s: The minds of men, delights that must give place


s: At last to sorrow, as in thine own case.


s: Did then thy little girl such joy confer


s: That all the comfort thou didst find in her


s: Thou canst not answer otherwise than nay.


s: Then fret not that so early death has come


s: To what was dearest thee in Christendom.


s: She did not leave a land of much delight,


s: But one of toil and grief and evil blight


s: So plenteous, that all which men can hold


s: Must lose its value through this base alloy,


s: This knowledge of the grief that follows joy.


s: "Why do we weep, great God? That with her dower


s: She bought herself no lord, that she might cower


s: Before upbraidings from her husband's kin?


s: That she knew not the pangs that usher in


s: The newborn child? And that she could not know,


s: Like her poor mother, if more racking woe


s: Are such delights to make the world more sweet!


s: Free from all intermingling of distress.


s: Care rules not here and here we know not toil,


s: Here sickness can not enter nor old age,


s: And death, tear-nourished, hath no pasturage.


s: We live a life of endless joy that brings


s: Good thoughts; we know the causes of all things.


s: The sun shines on forever here, its light


s: Then turn thy meditations hither, towards


s: This changeless gladness and these rich rewards.


s: Thou know'st the world, what love of it can do:


s: Found thou thine efforts on a base more true.


s: Thy little girl hath chosen well her part,


s: Thou may'st believe, as one about to start


s: Beholding there great flux and jeopardy,


s: Returneth to the shore; while those that raise


s: Their sails, the wind or some blind crag betrays,


s: And this one dies from hunger, that from cold:


s: So she, who, though her years should have surpassed


s: That ancient Sybil, must have died at last,


s: Before she knew the ills of man's estate.


s: For some are left without their parents' care,


s: To know how sore an orphan's lot to bear;


s: One girl must marry headlong, and then rue


s: Some maids are seized by their own countrymen,


s: And held thus in a pagan, shameful thrall,


s: Must drink their tears till death comes ending all.


s: "But this thy little child need fear no more,


s: Could walk all glad and shining-pure within,


s: Doubt not, my son, that all is well with her,


s: Reason and self-command are precious still


s: And yielding all to blighted hope is ill.


s: Be in this matter thine own lord, although


s: Thy longed-for happiness thou must forego.


s: For man is born exposed to circumstance,


s: We still can not escape our destined lot.


s: Nor hath misfortune singled thee, my son;


s: Thy little child was mortal as thou art,


s: She ran her given course and did depart;


s: And if that course was brief, yet who can say


s: That she would have been happier to stay?


s: The ways of God are past our finding out,


s: Yet what He holds as good shall we misdoubt?


s: And when the spirit leaves us, it is vain


s: To weep so long; it will not come again.


s: In life and to forget all that transpires


s: In full accordance with his own desires.


s: And such is Fortune's power, dearest son,


s: That we should not lament when she hath done


s: A bitter turn, but thank her in that she


s: Thy heart to more disasters than now are;


s: What is not loss, that must be rated gain.


s: Of thy long labor and the years gone hence,


s: While thou didst spend thyself upon thy books


s: And knewest scarce how lightsome pleasure looks?


s: Now from thy grafting pluck the fruit and save


s: Something of value from frail nature's grave.


s: The comfort left them: hast none for thine own?


s: Now, master, heal thyself: time is the cure


s: For all; but he whose wisdom doth abjure


s: The healing for which other men must wait.


s: What is time's cunning? That it drives away


s: Our former haps with newer ones, more gay,


s: Or like the old. So man by taking thought


s: Perceives them ere their accidents are wrought,


s: And views the future, quiet and steadfast.


s: Then bear man's portion like a man, my son,


s: The Lord of grief and comfort is but one."


s: This truth itself, or but a passing dream.


s: Eldest Son and Heir of Charles, first Baron


s: Eldest Son and Heir of Peter, sixth Earl of


s: "Oh! Sir!--Prepare to hear the worst!...


s: Lord Calvin thought the Bishops should not sit


s: In spite of which, for years, and years, and years,


s: They went on sitting with their fellow-peers.


s: Lord Finchley tried to mend the Electric Light


s: It struck him dead: And serve him right!


s: And hoped that they might strike him pink!


s: Come! Come! Come! Come! Don't look so glum!


s: Boys will be boys--so here's the cheque!


s: His heir, Lord Ugly, roared, "You Brute!


s: The while the left-hand charge (or choke)


s: Was that his Brother John, the elder son,


s: Lord Abbott's coronet was far too small,


s: So small, that as he sauntered down White Hall


s: Set up and printed. Published January, 1922.


s: persistence of artist-impulses even in slavery.


s: individual as opposed to community authorship of certain types of


s: We's gwine to git big eatin's here to-night."


s: "Dance 'round, Mistiss, show 'em de p'int;


s: But de black cat stick 'em in de yaller cat's eye.


s: Caze deir feet sticks out fer de chickens t' roost.


s: De mud to de hub an' de hoss britchin weak.


s: I stewed bullfrog chitlins, baked polecat pie;


s: If I goes back dar, I shō's gwine to die.


s: She scrape 'er back till de skin come off.


s: Walk, talk, chicken wid yō' head pecked!


s: Dat peacock's tail 's got great big eyes,


s: An' he die wid de toothache in his heel.


s: But he will git drunk, an' he won't smoke a pipe,


s: Den he will pull de watermillions 'fore dey gits ripe.


s: I went down to de river an' I couldn' git 'cross.


s: I jumped on er mule an' I thought 'e wus er hoss.


s: Dat mule 'e wa'k in an' git mired up in de san';


s: I want to cross de river but I caint git 'cross;


s: So I mounted on a ram, fer I thought 'e wus er hoss.


s: I plunged him in, but he sorter fail to swim;


s: An' I give five dollars fer to git 'im out ag'in.


s: Yes, I went down to de river an' I couldn' git 'cross,


s: So I give a whole dollar fer a ole blin' hoss;


s: Den I souzed him in an' he sink 'stead o' swim.


s: Do you know I got wet clean to my ole hat brim?


s: Go wuk him in de co'n field jes fer fun.


s: cemetery, brings good luck to its possessor.


s: Juba, cut dat Pigeon's Wing. Juba! Juba!


s: The expressions marked  are various kinds of dance steps.


s: In a few places in the South, just following the Civil War, the


s: "You jes want me to fall an' kill myself."


s: Dat Jaybird a-settin' on a swingin' lim'.


s: He's been down dar whar de bad mens dwell.


s: I'se off from Richmon' sooner in de mornin'.


s: I'se off from Richmon' befō' de break o' day.


s: I slips off from Mosser widout pass an' warnin'


s: Fer I mus' see my Donie wharever she may stay.


s: Said dey: "Ole man, yō' hoss will die"--


s: Dey said: "Ole man, yō' hoss may die."--


s: Said dey: "Ole man, yō' hoss mought die."--


s: Says de goat to de sheep: "Cain't you walk a liddle faster?"


s: De sheep says: "I cain't, I'se a liddle too full."


s: Den de goat say: "You can wid my ho'ns in yō' wool."


s: An' de sheep split 'is lip wid a big broad grin.


s: He went down yonder fer to shoot at de crows;


s: Wid a knife an' a fo'k between 'is toes,


s: An' a white hankcher fer to wipe 'is nose.


s: He's a "dead shore shot," gwineter kill dem crows.


s: He takes "Pot," an' "Skillet" from de Fiddler's Ball.


s: Dey're to dance a liddle jig while Jim Crow fall.


s: He went down de river fer to shoot at de crows.


s: An' de Bullfrog shoot at 'em all nex' day.


