Rose's Red, Vi'lets Blue
Rose's Red, Vi'lets Blue
Rose's Red, Violet's Blue
Nursery Rhyme
Nursery Rhyme
(Historical Black American English)
(English)
Rose's red, vi'lets blue.
Sugar is sweet but not lak you.
De vi'lets fade, de roses fall;
But you gits sweeter, all in all.
As shore as de grass grows 'round de stump,
You is my darlin' Sugar Lump.
W'en de sun don't shine de day is cold,
But my love fer you do not git old.
De ocean's deep, de sky is blue;
Sugar is sweet, an' so is you;
De ocean waves an' de sky gits pale,
But my love are true, an' it never fail.
Rose's red, violet's blue.
Sugar is sweet but not like you.
The violets fade, the roses fall;
But you get sweeter, all in all.
As sure as the grass grows around the stump,
You are my darling Sugar Lump.
When the sun doesn't shine, the day is cold,
But my love for you does not get old.
The ocean's deep, the sky is blue;
Sugar is sweet, and so are you;
The ocean waves and the sky get pale,
But my love is true, and it never fails.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
This rhyme can be found in Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise, with a Study by Thomas W. Talley of Fisk University (1922).
Standard English version by Lisa Yannucci.
