues include:

1 said if vou Qpn'twant mç :whv don't you tell mc so (BmwR-1)

Now if vou dont w m :whv dont vou tell me SQ (Shaw-3)

If vou didn't love me& :whv QiQDt vou W.

WcCl-15)
R 2.3 See R 1-3 and Chapter Two ( X-REF).

An' they's devilment ~ h eot

e devilment on h m
She got devilment little &l, vou ~ odt e v i w on vour miilQ
Now I aot
- to lcavc this m o a wth
- - mv arm' fol& UD and -
1 I

The opening x-phrases are non-fonnulaic prcfaces. The ncw r-formula, sht g ~devilment
t

on her mind, is yet amther manifestation of the major r-formula m e t

w 1s on mv
. . -

-
mind. In the closing line, the x-formula is a maaifestation of the major x-fomula

ieavinn (some dace). The r-formula is a m a n i f d o n of the major r-formula J cry.

R 2.5

1 believç J believe mv u ' t Io=

1believc J believc that m w
But I'm leavin'this momjap J bcliwe 1will go back homç.

The incomplete statement J believç developed as an x-formula in its connection with the

- o h back homç. Herc, it is iinkcd to a ncw partnet: 1 believe mv

major r-fomuia I'm n

time ain't long is a maniftstation of the major r-formula jt won? be IOM. The line

believe 1 believe 1'11 no back home is well established, PppePMig as the nist linc in s o n s

such as Kokomo Arnold's "Sissy Man Blues" (ArnK-S), Lcroy Carr's Y Beiieve I11 Make

a Change" (CarrL-25), and Jack Kelly's '1Believe I'11 Go Back Home" (KeU-4). Johnson

uses the line in "1 Believe I'11 Dust My Broom."

" m e n YOPGot A Good Friendm

Take 1 : 77% fonnuiaic (30 half-lines, 23 formulas)

Take 2: 75% formulaic (36 half-lines, 27 formulas)

W 1.1 and W 2.1

When vou not a df i i d that will- bv vour sidc

When vou not a@ frimd *at will stav r& bv vour sidç
Give her ail vour mare. jove & tttêt h n a.
In a broad sense, When vou not a dfriend can be seen as a manifestation of the major
x-formula 1 have a womm but as a 'tvhen" clause it takes on a more spccializcd fonn.

More specifically, the phrase is one o f a s d number of variations of When vou havç

someone; m e r examples includc Whm vou not a hard-hcartcd womm (GibC-14), Now

when vou not a (CoxI-Z), and Qh when YOU ww~lgpn(WasbS-17). The

opening r - f o d a belongs to a s m d group that includes:

1 cannot shun the devil : j~t

stav r i h t bv mv sidç (Howe-8)

1 didn't have to look for my buddy : ooo wcll well he s nght therc bv nly sidç
f .

(Gill- 12)
. .
I f you want your lova : you bettcr to vour sidç (JefB- 19)

In the closing line, Give hm al1 of vour parc timç is an unique variation of a

formulaic irnperativc Qvc hcr s o m. Othcr instances includc: Give -&y

The phrase loveis a m i s k a t i o n of the major r - f o n d a J trcat VON

W 1.2 and W 2.2

1 mistrcated mv b&y gtld 1 no r q p n why

1 mistrcated mv baby md 1m't set n o m n whv
 Evervtime 1 think about it 1 iust wrinn mv han& and cry.

1 mistreated vou babv is a m a n i f e t i o n of major x-formufa J treat vou ~ood/bad.

Analogues for the r-formula and 1 can't set no mason why exist in f o m such as 1'11 tell

you the reason whv (Shad3), plcase tell me the rrppon whv (SmiBM-3). and you know

the reason whv (Blak- 13).

For the closing line, th= are two definite analogues for Evmrtimc I think about

Everv timc 1tw : 1thïnlc I'm downtown (Stok-4)

Everv time I thiQk of that womgn ;1wishcd 1had never been boni (CarrL-23)

This fonnula can be seen as a mcmber of the larger systcm E v e e 1 do s o m

which includes Evcrv time b t dru& ( A m - 3 l), Everv,tinie 1sct y u (Stok-4), and

