No Lickle Twang - Jamaican Poem by Louise Bennett

by My-Island-Jamaica.com

Imagine spending six months in America, coming back home to Jamaica, and instead of your mother welcoming you with open arms, she's disappointed!

But Why?

Because after all that time abroad, you still sound just as Jamaican as when you left! 😂

Well, that's the amusing situation at the heart of No Lickle Twang by our legendary, Louise Bennett. It's one of those unforgettable Jamaican poems that can make you laugh while quietly teaching you something important.

And if you know anything about our beloved Miss Lou, you'll know that was one of her greatest gifts; She takes an ordinary Jamaican experience, turn it into something hilarious, and leave us thinking about our attitudes, our language and ourselves.

But there's much more to this particular poem than a disappointed mother, here it goes!

Me glad fi see yuh come back, bwoy,
But lawd, yuh let me dung
Me shame a yuh so till all a
Me proudness drop a grung.

Yuh mean yuh go dah Merica
An spen six whole mont deh,
An come back not a piece better
Dan how yuh did go weh?

Bwoy, yuh no shame? Is so yuh come?
After yuh tan so lang!
Not even lickle language, bwoy?
Not even lickle twang?
An yuh sister what work ongle
One week wid Merican
She talk so nice now dat we have
De jooce fi understand?

Bwoy, yuh couldn improve yuhself!
An yuh get so much pay?
Yuh spen six mont a foreign, an
Come back ugly same way?
Not even a drapes trousiz, or
A pass de riddim coat?
Bwoy, not even a gole teet or
A gole chain roun yuh troat?

Suppose me laas me pass go introjooce
Yuh to a stranger
As me lamented son what lately
Come from Merica!
Dem hooda laugh after me, bwoy!
Me couldn tell dem so!
Dem hooda seh me lie, yuh wasa
Spen time back a Mocho!

No back-answer me, bwoy – yuh talk
Too bad! Shet up yuh mout!
Ah doan know how yuh an yuh puppa
Gwine to meck it out.

Ef yuh waan please him, meck him tink
Yuh bring back someting new.
Yuh always call him ‘Pa’ – dis evenin
When him comes seh ‘Poo’.

So Whats The Real Message Behind No Lickle Twang?

You see, Miss Lou wasn't simply making fun of a mother and her son, she was also drawing attention to something that has existed in Jamaican society for generations: the tendency to associate foreign speech, clothing and manners with higher status.

And it still exists today! Haven't you heard Jamaicans joking about someone who goes overseas for a short time and comes back talking differently?

Be honest, I'm sure you do! :-)

Sometimes it's natural; we do pick up expressions and accents from the places where we live.

But sometimes, c'mon let's admit it, people put on a little extra performance!

And the reverse can happen too; someone returns from abroad without sounding particularly different, and others wonder why.

Miss Lou turns that expectation upside down.

Instead of presenting a person who has returned with an exaggerated foreign accent, she presents a mother who is upset because her son has returned without one.

That's the cleverness of this poem: Through the mother's complaints, Miss Lou exposes the idea that sounding Jamaican is somehow less impressive than sounding foreign.

And she does it without giving us a long lecture.

She lets us laugh—and then leaves us to recognise the attitude for ourselves.

Truly a legend of Jamaican Culture & folklore, RIP Ms Lou.

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