s: Hush boys! Hush boys! Don't make a noise,


s: We'll run down de Graveyard, an' take out de bones,


s: We slips down de hill an' picks de liddle chune:


s: Pick "Dinah's Dinner Ho'n" "Dance 'Round de Room."


s: Those marked  are found elsewhere in this volume. We were


s: "I'se settin' in de fence corner, smokin' seegyar."


s: "I'se pickin' out a br'or, settin' on a Pricky-p'ar."


s: "I'se gwine cross de Cotton Patch, hard as I can t'ar."


s: Got her pipe o' clay, jes to smoke de time 'way.


s: I hain't got no time fer to talk to you."


s: I'se rund dem pigs, an' I'se rund dem pigs.


s: She lived so long dat 'er head got bal',


s: An' she give out'n de notion a dyin' at all.


s: De Lawd couldn' a' killed 'er wid a big green maul.


s: Wid 'er nose all hooked an' skin all dry.


s: An' she lef' "Uncle Sambo" a-hillin' up co'n.


s: Fer to leave me a-plowin' ole Beck still.


s: W'en my wife dies, gwineter git me anudder one;


s: A big fat yaller one, jes lak de yudder one.


s: I'll hate mighty bad, w'en she's been gone.


s: Hain't no better 'oman never nowhars been bo'n.


s: W'en I comes to die, you mus'n' bury me deep,


s: But put Sogrum molasses close by my feet.


s: Put a pone o' co'n bread way down in my han'.


s: Mus'n' dress up in black, fer I mought come back.


s: But w'en I'se been dead, an' almos' fergotten;


s: You mought think about me an' keep on a-trottin'.


s: Railly, w'en I'se been dead, you needn' bury me at tall.


s: You mought pickle my bones down in alkihall;


s: Den fold my han's "so," right across my breas';


s: An' go an' tell de folks I'se done gone to "res'."


s: You needn' think youse gwineter git 'way.


s: You can stay up dar till de sun done set.


s: I'll bet you a dollar dat he'll git you yet.


s: Ole Mistah Coon, you'd well's to give up.


s: Sheep's in de meader a-mowin' o' de hay.


s: De honey's in de bee-gum, so dey all say.


s: I'se de prettiest liddle gal in de county-o.


s: I looks in de glass, it don't say, "No";


s: A-watchin' of a tadpole a-turnin' to a frog.


s: He sees Br'er B'ar a-pullin' lak a mule.


s: He sees Br'er Tearpin a-makin' him a fool.


s: Br'er B'ar pull de rope an' he puff an' he blow;


s: But he cain't git de Tearpin out'n de water from below.


s: Dat big clay root is a-holdin' dat rope,


s: Br'er Tearpin's got 'im fooled, an' dere hain't no hope.


s: Mud turkle settin' on de end o' dat log;


s: Sing fer de tadpole a-turnin' to a frog,


s: Sing to Br'er B'ar a-pullin' lak a mule,


s: Sing to Br'er Tearpin a-makin' 'im a fool:--


s: "Oh, Br'er Rabbit! Yō' eyes mighty big!"


s: "Yes, Br'er Turkle! Dey're made fer to see."


s: "Oh, Br'er Tearpin! Yō' house mighty cu'ous!"


s: "Yes, Br'er Turkle, but it jest suits me."


s: "Oh, Br'er B'ar! You pulls mighty stout."


s: "Yes, Br'er Turkle! Dat's right smart said!"


s: "Right, Br'er B'ar! Dat sounds bully good,


s: But you'd oughter git a liddle mō' pull in de head."


s: If I hadn' a danced dat Cotton Eyed Joe.


s: W'en I comes 'roun' pickin' ole Cotton Eyed Joe!


s: Yes, I'd a been married some forty year ago,


s: If I hadn' stay'd 'roun' wid Cotton Eyed Joe.


s: I hain't seed ole Joe, since way las' Fall;


s: Dey say he's been sol' down to Guinea Gall.


s: An' he's killing an' eatin' chicken still.


s: Patrollers, or white guards; on duty at night during the days of


s: Dat ole black sow, she can root in de mud,


s: But dat big red cow, she git all mired up,


s: Dat ole gray hoss, wid 'is ole bob tail,


s: But dat ole gray hoss can git a kiver on,


s: Mosser mought take 'im down fer a notch or two,


s: 'Long come de Red-bird, skippin' 'round,


s: Sayin': "Boys, git ready fer de Frolic!"


s: 'Vitin' Crows fer to dance wid de Weasels.


s: Dey hopped it low, an' dey hopped it high;


s: Dey hopped it fer, an' dey hopped it nigh;


s: I'se gwine now a-huntin' to ketch a big fat coon.


s: Gwineter bring him home, an' bake him, an' eat him wid a spoon.


s: Gwineter baste him up wid gravy, an' add some onions too.


s: I wants a piece o' hoecake; I wants a piece o' bread,


s: An' I wants a piece o' Johnnycake as big as my ole head.


s: I wants a piece o' ash cake: I wants dat big fat coon!


s: An' I shō' won't git hongry 'fore de middle o' nex' June.


s: My liddle red hen, wid a liddle white foot,


s: Done built her nes' in a huckleberry root.


s: Anudder liddle drink wouldn' do us no harm.


s: My liddle red hen hatch fifty red chicks


s: In dat liddle ole nes' of huckleberry sticks.


s: Wid one mō' drink, ev'y chick'll make two!


s: Come, bring it on, Honey, an' let's git through.


s: She'd bring me a dollar ev'y Friday night in June.


s: She bring me a dollar in nearly ev'y night.


s: She bring me in a dollar an' sometime mō'.


s: Mosser is six foot one way, an' free foot tudder;


s: Britches cut so big dat dey don't suit de tailor,


s: Mosser's coat come back to a claw-hammer p'int.


s: (Speak sof' or his Bloodhound'll bite us.)


s: His long white stockin's mighty clean an' nice,


s: He say to hisse'f w'at he's a gwineter do.


s: He say, "I'se gwineter have a good piece o' meat,


s: An' she poke her head outside o' de dō'.


s: I heared 'im w'en he holler 'quinny-quanio,'


s: Yes, I heared 'im w'en he holler 'quinny-quanio.'"


s: Gwineter take my gal to de country stō';


s: Whar dere hain't no Crackers in a mile or two.


s: He don't lak whisky but he jest drinks a can.


s: Dan a white Hill Billy wid his long red neck.


s: I went down to de woods an' I couldn' go 'cross,


s: So I paid five dollars fer an ole gray hoss.


s: De hoss wouldn' pull, so I sōl' 'im fer a bull.


s: De bull wouldn' holler, so I sōl' 'im fer a dollar.


s: De dollar wouldn' pass, so I throwed it in de grass.


s: Den de grass wouldn' grow. Heigho! Heigho!


s: Through dat huckleberry woods I couldn' git far,


s: So I paid a good dollar fer an ole black mar'.


s: W'en I got down dar, de trees wouldn' bar;


s: So I had to gallop back on dat ole black mar'.


s: He went down de chicken roos' las' Friday night,


s: Dere's ole Sis Sal, she climbs right well,


s: But she cain't 'gin to climb lak she useter.


s: Yes, ole Sis Sal's a mighty fine ole gal,


s: Dat she cain't wear no shoes an' gaiters.


s: Now looky, looky here! Now looky, looky there!


s: Well: I look dis a way, an' I look dat a way,


s: W'en I come to find out, 'twus dad's black sow,


s: Den:  I slipped away down to de big White House.


s: Now:  I looked dis a way, an' I looked dat a way,


s: Sing: "I went away from dar; hook-a-doo-dle, hook-a-doo-dle."