Everv time 1 move (WilK-2). The r-formula Ljust wring mv s d cxy is a

manifestation of the major J CR-

W 1.3 and W 2.3

Wonder codd 1bear apologize or would she syrnpathizc *th me

Mmmmmm would she sympatbize with me
She's a brownskin w o m ju swtet as

Both half-lines of the opening Line are onginal (ic., non-fonnuiaic). In the closing line,

the x- formula Shc's a bmwnslrin wo- is of the same family as Johnson's earlier Sht's a

kindhearted worllap (sec K1.4and K2.4 above). Andogues for the r-formula j m
. .
sweet as a includc as (WasbS-8)- ppPhS's sweet as a

be (JonM-1 1), and m o w the fee- . . w-1)-

W 1.4
 Mmmm babe, 1 mav be ripht or wroqg
Baby, it's your opinion oh. 1mav bc N t or UrfOng
Watch vour close friend, baby then your memies can't do you no h m

In the first line, "Mmmm babe" is a vocative prcfoce. A smali group of analogues for the

r-formula 1 mav be rinht or includc:

Lord: am 1 riAt or w r o u WlSy-1)

I may be right :I(Vbec-19)

Boy 1 may be right Lord :b v 1mv be wiow (Wcld-5)

Some people say I'm right now : - OS (Spm-3)

As can be sem in thc last thrcc usmples, Johnson's variation more typicaily occurs in an

expanded hll-line fonn.

For the closing Iine, 1 find only tbrce 0 t h variations of the r-formula Watch v o y ~
close iriend exist: You can't waîch vow wifç (ReyJ-1), 1 me- to watchripv mgn (SmiB-

15), BOYSvou better watch t h m woma @oyl-2). 1have not includcd phrases basai on

"watch your step mama" or "watch yourself"because the sense diverges h m that of

mistrust. The r-phrase "then your aiemies can't do you no hum" is original; of the 29

instances of the word 4'barm,"22 arc found in the estabIished r-formula J dont

hum, which 1 f e l differs in sense h m Johnson's haif-line: the word "memi"emphasks

intention rather than actuai thrcat of harm.

W 1.5 (see W1.1and W2.1)

1 love mv baby but IIcan't makc thu a m ]

1 love that womyl [but why can't we can't agrcc]
] woq&r whv we tant
 242

The x-formula of al1 threc lines is a manifestation of the major x-formula J love vou. For

the r-phrases see Ch- Two O(-REF). Of the closing l h , d o g u e s for the h a l r-

formula mmm wonder whv we can't aeree include:

Because you know 1 love you :md how corne we w i ' t aarec (JohLo-3)

I f 1 ever find a way to lave him :if we cannot (MartD-1)

Because dont you h o w baby :you and I can't a- (WasbS-6).

W2.S (see W1.4)

W2.6 (see W1.1and W2.1)

T o m e On In M y Kitchen"

Take 1 : 56% formulaic (34 ha1f-lincs, 1 9 formdas)

Take 2: 65% fomulaic (40 half-lins, 26 formulas)

Excluding R e m
Take 1 : 59% fomulaic (22 half-lines, 13 formulas)
Take 2: 73% fomulaic (26 half-lines, 19 formulas)

K 1.1 and Refrain ( d l stanzas)

Mmmmmmmm
Mmmm mmmm
You better came on mv kitchen it's goid to be minin' outdoors
You better come on in mv k i m it's goin to be rainin' outdoors

For a discussion of the nonverbal utterance, sae Chapta Two (X-RE).

. .
At a deep semantic levcl, You bcttcr w e ui rn is a manifestation of the

major x-fomula Lpg Ito somc ~1-k Taft p d d e s the êumple Spyhyou CO- b-

baby (ThpA-1; "Lyrics" 527). Variations clora to the surfkc inchide YOUhad

-
come (SmiC-12) and S O @ ~ bettcr
~Y CO- (BakW-14), and a mail f d y of
 243
. .
Corne in x-formulas which include: Oh corne rn hm&WfiW-9), S i d corne in h m

(CollS-1 l), and Çome in here baby (GibC4). Of the 36 occurrnca of the word
. .
"kitchen," al1 but thne appear in the x-fornula -e 1s ui kitchen: Ftaisi$

mean in mv kitchen (JefB-59); Blues in rnv k i t c b (JefB41 ); Starvation in the kitchcn

(E3igB-2).

