Muse & Drudge, By: Harryette Mullen

Harryette Mullen has a unique style in “rewriting” the blues. Honestly, I had not known much about the blues until we had Grant Osborne come in and go through some typical poems and bops. I find it quite interesting how, although the beats can differ throughout many pieces of music and poetry, many blues pieces still follow the twelve bar blues. The standard twelve bar blues mainly consists of three line stanzas in which the lines would follow a systematic progression of chords and sounds. I am not an expert in this domain, but I have learned from Mr. Osborne that the first two lines have some word(s) that rhyme of have a repeating phrase. With this rhyme comes the function of stating a problem in the singer or author’s life. The third stanza would usually answer this problem with a solution of some kind. These are some of the characteristics of a twelve bar blue piece, but many artists and writers manipulate the twelve bar blues to fit their own personal style. In Harryette Mullens book Muse & Drudge, she uses a style similar to the twelve bar blues. Instead, she sticks to a four line stanza with each poem having only four stanzas. Her style as can be seen throughout her works, consists of many incomplete sentences and utilizes phrases to put her pieces together. What I do find interesting is her play on words. I get somewhat giddy when I do find her use of puns. For example, on page 103, in her poem it reads:

sun goes on shining
while the debbil beats his wife
blues played left-handed
topsy-turvy inside out

under the weather
down by the sea
a broke johnny walker
mister meaner

bigger than a big man
cirrus as a heart attracts
more power than a loco motive
think your shit don’t stink

edge against a wall
wearing your colors
soulfully worn out
stylishly distressed

I wanted to point out the “mister meaner” part of the poem. I was quite aware of her style of using puns, and when I read over this, I couldn’t help myself but let out a small chuckle. Mister meaner could also be another way for a person to say that he’s a “Mr. Meanie” or, if sounded out, could also mean misdemeanor, which has the meaning of a crime or violation that would be less than a felony. Other phrases that had caught my attention was “loco motive, soulfully worn out” and “stylishly distressed”. Locomotive being one word can mean a large vehicle doing some sort of work or having the feeling of a bossy figure. Loco motive being two words can mean that there is a machine of some sort that is crazy. Soulfully worn out can literally mean being worn out emotionally in the soul where as sounding like “so fully” worn out would mean the same thing without having it being related to the soul. Her use of soul in that phrase adds character and makes the reader think about this particular line (your soul is worn out rather than just emotionally worn). Mullen’s final play of words comes from the phrase “stylishly distressed”; while most would say stylishly dressed, her use of adding –ist- gives it an entirely new meaning. Distressed means feeling a state of adversity or pain, and the with the addition of stylishly, it’s almost like a juxtaposition.

One other thing that I did notice was her phrase of “lawdy lawdy hallelujah when I lay”. The lawdy aspect of this phrase could come from Leadbelly’s use of it in his refrain in his song “Pick a Bale of Cotton”. I found this almost like her way of referring to something that she has deep respect for. Although changing some aspects of the twelve bar blues to fit her style, she successfully displays respect for the blues culture while having fun with her play on words.

“Oh, Lawdy, pick a bale a cotton
Oh, Lawdy, pick a bale a day” - Leadbelly