Legend of John Henry
Agki
poem about John Henry (the steel drivin' man) that really was quite
negative about Heaven. In the story, John Henry was told about Heaven
and what it would be like to be there after he died and what he had to
do to get there. John Henry, in this particular story anyway, kept
saying that he didn't want to go to Heaven "... because de natch'al
man ain't dere."
I was impressed by a man not wanting to go to Heaven (particularly
for this reason) and I've been trying to locate that particular
version of the John Henry story for a long time. I was in junior high
from 1960-62, to give a time frame. Does anyone else recall this
version? All the versions that I have found have been rather pure pap
if the idea of Heaven was in the story at all.
Agkistrodon
JoAnne Schmitz
I don't know if maybe you have conflated John Henry and Stagolee.
Apologies if this isn't the case.
Here's something from a John Henry bibliography:
http://www.ferrum.edu/applit/bibs/tales/JHenry.htm
"Stagolee." In Julius Lester. Black Folktales. Illus. Tom Feelings. New
York: Grove Press, 1969. Reprinted with a new introduction by Lester, 1991.
pp. 75-90. Based on a folk song that Lester had recorded. Stagolee is like
a tall tale hero when he beats all kinds of tough opponents, escapes death,
and challenges God, Death and the Devil. He chooses to stay in Hell where
the energetic black people are having more fun than he sees in Heaven. He
is a lawless, hard-drinking womanizer from a Georgia plantation. Like some
versions of John Henry's character, Stagolee is both criminal and
well-loved. Lester includes ironic and humorous allusions to modern popular
culture.
Try Google book search:
http://books.google.com/books?q=stagolee+heaven+hell&btnG=Search+Books
and check out the second result
>Myths, Legends, and Folktales of America: An Anthology - Page 180
>by Jake Page, David Adams Leeming - 1999 - 221 pages
>But you know, it's mighty hard to keep a good man down, and long about the third
>day, Stagolee decided to get on up out of the grave and go check out Heaven ...
>Limited preview - Table of Contents - About this book
for one version of the actual story.
JoAnne "apparently some versions of Hell include indirect lighting,
wall-to-wall carpet, and air-conditioning" Schmitz
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