s: "I went away from dar; hook-a-doo-dle-doo!"


s: Her pretty liddle foot needn' tetch de groun'.


s: She's de pretty liddle gal dat beats 'em all.


s: I jes' loves my sweet pretty liddle Lulu Ann,


s: But de way she gits my money I cain't hardly understan'.


s: W'en she up an' call me "Honey!" I fergits my name is Sam,


s: An' I hain't got one nickel lef' to git a me a dram.


s: She's always gwine a-fishin', w'en she'd oughter not to go;


s: An' now she's all a troubled wid de frostes an' de snow.


s: I tells you jes one thing dat I'se done gone an' foun':


s: De Nigs cain't git no livin' 'round de Cō't House steps


s: She fell in de fire, an' she kicked up a chunk.


s: But dere's jes' one thing I hates an' 'spize:


s: She drinks mō' whisky dan de bigges' fool,


s: Yes, I won't git drunk an' kick up a chunk.


s: She squall out: "Sam, bring me some mint!


s: Dere hain't no diffunce 'tween dese two.


s: Yanks locked him in de smokehouse cellar,


s: _Oh_: De Ram blow de ho'n an' de sheep shell co'n;


s: An' he sen' it to de mill by de buck-eyed Whippoorwill.


s: Ole Joe's dead an' gone but his Hant blows de ho'n;


s: An' his hound howls still from de top o' dat hill.


s: _Yes_: De Fish-hawk said unto Mistah Crane;


s: "I wishes to de Lawd dat you'd sen' a liddle rain;


s: Fer de water's all muddy, an de creek's gone dry;


s: If it 'twasn't fer de tadpoles we'd all die."


s: _Oh_: When de sheep shell co'n wid de rattle of his ho'n


s: I wishes to de Lawd I'd never been bo'n;


s: Caze when de Hant blows de ho'n, de sperits all dance,


s: An' de hosses an' de cattle, dey whirls 'round an' prance.


s: _Oh_: Yonder comes Skillet an' dere goes Pot;


s: _Now_: Take keer, gemmuns, an' let me through;


s: Caze I'se gwineter dance wid liddle Mollie Lou.


s: But I'se never seed de lak since I'se been bo'n,


s: When de sheep shell co'n wid de rattle of his ho'n!


s: Dey sticked some plasters on deir heels,


s: Didn' have no teeth fer to eat corn cake,


s: Dere wusn't no wool on de top o' his head


s: But ole Miss, she wus a liddle sorter glad,


s: Stole, here, means taken temporarily with intention to return.


s: I sho' loves dat gal dat dey calls Sally "Black,"


s: Her neck's drawed out so stringy an' long,


s: I once knowed an ole Sexion Boss but he done been laid low.


s: He "Caame frum gude ole Ireland some fawhrty year ago."


s: W'en I ax 'im fer a job, he say: "Nayger, w'at can yer do?"


s: "I can line de track; tote de jack, de pick an' shovel too."


s: I went down to de Deepo, an' my ticket I shō' did draw.


s: To take me over dat ole Iron Mountain to de State o' Arkansaw.


s: As I went sailin' down de road, I met my mudder-in-law.


s: I wus so tired an' hongry, man, dat I couldn' wuk my jaw.


s: Fer I hadn't had no decent grub since I lef' ole Arkansaw.


s: Her bread wus hard corndodgers; dat meat, I couldn' chaw.


s: You see; dat's de way de Hoosiers feeds way out in Arkansaw.


s: I goes crosstown sorter walkin' wid a hump


s: Dem white folks, dey set up an' look so fine,


s: Deir ginger cakes taste right good sometimes,


s: You can bake it, bile it, fry it, stew it,


s: Yes: I loves dat gal wid a blue dress on,


s: Now: Looky, looky Eas'! Oh, looky, looky Wes'!


s: His legs so long he couldn' git 'em 'cross.


s: An' he spur him in de flank wid his toenail heel.


s: An' his foots makes poles fer de chickens t' roost on.


s: Tom went down to de river, an' he couldn' go 'cross.


s: Tom tromp on a 'gater an' 'e think 'e wus a hoss.


s: Wid a mouf wide open, 'gater jump from de san',


s: Sweep dat kitchen wid a bran' new broom.


s: Jes take off a chicken from dat chicken roost,


s: Jes go round w'en de night's sorter dark,


s: To lay on my pallet an' to waller on de flō';


s: I hain't never gwineter hobo no mō'. By George!


s: I'd court dat pretty gal an' take 'er fer my wife,


s: (Goose _Sponse_) "More 'an you're able to ketch!"


s: (Chicken's _Call_) "Chickamee, chickamee, cranie-crow."


s: (Chicken's _Sponse_) "Well, you cain't git mine."


s: (Chicken's _Sponse_) "You shan't have a chick!"


s: (Human _Call_) "Molly, Molly, Molly-bright!"


s: (Human _Call_) "Can we git dar 'fore candle-light?"


s: (Witch _Sponse_) "Yes, if yō' legs is long an' light."


s: (Conscience's Warning _Call_) "You'd better watch out,


s: Once: De Hawk an' de buzzard went to roost,


s: An' de hawk got up wid a broke off tooth.


s: Den: De hawk an' de buzzard went to law,


s: An' de hawk come back wid a broke up jaw.


s: But lastly: Dat buzzard tried to plead his case,


s: I'se gwineter run wid Mollie Roalin'! Oh, yes, I will!


s: Oh, cain't you tell me; help me find 'er?


s: 'Way down yon'er in de middle o' de branch;


s: "Oh, w'at did yer give 'er?" "Cawn an' hay."


s: "Did yer do lak yer should?" "Yes, Mam!"


s: "Oh, how did yer milk 'er?" "Swish! Swish! Swish!"


s: "Oh, how wus she sick?" "All bloated up."


s: "Oh, how did they come?" "Flop! Flop! Flop!"


s: I'se gwineter buy my wife a big gold ring.


s: "When Christmas comes?" You cunnin' elf!


s: I fans an' knocks but dey won't go 'way!


s: Bring through yō' Sugar-lō'-tea, bring through yō' Candy,


s: All I want is to wheel, an' tu'n, an' bow to my Love so handy.


s: You tu'n here on Sugar-lō'-tea, I'll tu'n there on Candy.


s: Some gits drunk on Sugar-lō'-tea, some gits drunk on Candy,


s: Green oak tree! Rocky'o! Green oak tree! Rocky'o!


s: "Will you hug 'im once an' kiss 'im twice?"


s: "W'y! I wouldn' kiss 'im once fer to save 'is life!"


s: Jes choose yō' Eas'; jes choose yō' Wes'.


s: Caze I'se gwineter cook dat saltin' bread;


s: I'se been makin' an' cookin' dat saltin' bread.


s: Does you turn 'round an' shake yō' head?--


s: W'en you ax yō' mammy fer butter an' bread,


s: She don't give nothin' but a stick across yō' head.


s: On cracklin's, you say, you wants to git fed?


s: But pray don't tetch my sweet liddle lips.


s: Here comes a young man a courtin'! Courtin'! Courtin'!


s: Here comes a young man a-courtin'! It's Tidlum Tidelum Day.


s: "Say! Won't you have one o' us? Us, Sir? Us, Sir?


s: Say! Won't you have one o' us, Sir?" dem brown skin ladies say.


s: "You is too black an' rusty! Rusty! Rusty!


s: You is too black an' rusty!" said Tidlum Tidelum Day.


s: "We hain't no blacker 'an you, Sir! You, Sir! You, Sir!