Although the word "outdoors" is a common rhyme word (22 of its 29 occumces

function as an end-rhyme), there is no satisfactory semantic analogue. In most cases, the

"outdoors" r-formula renders the breakdom of a love relationsbip in the physical action

of forcing the l o v a to lave. In othcr words, cither the person or their belongings gct

thrown out: you but me outdoo~(McTW-34), SBç k i c w O (JorL-2);

U ~ ~ O O ~ *a
set mv tnink outdwrs (Aker-1). The r-formula is also used in the the overdue

rent/unsympathetic landlord scenario. The essence of Johnson's r-phrase is quite

di fferent.

K 1.2

Some ioker not lu- gole h a back a-

You better corne on in kitch- it's goin' to be roinin' outdoors

This couplet is an cstablishtd mit; I find six other occurrences, including:

The womag 1 love Lod :mlai her fia-v best ~&

But he eot lucky
- :9 (JarnS- 1)

1 stole mv H&: &gm mv bosorn fi-

That fwl not luc& :be stoled h n back- (McTW-2).

Ah. she's m o w she won't CO-

 I've taken the last nickel out of hcr nation sack
You better corne on in mv kitch= it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors.

This stanza's Ah, shc's gone belongs to the x-formula group She's Qonçwhich ïncludes

seven instances of Mv babv's pone (cg., DaviW-1, McCOJ-13, and McTW-26) and at

Ieast eight versions of You eone and lcfi mp (cg.. SmiB-4, Rain-2î. and Lock-1). The

word "gone" (occurring 428 times) is prcdominantly uscd as a rhyme word. Thrct

analogues exist for Johnson's r-formula m w she won'tcorne ba&

Because them doublecrossing woman left me :900 well well and won't CO%

-
back (Whea-29)

1 said you may go :you'll corne back

Now it don't worry my mind :~ w Q Q never corne Q

back (Whea-38).

A closely relatexi r-formula p u p =tains the rhyme-word 'Back'' but places the

responsibility of the lover's return on the speaker:

Ifonly :could net mv nood man back (MemM-24)

Believe I'11 take :~ n old-hev

v rider b& (GibC-Il).

K 1.4

(Oh, can't you hear that wind howl?)

(Oh, can't you hear that wind howl?)
You better CO- on mv kit- it's goin' to be rainïn' outdoors.

Because the couplet is spokni, 1consida the lines to be CXtfafomuiaic interjections. A

note on howling in blues: the wind howls in a smail x-formula group; for example.

The wind is howlipo :hcar that wickd sound (JonM-7).

More often, however, the howling is done by the speaker himself (again, as an x-
formula), as in Johnson's "Stones In My Passway":

And when vou hear me howlin' in mv mswav. ridq ph-case open your door
and let me in.

When a wo- in troublç evervbodv throws hcr dowq

Loolcin' for hcr nood fncnd wne can bc f o a
You bettcr corne on in mv kit- it's goin' to bc rainid outdoors.

When a woman gets in troublç is a variation of the multi-facetcd x-formula 1am iq

trouble. Specific analogues includc Whcn 1 (Gi11-12). Did vou ever aet iq

trouble (McClu-1)' and You not me in trouble (AieT-IO). The following example

employs the r-formula to similarly convey the fairwca!her fiend motif:

Whm vou net in troubla : you can always teil who's your fiend (Luca-4).

friend throws -vou do- (OweG-1), plcase don't throw me do- ) , ~ hw

( H o w ~ ~and e t~

put her sweew down ( C M - 8 ) . Johnson's opening line as a whole appears with slight

variation in two songs of Jaybird Coleman:

en a in troublç : (CoW-1 and -6).

Of the closing line, many versions of LgpLiD'for cxist; exampl=

include Lookinn for (LewF-1). l

oom for vou b.by (JohMa-3). ~ n d

lookine for somame to lovç (Gros-2). The r-formula Done can be f o w ~ p p e ~ r s

elsewhere as you could not be f o d and (CamL-36). a mv D ~ Dw't

. be f o d (rd).

Blind Boy Fuller uses the r-formula to convey the fainivder fiend motif:

Yeah now I'm broke :m m aqd thev canY bc foypP (FuiB-15).

 246

As discussed in Chapter Three, the formulas of Johnson's stanza are often employed to

generate the motif of social abandonment and isolation. A stanza of Robert Lee McCoy's

"Tough Luck" (1937) utilizes two of the formulas:

When a man gets in tough luck : nobody wants him around

If he haven't got any money : there is no Friend to be found (McCoR-1)

Winter time's cornin' it's gon' be slow

You can't make the winter, babe that's dry lone so
You better come on in rnv kitchen 'cause it's gon' to be rainin' outdoors.

