Drinking Gourd Analysis

Escaped slaves during and before the Civil War often needed guidance on their trek throughout America to get to the far north, so they created folksongs that had subliminal messages to help others on their way. Follow The Drinking Gourd was a common folksong that informed the escapees to follow the end of the Big Dipper to reach Polaris, or the Northern Star. While the phrase, “drinking gourd,” is also referring to the hollowed out fruit slaves would drink from, it became an Underground Railroad icon that led many people to freedom.

As the song comes from a slavery ridden world, roughly the late 1800’s, the person who interpreted and wrote down the song uses an uneducated tone by cutting off words or using incorrect grammar. By using this diction he embodies the oral aspect of the lyrics, seeing as folksongs and tales are always passed down or taught orally. The original authors, being slaves that were still entrapped, used metaphors like the drinking gourd so that the slave owners would just shrug it off as nothing. The song is also heavy in imagery, “The river bed makes a mighty fine road, dead trees to show you the way…” Slaves would need to be given landmarks so they knew they were on the correct path as well as the constant of the Big Dipper. The song itself radiates a hopeful aura,

The path went from multiple places in the South and eventually brought the slaves to cross the Ohio River, which is another huge symbol in the folksong. The Ohio River was the initial door into the North, and the slaves were determined to cross it. “The river between two hills / follow the drinking gourd / There’s another river on the other side / follow the drinking gourd…” The man aforementioned would be a Railroad worker who would transport the slaves from one side to the other. The river was an aggrandized landmark for all slaves who were looking to