s: We hain't no blacker 'an you, Sir!" dem brown skin ladies say.


s: "Pray! Won't you have one o' us, Sir? Us, Sir? Us, Sir?


s: Pray! Won't you have one o' us, Sir?" say yaller gals all gay.


s: "You is too ragged an' dirty! Dirty! Dirty!


s: You is too ragged an' dirty!" said Tidlum Tidelum Day.


s: "You shore is got de bighead! Bighead! Bighead!


s: You shore is got de bighead! You needn' come dis way.


s: We's good enough fer you, Sir! You, Sir! You, Sir!


s: We's good enough fer you, Sir!" dem yaller gals all say.


s: "De fairest one dat I can see, dat I can see, dat I can see,


s: De fairest one dat I can see," said Tidlum Tidelum Day.


s: "My Lulu, come an' wa'k wid me, wa'k wid me, wa'k wid me.


s: My Lulu, come an' wa'k wid me. 'Miss Tidlum Tidelum Day.'"


s: I'se gwine out on de Anchor Line, Dinah!


s: I won't git back 'fore de summer time, Dinah!


s: I'se gwineter bring you a dollar an' a dime,


s: Shore as I gits in from de Anchor Line, Dinah!


s: Come go wid me; I'll set you free,--Dinah!


s: Sallie! Sallie! don't you want to marry?


s: Sallie! Sallie! Mammy says to tell her when.


s: Sallie! Sallie! She's gwineter kill dat turkey hen!


s: (Sallie! Sallie!) Ev'ry day'll be Mond'y,


s: (Sallie! Sallie!) Wid a hoe-handle in yō' han'!


s: Go 'way from dat window, "My Honey, My Love!"


s: De baby's in de bed, an' his mammy's lyin' by,


s: Fer ole Mosser's got 'is gun, an' to Miss'ip' youse been sōl';


s: De baby keeps a-cryin'; but you'd better un'erstan'


s: Fer de Devil's in dat man, an' you'd better un'erstan'


s: Hain't no use to weep, hain't no use to moan;


s: You cain't git no meat widout pickin' up a bone,


s: But whar did she git dem closes she w'ars,


s: It hain't gwineter rain, an' it hain't gwineter snow;


s: You hain't gwinter eat in my kitchen doo',


s: Liddle sistah in de barn, jine de weddin'.


s: Youse de sweetest liddle couple dat I ever did see.


s: Oh step back, gal, an' don't you come a nigh me,


s: Wid all dem sassy words dat you say to me.


s: Want to go to Heaben on de tail of a kite.


s: You mought a been cullud widout bein' dat black;


s: Dem 'ar feet look lak youse shō' walkin' back;


s: An' yō' ha'r, it look lak a chyarpet tack.


s: Let's git on board, an' float down de river,


s: Sweet pinks an' roses, strawbeers on de vines,


s: Call in de one you loves, an' kiss 'er if you minds.


s: Cheeks painted rosy, an' deir eyes battin' black.


s: You kiss dat pretty gal, an' I'll stan' back.


s: De Lawd made man, an' de man made money.


s: De Lawd made de bees, an' de bees made honey.


s: De Lawd made ole Satan, an' ole Satan he make sin.


s: Den de Lawd, He make a liddle hole to put ole Satan in.


s: Did you ever see de Devil, wid his iron handled shovel,


s: A scrapin' up de san' in his ole tin pan?


s: He cuts up mighty funny, he steals all yō' money,


s: He blinds you wid his san'. He's tryin' to git you, man!


s: But ole Mosser hain't cotch me, an' he never will!


s: I went down to de hen house on my knees,


s: An' I thought I heared dat chicken sneeze.


s: But 'twusn't nothin' but a rooster sayin' his prayer.


s: How I wish dat rooster's prayer would en',


s: Den perhaps I mought eat dat ole gray hen.


s: Jes grease yō' heel an' grease yō' han',


s: Deir han's in deir pockets an' nothin' to eat.


s: She'd better be home a-washin' up de dishes,


s: An' a-cleanin' up de ole man's raggitty britches.


s: He'd better run 'long an' git out de hoes


s: An' clear out his own crooked weedy corn rows;


s: Quit yō' foolin', she hain't studyin' you!


s: I prayed, an' I prayed 'til I'se almos' daid.


s: I prayed 'til de scales come on my knees,


s: De goose at de barn, he feel mighty funny,


s: Caze de duck find a pocketbook chug full o' money.


s: De goose say: "Whar is you gwine, my Sonny?"


s: An' de duck, he say: "Now good-by, Honey."


s: De duck chaw terbacker an' de goose drink wine,


s: Wid a stuffed pocketbook dey shō' had a good time;


s: De grasshopper played de fiddle on a punkin vine


s: 'Till dey all fall over on a sorter dead line.


s: Her face wus white speckled, her lips wus all red,


s: An' she look jes as lean as a weasel half-fed.


s: Ole Miss Slippy Sloppy jump up out'n bed,


s: Den out'n de winder she poke 'er nappy head,


s: Dat fox done gone an' bit off 'er head!"


s: Jack run up de hill an' he call Mosser's hounds;


s: An' w'en dat fox hear dem turble sounds,


s: He sw'ar by his head an' his hide all 'round,


s: Dat he don't want no dinner, but a hole in de ground.


s: When it's sumpin' to be filled up wid wind.


s: Ole Mosser an' Missus has gone down to town,


s: Dey said dey'd git us somethin' an' dat hain't no jokes.


s: I'se gwineter be good all de whilst dey're all 'way,


s: An' I'se gwineter wear stockin's jes lak de white folks.


s: W'en he find out, it'll raise his dander.


s: Yankee soldiers bought his geese, fer one cent a-piece,


s: An' I falls right back in a hornet's nes'.


s: An' if you don't watch, he'll slip it on you.


s: For John Henry, he hain't never comin' back.


s: An' 'fore I'll be beat in dis sexion gang,


s: An' de las' word he say to dat chile wus:


s: "I wants you to be my steel-drivin' man."


s: John Henry, he had a pretty liddle wife,


s: She walk down de track, widout lookin' back,


s: For to see her big fine steel-drivin' man.


s: She walk ev'y day down de railroad track


s: To de place whar her steel-drivin' man fell dead.


s: Got longpail hoopskirts hanging down behīn'!


s: Got deir bonnets to deir shoulders an' deir noses in de sky!


s: The name of the place was used where the rhyme was repeated.


s: Well; three las' night, an' two night befo';


s: An' I'se gwine 'fore long to git four mō'.


s: He would a e't mō', but you know he died.


s: De w'ite folks loves deir milk an' brandy,


s: But dat black gal's sweeter dan 'lasses candy.


s: An' dere's a river dat runs wid milk an' brandy.


s: So dat yaller gal loves dat high-hat dandy.


s: You mought pull his tail an' think about me.


s: It makes no diffunce what 'comes of a fool.


s: I'se a "round-town" Gent an' I don't choose


s: I thinks I mus' 'a' been called to preach.


s: He's de one what w'ars dem white duck pants,


s: But I helt to my liddle brown jug, you bet!


s: But Mosser cotch six in a watermillion fiel';


s: A-cuttin', an' a-pluggin' an' a-tearin' up de vines,


s: A-eatin' all de watermillions, an' a-stackin' up de rinds.


s: We had an ole mule an' he wouldn' go "gee";


s: So I knocked 'im down wid a single-tree.


s: You'se shō' plowed de cotton fields for many a, many a year.


s: You'se been kicked an' cuffed about wid heaps an' heaps abuse.


s: Now! Now, you comes up here fer some sort o' College use.


