| James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922. |
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| Why Adam Sinned |
| | | Alex Rogers |
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| “I HEEARD da ole folks talkin’ in our house da other night | |
| ’Bout Adam in da scripchuh long ago. | |
| Da lady folks all ’bused him, sed, he knowed it wus’n right | |
| An’ ’cose da men folks dey all sed, “Dat’s so.” | |
| I felt sorry fuh Mistuh Adam, an’ I felt like puttin’ in, | 5 |
| ’Cause I knows mo’ dan dey do, all ’bout whut made Adam sin: | |
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| Adam nevuh had no Mammy, fuh to take him on her knee | |
| An’ teach him right fum wrong an’ show him | |
| Things he ought to see. | |
| I knows down in my heart—he’d-a let dat apple be | 10 |
| But Adam nevuh had no dear old Ma-am-my. | |
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| He nevuh knowed no chilehood roun’ da ole log cabin do’, | |
| He nevuh knowed no pickaninny life. | |
| He started in a great big grown up man, an’ whut is mo’, | |
| He nevuh had da right kind uf a wife. | 15 |
| Jes s’pose he’d had a Mammy when dat temptin’ did begin | |
| An’ she’d a come an’ tole him | |
| “Son, don’ eat dat—dat’s a sin.” | |
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| But, Adam nevuh had no Mammy fuh to take him on her knee | |
| An’ teach him right fum wrong an’ show him | 20 |
| Things he ought to see. | |
| I knows down in my heart he’d a let dat apple be, | |
| But Adam nevuh had no dear old Ma-am-my. | |
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