Winter time's comin' belongs to a subset of the general x-formula It is coming, in which

slot-fillers often indicate tirne, and particularly seasons: And winter is corning (DaviW-

3,S~rinptimecoming (ThoR-3). and Harvest time's cominq (Hurt-7). Analogues of the

r-formula it's con' be slow include Lord it's cornine too slow (Hull-S), he was verv slow

(LeeX-l ), and but she walk too slow (LofW-3).

No analogue exists in Taft's corpus for the x-phrase "You can't make the winter

babe." However, the seemingly unusual final r-formula that's dry long so does occur in

the songs of three other singers:

Reason I'm hanging around here : man I'rn stickine here drv lone so (JefB-27)

Reason I'm hanging around here : stickine here drv long so (Este-23)

These hard times will kill you :just drv long so (JarnS-4).

K 2.1 (see K 1.1)

K 2.2 (see K 1.5)

K 2.3 (see K 1.2)

K 2.4 (see K 1.4)

Nn. the woman that 1 love J crave to sêç

She's UD the countq won? writt to mç
You better corne on in rnv kitch- goin' to be tainin'outdoors.

Variations of this stanza appear in Blind Lcmon Jcffcrson's "Wartime Blues" (1926) and

Curley Weaver's "Oh Lawdy Marna" (1935):

Woman 1 love :wornan 1crave to

She in Cincinnati : won? evcn write to (WeaC4).

In light of the high degrce of flexibiiity of the closing x-formula She's sQEDewherç,

Johnson's She's un the counm is rathcr uninspireci; it is an estabiished formula that

occurs 19 times. For marnple: Well f'm UD

- the CO- (SpiV-1 O and CollS-2) and

Lord she went UD the country (AleT4).

K 2.6

1 went to the m o m far as mv mes could s e

Some othcr womm
But rhc bcttcr corne on - - t ik cause it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors.

This stanza ais0 occurs in Johnson's "If1 Haâ Possession Over Judgement My." The

formulas of the opening line devclopcd as a conjoined unit. Variations include:

S t a n m on the moUmyn : far as 1 (Hm-7)

1 went un on a- :.
SCÇ (BI%-3).

Likewise, both fornuias of t& closing line are fotmd togeiher elscwhcfc, as in followiag

examples:
 8:man_hadrdand the blues had me (RecdW-1 ),

Some man had mv womaq : blues had mç (Tore-2).

Another man had mv wife : gad 1wepr the Nippara blues had mç (ColeK-2).

K 2.7

MY mama dead papa wtli's to be

Ain? PO^ nobodv to love
. .
She better corne on ui h s kitcha 'cause it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors.

M y mama's dead occurs six tung as an x-fonnuia with minimai variation. Although the

rnother/father collocation is common, Johnson's r-phrase, "papa wcll's to bc," is unique.

In the closing line, the x-formula mt not nobody murs 6requently in blues

1yrics; analogues include hgin't got nobody (Blacw-8), wow vou am

- 1
t got nobody (ïhoJ-

2), and She ain't ~ o nobady

t (McCoJ-20). Johnson's r-fonnula $0love and carc for rnc

combines two closely rclateâ formulas: vou don't love me and you don't care for me.

Analogues include: but mu babv don't love (CarrL-15). but mv woman do net

for me (McFaB- 1), and but vou don't evm care for me (ArnK-21).

Take 1 : 75% fonnulaic (32 half-lines, 24 formulas)

Take 2: 69% formulait (36haif-hcs, 25 f o d a s )

P 1.1 and P2.1

Beaûice. she got a ppd it won? say a l m m e w o d

Beatrice. a o -t a but it won? spv a 10n-e wod
What evil have 1 done v r m.
The x-formula Jhatrice.she eot aehPPPgEPPh is a variation of the cornmon mt a x,
which has innnite possibilities: 1pot a letter h m rnv ridq (NelsR-2), She not a hcad

iike a switch-eneinc ( S y W ) , or Mv babv shc got a mojp (McTW-33). The r-formula

and it won't sav a Ionesorne word is a fonn of won't sav a wod:

M y baby quit me :&ddt sav a w o d (BracM-4)

Eight o'clock in the morning :don? BY ont- m (McmM-27).

In the closing line, thcm are no analogues for thc x-phrase ' m a t evil have I
done" in this position; elscwherc the p h r w does occin pz an r-forrnuls for example:

Hey jailor : tell me what have 1 dow (Rwi-16).