s: I'se been a-hearin' a heaps o' things 'bout you.


s: Dey's been tryin' to say you's been a-stealin' chickens!


s: Got a plenty good victuals, an' a plenty good clo'es.


s: Oh, once dere wus union, an' den dere wus peace;


s: De slave, in de cornfield, bare up to his knees.


s: But de Rebel's in gray, an' Sesesh's in de way,


s: Uh-huh: "Now I lays me down to sleep!"--


s: While dead oudles o' bedbugs 'round me creep,--


s: Rabbit! Rabbit! You'se got a mighty habit,


s: Rabbit! Rabbit! Ole rabbit in de bottoms,


s: If she gimme a dollar he mought not cry.


s: An' he won't git back 'fore de fo'th o' July.


s: An' break his head on a pone o' co'n bread.


s: Jes change up a dollar, an' give 'im a half.


s: Had a forty dollar razzer, an' a gatlin' gun,


s: Oh, will you wear red? Oh, will you wear red?


s: Oh, will you wear blue? Oh, will you wear blue?


s: You sholy would wear gray? You sholy would wear gray?


s: You sholy would wear gray, Milly Biggers?


s: Well, will you wear white? Well, will you wear white?


s: Well, will you wear white, Milly Biggers?


s: Now, will you wear black? Now, will you wear black?


s: Now, will you wear black, Milly Biggers?


s: Copperse is copperas, or sulphate of iron.


s: I hain't gwineter take no scripture verse


s: Won't you jes keep still till I gits through?


s: You 'tend to yō' business, an' I'll 'tend to mine.


s: White man owe me leben and pay me seben.


s: An' if I hadn't tuck dat, I wouldn' git none.


s: Oh rain! Oh rain! Oh rain, "good" Mosser!


s: Gwineter ax my daddy to sell ole Bruise,


s: We'll stick to de hoe, till de sun go down.


s: An' go to de fiel' whar de sun shine hot,


s: We'll go to de fiel' whar de sun shine hot.


s: Oh, sing 'long boys, fer de wuk hain't hard!


s: Fer de grass musn' grow, while de sun shine hot,


s: Dat grass musn' grow, while de sun shine hot,


s: Don't think 'bout de time, fer de time hain't long.


s: Den good-bye fiel' whar de sun shine hot,


s: Good-by to de fiel' whar de sun shine hot,


s: Fust: I went out to milk an' I didn' know how,


s: Kept winkin' his eye at a tucky in de straw.


s: Den:  I went out de gate an' I went down de road,


s: Mistah Toad 'ould cut dat Pigeon's Wing.


s: But:  I went in a whoop, as I went down de road;


s: Well: Dat night dere 'us a-gittin' up, shores you're born.


s: De louse go to supper, an' de flea blow de horn.


s: Dat raccoon paced, an' dat 'possum trot;


s: (In ole Miss'sip' whar de sun shines hot)


s: You hain't never see'd de lak since youse been bo'n,


s: You'd better mīn' Mosser an' keep a stiff lip,


s: So's you won't git sōl' down to ole Miss'sip'.


s: As shore as de grass grows 'round de stump,


s: But my love are true, an' it never fail.


s: You'se made me weep, you'se made me mourn,


s: Cotton fields white in de bright moonlight,


s: Hain't no need a-stayin' ontel nex' day.


s: My day's study's Vinie, an' my midnight dreams,


s: My apples, my peaches, my tunnups, an' greens.


s: Oh, I wants dat good 'possum, an' I wants to be free;


s: But I don't need no sugar, if Vinie love me.


s: De river is wide, an' I cain't well step it.


s: I loves you, dear Vinie; an' you know I cain't he'p it.


s: Dat sugar is sweet, an' dat butter is greasy;


s: But I loves you, sweet Vinie; don't be oneasy.


s: But I loves you, Vinie, an' dat is a plenty.


s: Oh silver, it shine, an' lakwise do tin.


s: Well, de cedar is green, an' so is de pine.


s: God bless you, Vinie! I wish you 'us mine.


s: You'se all lugged up in some gal's heart,


s: She's got a gizzard, an' I'se got a heart,


s: Well: Jes git 'long, Lizie, my true love.


s: (He)  Is you a flyin' lark or a settin' dove?


s: (She) I'se a flyin' lark, my honey Love.


s: (He)  Is you a bird o' one fedder, or a bird o' two?


s: (She) I'se a bird o' one fedder, w'en it comes to you.


s: (_A proposal of marriage with the answer deferred_)


s: (He)  De ocean, it's wide; de sea, it's deep.


s: (She) Please gimme time, Suh, to "reponder;"


s: (_A proposal of marriage, with a provisional acceptance_)


s: (She) Grapevine warp, an' cornstalk fillin';


s: I'll marry you if mammy an' daddy's willin'.


s: (_A proposal of marriage with its acceptance_)


s: Well: I walked de roads, till de roads git muddy.


s: I talked to dat pretty gal, till I couldn' stan' study.


s: Den:  I say: "Love me liddle," I say; "Love me long."


s: I say: "Let dat liddle be 'doggone' strong!


s: For, shore as dat rat runs 'cross de rafter,


s: So shore you'se de gal, you'se de gal I'se after."


s: But dis hat'll say I'se thinkin' 'bout you.


s: If you don't love me, it's shō' yō' own fault.


s: I'll bet five dollars she hain't got a dime.


s: Pretty Polly Ann's jes a-puttin' on airs,


s: I'll drop Polly Ann, a-lookin' lak a crane;


s: I jines dis he-male an' dis she-male togedder.


s: Put dis he-male an' dis she-male asunder.


s: Be good, go 'long, an' keep up yō' name.


s: De broomstick's jumped, de worl's not wide.


s: First Mont': "Set down in my cabin, Honey!"


s: W'en I wus a "Roustabout," wild an' young,


s: I co'ted my gal wid a mighty slick tongue.


s: I tōl' her some oncommon lies dere an' den.


s: I tōl' her dat we'd marry, but I didn' say w'en.


s: So on a Mond'y mornin' I tuck her fer my wife.


s: Of co'se I wus 'spectin' an agreeable life.


s: But on a Chuesd'y mornin' she chuned up her pipe,


s: An' she 'bused me more 'an I'd been 'bused all my life.


s: On a Wednesd'y evenin', as I come 'long home,


s: I says to myse'f dat she wus all my own;


s: An' on a Thursd'y night I went out to de woods,


s: An' I cut me two big fine tough leatherwoods.


s: So on a Frid'y mornin' w'en she roll me 'er eyes,


s: I retched fer my leatherwoods to give 'er a s'prise,


s: Dem long keen leatherwoods wuked mighty well,


s: An' 'er tongue, it jes rattle lak a clapper in a bell.


s: On a Sadd'y mornin' she sleep sorter late;


s: An' de las' time I see'd her, she 'us gwine out de gate.


s: I wus feedin' at de stable, lookin' out through a crack,


s: An' she lef' my log cabin 'fore I could git back.


s: On a Sund'y mornin', as I laid on my bed,


s: Now whisky an' brandy jug's my biges' bes' friend,


s: An' my long week's wuk is about at its end.


s: Her nose all flat, an' her eyes sunk in,


s: He said: "She 'us tired. Gwineter marry 'nother."


s: But she crossed dem fingers, w'en she go down,


s: W'en he fall in a crack, he break 'is back;


s: An' dat wus de las' o' poor liddle Jack.


s: W'en I give him a liddle, he want it all.


s: He helt up his tail, all tied in a knot.


s: I put him on de road, an' he almos' flew.


s: An' w'en he died, I buried 'im in de san'.


