Read the song lyrics.
Go Down, Moses
"Go Down Moses" is a negro spiritual that references the Old Testament and the events of Exodus.
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt land
Tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go.
When Israel was in Egypt land
Let my people go
Oppressed so hard they could not stand
Let my people go.
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt land
Tell old Pharaoh
“Let my people go.”
“Thus saith the Lord,” bold Moses said,
“Let my people go;
If not I’ll smite your first-born dead,
Let my people go.”
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt land,
Tell old Pharaoh
“Let my people go!”
How do the slight variations in the final lines of Stanzas 3 and 5—the use of the quotation marks and the addition of the exclamation point-—most affect the poem’s impact?
(a) They make it sound increasingly forceful.
(b) They make it sound increasingly submissive.
(c) They make it sound increasingly worried.
(d) They make it sound increasingly hopeful.