Although the half-line is formuhic, it's anomdous position in Johnson's iine disquaiifies

it from being countcd as a fornula h a . The subsequent r-fonnuia what evil

poor nirl heard is an unwual variation of the wmc- group typicaily rhymed

with the r-formula won't sav a word, as in the following:

Baby done quit me : ain't said a murnblinn w o d

It weren't nothing that she laiowed Lord :M t som-t she head (Estes-9)

And m y f i n i d passed me :and she never said a w o d

Nothing 1 did :but was-os head (BaiK-1).

P 1.2 and P 2.2

Beatrice. 1 love m m but you have broke my windin' chah
Beatrice. 1 love mv p b o n o d o o ~honcy, you have broke my windin' chai.
And vou've tak~lltivlovgi: and nive it to vour O-.

The opening x-formula is a mpnifestation of the major x-foimula J love YOM. Its r-phme

is unique due to the substitution of "windin' chain" for ''heart;" the r-fomula vou b e

mv heart occurs sixteen times in Taft's corpus.

The two fonnulas of the closing line cm be found togethcr elsewhere; for
 exampfe:
. .
Sav vou taken al1 mv money :pivc it to your no-pood mgn (BigB-9)

You taken mv monev :md v t it on vour other m a (Whca-5).

P 13 andP2.3
Now, we playcd it on the sofa, now wc ~lavedit on the wall
My needles have got rusty, baby &çy will not plav at al1
W e played it on the sofa @ we ~ l a ~ it-e dmde the W dl
# -

But my needles have got nisty and it will not ~ l a at

v a&

This stanza is recon@ud in talce 2 as a standard 2AA s t a n a AU of the x-phrases are

unique. The r-formula we ~Iavedit 'side the w d is relaîeâ to the gcneral p m e O

the wall; manifestations includc you can it on the w;dl (WilcG-l and JohLs-3),

like a clock UD on the w a (AM-39), and put vour foot UD sidç the w a (DaviW-18).

Louise Johnson's "On the Wall" (1 930) prcsents the idea of vertical sex more dircctly

with the line,

Going to tell you womcn :_howto cock it on the w a (JohLs-3).

The rhyming r-formula thev will not ~ l a avt al1 belongs to the fPnily of 1

won'tkan't do s o m e w n at 4:
1can't sec vour face at (DaviW-1); well. 1won't

back at al1 (JohTo-4); J can't slcçp at a (Wilk-5).

P 1.4 and P 2.4

Analogues for Johnson's &pice. 1g~ q include:

 I'rn iust as c m m cray :as a poor girl can be (McmM-2 1 )

And 1 was almost crazy : because 1 had nowhcrt to go (McTW-3 1).

In take 2,Jobnson replaces eo crigy with a repcat of J love m y p h o m a

manifestation of the major x-formula 1 love vou. The r-foimula 1 will losc mv minQ

occurs frequently, and is ofim paired with the above "crazy" x-formula:

Well well well I'm g&ggo po:but babv kre got to now losc rny mind
(Wh=-3)

I f 1 don't PO ctgzy : sure to losc mv migd (nioR-4)

Lordme w o m :gr either &e me lose

(McTW-3 1).

Ordinarily, Johnson's Whv'n't vou briOg vour clo&s back homç would bc uscd as

an r-formuia (as he does in takt 2, stzd), but, herc, it can be vicwed as an elaborate

version of the x-formula back to mç. Analogues inciudc Will he corne back to mC

(SmiT-9), I'm Poinn back bpme to mv baby ( S p - 7 ) , and Corne back homç (Glov-3). Or,

it can be seen as a variation of the x-formula back homq which includa: a

I'm eoinn back h o m (AmK-11)and Jf1 e v a pet back homp (Linc-6). The x-
formula trv me a morc occurs elsnuhcrc in coajunction with the x-formula

me back, a construction Johnson adheres to in essence oniy.

Take me back baby :fiy mejust -ore (Linc-4)

Take me back pretty mama : owmore (RadW-2)

Take me back baby :w r me o w morc (Darb-1).

P 1.5 and P 2.5 (se P l . l )
 252

This stanza repeats P.1.1 except that in take 2, rcptaces the x - f o d a ( with the vocative

preface "Now, my (littic) phonograph, mmm."

Now, Beatrice won't vou b- vour clothcs back home

NOW, B&~X w m r vou -OUT CIO-
1 wanna wind vour littlc phono- iust to hear vour ]&le motor moaq.