s: He drapped de bale, an' he spilt de snuff,


s: An' who'll cook fer Kelline, an' who'll cook fer you----?


s: I will cook fer myse'f, I won't cook fer you.


s: I wonder if Kelline would not cook fer Hue----?


s: Fer dis is Big Sandy! It's Big Sandy Hue----!


s: I thought you 'us ole Bill Jack as black as de tah.


s: You really must 'scuse me, my "Honey Lump Pa."


s: An' since I'se been Kelline, an' you'se Big Sandy Hue;


s: I will cook fer myse'f, an' I will cook fer you.


s: I'll love you forever, an' sing in de dew:


s: Now, we'll cook fer ourse'fs, but who'll cook fer you all?


s: Rough Shot De Shoe-boot, an' de Lawd He knows who all?


s: If you don't come kiss me, I'll run lak a tucky.


s: I hain't had no kiss since I'se been born.


s: Dat "cat's" in de cupboard an' hid. You see?


s: Missus an' Mosser gwineter ketch 'im if dey can.


s: An' scrub 'im off good fer de ole San' Man.


s: Cain't mend dat randsome, handsome gown.


s: One cain't read, an' de t'other cain't write.


s: But dey bofe can smoke deir daddy's pipe.


s: "Big bait o' Mulberries make 'em bofe sick.


s: Mistah Gobbler's got beads 'roun' 'is nec'.


s: Has you ever hearn tell 'bout de Animal Fair?


s: Has you ever hearn tell about sitch a thing


s: Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count one.


s: Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought it great big fun.


s: Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count two.


s: Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought 'e 'us gwine through.


s: Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count three.


s: Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count fō'.


s: Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e jumped out on de flō'.


s: Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count five.


s: Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought de dead alive.


s: Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count six.


s: Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e never did git fix!


s: Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count seben.


s: Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought he's gwine to Heaben!


s: Miss Tearpin would peep from 'hind de stump.


s: An' bofe find fault wid de t'other, you see.


s: "If you marries Miss Toad," Miss Tearpin said,


s: "You'll have to hop 'round lak you'se been half dead!"


s: "If you combs yō' head wid a Tearpin comb,


s: You'll have to creep 'round all tied up at home."


s: I run'd away frum dar, my foot got bruise,


s: For I didn't know zackly which to choose.


s: One choke hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' nine.


s: One sleep hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' eight.


s: One sing hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' seben.


s: One wuk hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' six.


s: Mule run away wid one, an' dat lef' five.


s: One coughed hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' four.


s: One fall down an' out, an' dat lef' three.


s: One, he quit de udders, an' dat lef' two.


s: One fell down de bluff, an' dat lef' one.


s: De bed's too short, an' de high posts rear;


s: De cord's wore out, an' de bed-tick's gone.


s: Wid his finger on de trigger, an' his eyes upon de hog.


s: "W'y--! My legs so liddle an' slender, man,


s: Once dere wus er frog dat lived in er mill.


s: He had er raker don la bottom o' la kimebo


s: Stimstam, formididdle, all-a-board la rake;


s: Wid er raker don la bottom o' la kimebo.


s: Here's yō' bread, an' here's yō' butter;


s: An' here's de hands fer to make you sputter.


s: Tetch dese hands, w'en you wants to tetch a beaver.


s: If dese hands tetch you, you'll shō' ketch de fever.


s: I tells you young Mosser's hard to please.


s: De monkey's a-settin' on de end of a rail,


s: Pickin' his tooth wid de end of his tail.


s: Better know dat ole Mosser's not easy to please.


s: Or I'll beat on yō' back till you rings lak a bell.


s: "I do ve'y well," sayed de snail in de shell,


s: "I'll jes take my chances in here whar I dwell."


s: Once dere's an ole 'oman dat lived in de Wes'.


s: I pulled dat string, an' his eyes tu'n blue.


s: A pretty liddle gal wid a blue dress on.


s: A pretty liddle gal, all dressed in gray.


s: A pretty liddle gal, all dressed in white.


s: A pretty liddle gal, all dressed in red.


s: Grasshopper a-settin' on a sweet tater vine,


s: 'Long come a Blackbird an' nab him up behind.


s: Blackbird a-settin' in a sour apple tree;


s: Hawk grab him up behind; he "Chee! Chee! Chee!"


s: Big hawk a-settin' in de top of dat oak,


s: Start to eat dat Blackbird an' he git choke.


s: Doodle-bug! Doodle-bug! Come git sweet milk.


s: Doodle-bug! Doodle-bug! Come git butter.


s: Doodle-bug! Doodle-bug! Come git co'n bread.


s: Doodle-bug! Doodle-bug! Come on to Supper.


s: Dere wus an ole 'oman, her name wus Nan.


s: De ole 'oman lived to be dried up an' cunnin';


s: One leg stood still, while de tother kep' runnin'.


s: Down in de lot, in a rotten holler tree.


s: De Redhead woodpecker, "Chip! Chip! Chee!"


s: Jes look at Ole Aunt Kate at de gyardin gate!


s: W'en she sift 'er meal, she give me de husk;


s: W'en she cook 'er bread, she give me de crust.


s: Hurrah fer Ole Aunt Kate by de gyardin gate!


s: Git down dat sifter, take down dat tray!


s: Go 'long, Honey, dere hain't no udder way!


s: She put on dat hoe cake, she went 'round de house.


s: She cook dat 'Possum, an' she call 'im a mouse!


s: I'll set in de middle, an' play de gol' fiddle.


s: You set 'round about, an' git scrouged out.


s: He's his mammy's onliest sweetest liddle Coon.


s: Got de look on de forehead lak his daddy,


s: Yes, his mammy keep de "Sugar" rollin' over.


s: Dat ole gray goose in de panel o' de fence,


s: An' de gander on de t'other side o' Jordan.


s: De cherries, dey're red; de cherries, dey're ripe;


s: De cherries, dey're hard; de cherries, dey're sour;


s: He's shakin' his bill, he's gittin' it fill',


s: Nev' mind! Bye an' bye dat bird's gwineter fly,


s: She'll give you a few, fer de baby cain't chew,


s: Dat box-legged rooster, an' dat bow-legged hen


s: Make a mighty pretty couple, not to be no kin.


s: Dey thinks dey's lookin' fine, w'en dey needs lots of stitches.


s: Dere wus a great big watermillion growin' on de vine.


s: An' w'en dat great big watermillion lay ripenin' in de sun,


s: An' de stripes along its purty skin wus comin' one by one,


s: An' he e't dat great big watermillion all in one single day.


s: He e't de rinds, an' red meat too, he finish it all trim;


s: An' den,--dat great big watermillion up an' finish him.


s: Pretty liddle butterfly, yaller as de gold,


s: My sweet liddle butterfly, you shō' is mighty bold.


s: You can dance out in de sun, you can fly up high,


s: But you know I'se bound to git you, yet, my liddle butterfly.


s: It's been our rule to gedder green corn."


s: White folks calls you black, but I say not;


s: Caze de kittle musn' talk about de pot."


s: Here I comes jes a-rearin' an' a-pitchin',


s: I hain't had no kiss since I lef' de ole kitchin.


s: Candy, dat's sweet; dat's very, very clear;


s: But a kiss from yō' lips would be sweeter, my dear.


s: We's a-walkin' in de green grass dust, dust, dust.


s: If you's jes as sweet as I thinks you to be,


s: I'll take you by yō' liddle hand to walk wid me.


s: Hawk come a-whizzin' wid his bitin' mouf,


s: Hen, flyin' up, knock his eye clean out;


s: I seed dat bullfrog wid his shoe-boots on.