The openhg x-phrase, "Now Beatrice," is a vocative prefsee. J o b n rcuses won't vou

brinrr vour clothes back ho= in the more conventional r-position. Hm,it is a
manifestation of the major r- formula W
ni back home.
o
n

The closing tint echoes the metaphorid pattern of ‘Terraplane Blues" in which
an x-phrase such as T m gon' hoist your hood, mama" is a tcmplate for J w m

.- The closest analogues occur in a common double entcndrç x-

foxmula 1 want to saueae vour b~

as seen in the following:

Babv DI- la me roll vour lanoq :and squeeze it the whole ni@ long
(ChatB- 1O)

Now let me saucez vour lemon baby :until my love corne down (Pick-2)

Corne on let me sqyeezc v o w o n bgby :1m u n anyhow (WillS-8).

Johnson's concluding r-formula iust to hear vour little motor m m is an innovative play

on the common r-formula m o a similu in mcsning but tecbnically not Pnnlogous to

the major r-formula m.Variations includc

That's the nason why : hear me_crV (HicR-21)
I'm going back to Texas :hear wild ox m p ~(OweM-1)
l
 Baby baby don't you worry :sunar don? vou wem and m o p (Spm-8).

"Cross Road Bluesn

Take 1 : 73% fonnulaic (30 half-lines, 22 formulas)

Take 2: 79% formuhic (24 half-lincs, 19 formulas)

fell down on mv blPçS

1 went to the crossrod fcll down on
Asked the Jnrd above "Have pow savc m r Bob if vau ~lcasç.
..
I went to the crossroad is a manifestation of the major x-formula 1 no ( s o m e m . The

stanza as a wholc is a conventionalcoliocation dcscribing a rihulUed plea Othcr

versions include:

Thm I'm to the-

. . : md I'PlPQjDO to fa11 d o m on w
Ask h h bkâst fur lu& :have mercv on me ~lcasq(CarrL-20)

Went to the mavevarQ :fell down on rn-

And I asked the gravcd- :U v e s back mv ggod mpaplew (Hite-1).

C 1.2

Ooo-ecc J tried to flpp a ridç

Didn't nobodv ~ e a tno know me. bphy çverybodv me by.
The first x-formula is a variation of the cornmon 1pn ( S O foamd
~ in

such foms as the station (Howe-9). J w m the colpq (W.cbS-11,

WelS- 1, MooAi4), and hem- a (JohBi-2). JohiiPon's Med to

-
ride appears elsewhcft in the contcxt of train travel; for example:
 Delano was a man : who could f l a mv
~ train for a ndç (WillX-2)

And 1 know he was a rambler : whm he caueht that train to ride (BogL-20)

Well now whcn a man takcs the blues : now hc w'Il catch him a train a ride
(Whea-4)

Keep the blues : FI1 catch that train & ride (Hurt-6).

Of the closing Iinc,Ddn't nobdv seem to b w bclongs to a small family

which also includes Nobodv knows mv (SmiR-19) and rJobodv knows mv troubles

(RedN-1). This group could bc extendad to include the more cornmon x-formula 1 ain't

got nobody (eg., SmiC-4, HendK-3, Blak-37). The half-line evervbody pass me by

qualifies as an r-formula basal on a small nurnbcr of occunrnccs o f the g e n d m e o n e l

s bv (Vinc-14); set the worned b l u ~

s variations uiclude: still vou ~ a s me
thina ~ a s bv;

pass bv (ColeK-2); or must 1 mss on by (JackC-9).

C 1.3
.. - doq
Standin' at the crossroad. b&y nsin' sun goln l

.. - ' down
Standin' at the mssroad. babv tec. nsm' sun Win
. -
I believe to my s<rU1. nOW poor Bob 1s s&n
* '
dow.

Johnson repeats the opcning x-formula of the prcvious stanza (sec C 1.2). The r-formula

risin' sun eoin' d o q is found vdatim in Blind Blake's "Onc Time Blues" (1 927; Blak-

9) and Blind Boy Fullds "Somebody's Bem Taikin"' (1940;Fm-10). More broadly,
there are many versions of the r-formula &e -O d o m the most common variation is:

1 hate to sec: doq.

The closing x-formula J believe ta mv sou occias verbah 27 times in T e s

corpus:
 1 believe to mv sou1 : sweet marna going to hoodoo me (JefB-4)

1 believe to mv sou1 : my girl got a black cat bone (WatkR-1).

Johnson uses the x-formula again in 'Tmm Four Till Late," rccordcd during the 1937

session:

1 believe to mv sou1 that your daddy's Gulfport bound.

Analogues for Johnson's poor Bob i s sinkin' d m " include:

Have ail my money gone : 1 fccl rnv-

- . do= (SykR-2)

Blue ghost has got me :J fecl mvself s

. . m do= (JO-28).

C 1.4

You can run, you can run tell my fknd Wiilie Brown
You can r u , you can ntn tell my fnend WiWe Brown
That I aot the crossroad b!ues ttus m o -m babe. Pm sinlpIlg, dom.
# . .

Johnson's opening line is unique;no aaalogucs cxist for ci- half-he. The closing line

combines a manifestation of the major x-formula Lpot the bluep and the "sinking" r-

formula used in the previous stanza (sec C 1.3).

1 went to the 1 lookcd east and west

1 went to the cramaci. babç 1 lookcd east and west
Lord 1didn't have no swcct wompp ooh-wcll, babc, in my distress.

The o p d g x-formula rcpcats thaî of the first stanza, and is a m a n i f i o n of thc mjor

x-formula Sgo (somc DM.

Thae a i s t s taro instances which could seme as d o g u e s
for "1 looked east and wcst," but both arc found in the wo* of Henry Thomas; thacforc,

1 do not consider the phrase to be formuiaic.

The x-fonnula LgLaI di&%have no swect w

- is a nega!ed version of the
major x-formulaI have a wom-. The fuial half-line of take 1 is unique; the word

"distress" does not appear in Taft's corpus (which does not include take 1 of "Cross

Road").

C 2.1 (see C 1.1)

C 2.2 (see C 1.2)

C 2.3

Mmm. the sun noin' down- boy m n ' catch me h w

Ooo-ee boy. dark non' c a m e hcrç
- swcct w-O
1 haven't mt no lovm P
love ;md fcel mv carç.

As an x-formula, Mmm. the noinl d~wr\is more flexible than the r-formula secn in C

1.3. Analogues includc:

WeII the sun &

- do- : and you lmow what you promiseci me (JamS-2)

h s t at the se- of the suri :W s when the work is done (WhiW-8)

See the sun wcnt down marna : left it so lonesome hcre (Brac-rl).

Lncluded in this family arc variations such as Well the sun rose this mominp (DayW-2)

and Before the sun ri- (PcrkG-1). Thm exists four analogues for the Johnson's r-

formula dark non' catch me hem; the nrst two arc as follows:

Got a Saturday one :wcll sht bettcr not catch @dl- 1)

I've got a Thursday one : wt she m e r not cat& me hqç (LofC-2)

The third shares Johnson's linc collocaîion:

The ris- :will n e v a catch

The fourth analogue occurs within a stanzaic collocaiion quite simîlar to Johnson's:

Said the Sun down now :0

 Ain't not nobodv to love me :nobodv to feel mv c m - (BracM-2).
- sweet woman, seen in
The closing line =uses the x-formula J havm't got no lown @

C 1.S. It is a negatcd manifestaton of the major x-formuln 1have a woma. In addition

to the above instance (BracM-2), variations of Johnson's r-fomiula !ove and feel mv c m

include:

The rcaron 1 feel that way mama :Lgia't ggt nobodv to feel mv care (Shor-5)

Well well well if sht do : wcll well slie sure don? feel mv GUT (Whta-1)

You can nm. you uui run tcli my fiimd-boy W i e Brown

You can nui tell my fiend-boy Willie Brown - . m do=.
Lord. that I'm î
at- babc J bclieve I'm s

As in C 1.4, the opcning half-Iincs arc unique. The reviscd closing linc muses the x-

formula Standin' at thc cro- (set C 1.2 and C2.2), and the
. . d o q r-formula of

take 1 (see Cl -4) with the elaboration of '7 believc."

 258

Table A: S u m m 7 of the foxmulaic analysis of the lyrics of twtlve blues rccordings of

Robert Johnson.

#
formulas

Kind Hearted Woman Blues -1 20

-2 26

Rarnblin' On M y Mind -1 24
-2 22

When You Got A Good Friend-1 23

-2 27

Corne On In M y Kitchen -1 19
26

Phonopph Blues -1 24
-2 25

Cross Road Blues -1 22

-2 19
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