s: His eyes wus glass, an' his heels wus brass;


s: An' I give him a dollar fer to let me pass.


s: Don't you never let him waller on de flō'!


s: Setch a eatin' o' de honey an' a drinkin' o' de wine!


s: We's gwine down togedder fer to have a good time;


s: An' we's gwineter eat, an' drink mō' an' mō'.


s: His eyes shet an' still, lak he been dead.


s: A-snorin' an' a-dreamin' of a table spread.


s: Deir heels cracked open lak shorten' bread.


s: Dey'd better hop out, if dey wants to git fed!


s: Tryin' to go to Heaben on a railroad chyar.


s: Dey's gwineter git to Heaben shore bye-an'-bye.


s: De frog went a-co'tin', he did ride. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Wid a sword an' a pistol by 'is side. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: He rid up to Miss Mousie's dō'. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Whar he'd of'en been befō. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Says he: "Miss Mousie, is you in?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "Oh yes, Sugar Lump! I kyard an' spin." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: He tuck dat Mousie on his knee. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: An' he say: "Dear Honey, marry me!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "Oh Suh!" she say, "I cain't do dat." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Widout de sayso o' uncle Rat." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Dat ole gray Rat, he soon come home. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Sayin': "Whose been here since I'se been gone?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "A fine young gemmun fer to see." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: An' one dat axed fer to marry me." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Dat Rat jes laugh to split his side. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "Jes think o' Mousie's bein' a bride!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Nex' day, dat rat went down to town. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: To git up de Mousie's Weddin' gown. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "What's de bes' thing fer de Weddin' gown?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "What's de bes' thing fer de Weddin' gown?"--


s: "Dat acorn hull, all gray an' brown!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "Whar shall de Weddin' Infar' be?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "Down in de swamp in a holler tree." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "What shall de Weddin' Infar' be?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "Two brown beans an' a blackeyed pea." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Fust to come in wus de Bumblebee. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Wid a fiddle an' bow across his knee. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: De nex' dat come wus Khyernel Wren. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: An' he dance a reel wid de Turkey Hen. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: De nex' dat come wus Mistah Snake. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: He swallowed de whole weddin' cake! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: De nex' come in wus Cap'n Flea. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: An' he dance a jig fer de Bumblebee. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: An' now come in ole Giner'l Louse. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: He dance a breakdown 'round de house. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: De nex' to come wus Major Tick. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: An' he e't so much it make 'im sick. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Dey sent fer Mistah Doctah Fly. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Says he: "Major Tick, you's boun' to die." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Oh, den crep' in ole Mistah Cat. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: It give dat frog a turble fright. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: An' he up an' say to dem, "Good-night!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Dat frog, he swum de lake aroun'. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: An' a big black duck come gobble 'im down. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "What d'you say 'us Miss Mousie's lot?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: "What d'you say 'us Miss Mousie's lot?"--


s: "W'y--, she got swallered on de spot!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Now, I don't know no mō' 'an dat. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: If you gits mō' you can take my hat. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: An' if you thinks dat hat won't do. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!


s: Den you mought take my head 'long, too. Uh-huh!!! Uh-huh!!!


s: An' I loves dem flap-jacks a-floatin' in gravy.


s: You play dem chyards, an' make two passes:


s: While I eats dem flap-jacks a-floatin' in 'lasses.


s: Fer I hain't gwineter give you no flap-jack.


s: "Won't you pass de biscuit, please, Mam?"


s: De rats an' de mice, dey rund up stairs,


s: Fer to hear Miss Blodger say her prayers.


s: She 'spects to hit me, but I'se gwineter dodge her.


s: One, two, three, fō', five, six, seben, eight;


s: All de good chilluns goes in de Pearly Gate.


s: But all de bad chilluns goes the Broad Road below,


s: Read first stanza of "Sheep Shell Corn," to know of ole man Joe.


s: This last stanza embodies one of the old superstitions.


s: Pennywinkle, pennywinkle, poke out yō' ho'n;


s: An' I'll give you five dollahs an' a bar'l o' co'n.


s: Pennywinkle! Pennywinkle! Dat gal love me?


s: Jes stick out yō' ho'n all pinted to a tree.


s: Randsome Tantsome!--W'at you gwineter wear?


s: "Dem shoes an' stockin's I'se bound to wear!"


s: Is you keerful; w'en you goes down de street,


s: To see dat yō' cloze looks nice an' neat?


s: Does you watch yō' liddle step 'long de way,


s: Says he: "I'se picked in de red-hot sun,


s: An' keep 'way some our neighbors from us.


s: "Dey wuked you night an' day as dey could;


s: Dey never had stopped an' dey never would."


s: "Dat none deir gals wus lak Sallie Jane,


s: Fer dat gal wus sweeter dan sugar cane."


s: I'se jes as innerpenunt as a pig on ice.


s: Gwineter git up ag'in if I slips down twice.


s: Whisky nor brandy hain't no friend to my kind.


s: Dey killed my pō' daddy, an' dey troubled my mind.


s: Sometime he drunk whisky, sometime he drunk ale;


s: Sometime he kotch de rawhide, an' sometime de flail.


s: On yon'er high mountain, I'll set up dar high;


s: An' de wild geese can cheer me while passin' on by.


s: Go 'way, young ladies, an' let me alone;


s: For you know I'se a poor boy, an' a long ways from home.


s: Go put up de hosses an' give 'em some hay;


s: But don't give me no whisky, so long as I stay.


s: For whisky nor brandy hain't friend to my kind;


s: He come down to my house, an' talk about you;


s: He talk about me, an' he talk about you;


s: He 'ten' dat he love, an' he don't love men.


s: He 'ten' dat he love, an' he hate Br'er Ben;


s: Cain't more 'an drive dat ole mule chyart.


s: Wid his nose in de air, turned 'way frum de ground.


s: His ole woolly head hain't been combed fer a week;


s: It say: "Keep still, while Know-All speak."


s: When you knowed one thing, he knowed mō'.


s: He 'us sharp 'nough to stick an' green 'nough to grow.


s: He got drowned in de middle o' de creek.


s: You can know I'se climbed de Knowledge Tree


s: Got a tongue dat can hush when it talk?--


s: The somewhat less dignified term was more commonly used.


s: She wuk so hard dat she want to be free.


s: But, you know, Aunt Dinah's gittin' sorter ole;


s: An' she's feared to go to Canada, caze it's so cōl'.


s: Dar wus ole Uncle Jack, he want to git free.


s: He find de way Norf by de moss on de tree.


s: Dem Patterollers give 'im a mighty close rub.


s: He tote all de news to Mosser a little bigger.


s: When you tells Uncle Billy, you wants free fer a fac';


s: De nex' day de hide drap off'n yō' back.


s: White guards who caught and kept slaves at the master's home.


s: The rhymes "Tuba Blay," "Near Waldo Tee-do O mah nah mejai," "Sai


s: We are indebted for this Baluba rhyme to Dr. and Mrs. William H.


s: The dancing owl waves his spread tail feathers.


s: I now tell you by my dancing, I'm the owl.


s: Turkey buzzard, turkey buzzard, your child is lost.


s: That is all right, the food will be more plentiful.


s: Turkey buzzard, turkey buzzard, your child is found.


s: That is all right, we will increase in number.


s: We are going to the market of the Baluba.


s: All a night, me da watch a brother Wayrum;


s: Oh a me Buscher, in a me Buscher garden;


s: We're going to dig a sepulcher to bury those regiments.


s: Get yourself in readiness to bury those regiments.


s: You beautiful woman, you're good enough for me.


s: He struck it here, and he struck it there,


s: A few of the Rhymes bear the mark of a somewhat recent date in


s: He's a-watching for to bite you as you pass.


s: There is a variety of Dance Rhyme to which it is fitting to call


s: illustrates the music ideal in composition to which I refer.


s: Eldah Thompson got so tickled dat he lak to los' his grace,


s: "Tree stan' high, but honey mighty sweet--


s: Watch dem bees wid stingers on der feet."


s: (a) "We'll stay at home when you're away


s: Little man lead, and the big horse follow,


s: Can you tell what's good for a head in a hollow?"


s: "Did these venders sell?" Well, all agree that they did. The same


s: continuous passing along the crowded thoroughfares of much that


s: description of a slave owner attired in Colonial garb. It clearly


s: reactions during the days of his enslavement. One of these mental


s: I now approach the more difficult and probably the most important


s: illustrate: the absolutely pure sapphire, pure aluminic oxide,


s: Early in my discussion the reader will recall that I explained in


s: This is the genesis of the "Jonah's Band Party," found in our


s: En dat w'at de matter wid King Deer's goat.'


s: The playing and singing of each of these songs commonly went on


s: Of course these prose "calls" had to be rhythmic to fit into the


s: Now let us look a little more intimately into how the Rhymes were


s: (He)--"Is you a flyin' lark, or a settin' dove?"


s: (She)--"I'se a flyin' lark, my Honey Love."


s: (He)--"Is you a bird o' one fedder, or a bird o' two?"


s: (She)--"I'se a bird o' one fedder, w'en it comes to you."


s: Now, I had heard "field" calls all during my early childhood in


s: In the Alabama Field Call and response one cannot help seeing a


s: development, the present day one-toed horse descended from this


s: The spirit of "call" and "sponse" hovers ghost-like over the very


s: Of course there is no law, but the number of lines in a stanza of


s: a   Where the adjacent lines rhyme by twos. We


s: a   call it "Adjacent rhymes" or a "Couplet."


s: b   Where the alternating lines rhyme we


s: a   call it "Alternate" or "Interwoven Rhyme."


s: a   Where lines 1 and 4, and 2 and 3 rhyme


s: b   respectively with each other. This is called


s: a   Where in a stanza of four lines, lines 2 and


s: b   4 only rhyme. This is sometimes also called


s: b   rhyme. This is called "Interrupted Rhyme."


s: I present herewith the outline and follow it with explanations:


s: I Rhythmic Solitaire      (a) Rhythmic measured lines


s: Juba cut dat Pidgeon's Wing! Juba! Juba!"


s: Representing such a rhyming by letters we have


s: Let us see what these permanently retained seemingly senseless


s: Juba dance dat Long Dog Scratch, Juba! Juba!"


s: "I'se gwine out on de Anchor Line--Mary," etc.


s: introductory words and lines automatically became "Verse Crown."


s: Slave parodies, then, are little Rhymes capable of two distinct


s: constitute a pipe organ in its most rudimentary form.


s: miracles. 13. "Servants, obey your Masters."


s: I have placed in our collection of Rhymes a small foreign section


s: healthfulness of all the King's country, for the crops," etc.


s: In a few Rhymes the vice of stealing is either laughed at, or


s: apparently laughed at. Such Rhymes carry on their face a strictly


s: Walk, Talk, Chicken with your Head Pecked,


s: Walk, Talk, Chicken With your Head Pecked,


s: Of long nights lit with orange lanterns,


s: Of wine-cups and compliments and kisses of the two-sword men."


s: _Granted this dew-drop world be but a dew-drop world,


s: A Woman Standing by a Gate with an Umbrella


s: of the two-sword men."                       Frontispiece


s: Out of the crystalline shower of drops shattered in play,


s: "The cranes have come back to the temple,


s: Stirred by the bitter winds of unsatisfied desire."


s: At the earliest period concerning which we have any accurate


s: persisted for long after his death. A disciple and priest of Zen


s: Buddhism himself, his work is permeated with the feeling of that


s: There is faint sound of quavering strings,


s: The soft sigh of the wind through silken garments;


s: Filled with thin petals of cherry blossom,


s: Like tinkling laughter dancing away in sunlight.


s: Of wine cups and compliments and kisses of the two-sword men.


s: Lie outstretched on the mats of the palace,


s: And of the iris stalk that is broken in the fountain.


s: Autumn winds roll through the dry leaves


s: She is a fierce kitten leaping in sunlight


s: Bending in parallel curves the boughs of the willow-tree.


s: How should I love--as the swaying or tossing wind?


s: She is a cherry-tree that has taken long to bloom.


s: _A Woman Standing by a Gate with an Umbrella_


s: I wait here dreaming of vermilion sunsets:


s: In my heart is a half fear of the chill autumn rain.


s: He invites her to walk out through the maples,


s: She half refuses, hiding fear in her heart.


s: That fall over the earth in winter-time.


s: A violet iris standing yet in seething pools of grey.


s: But in his heart all the while is another knowledge,


s: The sorrow of the bleakness of the long wet winter night.


s: Tall hollyhocks stand proud upon its paths;


s: Fierce storm-rack scrawled with lightning


s: Coiling itself, preparing to raise its head,


s: I have forgotten how many times he kissed me,


s: Tonight he will either find new love or a sword-thrust,


s: But his soul is troubled with ghosts of old regret.


s: He had just been girt with the two swords;


s: She was a dream of moons, of fluttering handkerchiefs,


s: To her was more dear than the deep-toned temple bell.


s: She fluttered to my sword-hilt an instant,


s: But who will spend all day chasing a butterfly?


s: A beautiful geisha swaying down the street.


s: Out of the crystalline shower of drops shattered in play,


s: Fresh and cool as a flower born in the rain.


s: Swift as the wind that shakes the lance-like bamboo leaves;


s: Stirred by the silver oars of poems passing.


s: Is only a rosy glimmer of flame remembered.


s: In bubbles of gold on a black motionless rock.


s: My love for her at first was like the smoke that drifts


s: Its heart shaped buds from the dim waters.


s: On my heart is the black badge of exile;


s: Beneath them like a golden carp in the torrent.


s: Will break the weak green shoots of their love.


s: Spring rain falls through the cherry blossom,


s: The summer rain sifts through the drooping willow,


s: The autumn rain drives through the maples


s: The cranes have come back to the temple,


s: Let my song sigh as the breeze through the cryptomerias,


s: And dart and flutter aloft, like a wind-bewildered crane.


s: He tears off a green and orange stalk of broken chrysanthemum.


s: The chrysanthemums spread their flattered heads,


s: Although there was no sound in all the house,


s: The harmonies of the robes of this gay lady


s: Are like chants within a temple sweeping outwards


s: But I prefer the song of the wind by a stream


s: Where a shy lily half hides itself in the grasses;


s: To the night of clouds and stars and wine and passion,


s: In a palace of tesselated restraint and splendor.


s: For the breadth of innumerable countries,


s: In the drawn-together skirts of her robes,


s: Tugging uneasily at their cramped chains.


s: Brown-blue, dull-green, the villages in the distance


s: Beneath the fluttering jangling streamers


s: Showered upon them from the vine-hung lanterns,


s: Leering, sneering, scowling, threatening faces;


s: Weeping, twisting, yelling, howling faces;


s: Faces fixed in a contortion between a scream and a laugh,


s: If these faces are but masks, or you the masks for them.


s: Her life was like a swiftly rushing stream


s: Or peonies flying to ribbons before the storm-gusts.


s: The sombre pine-tops waited until the seasons had passed.


s: Stirred by the bitter winds of unsatisfied desire.


s: My beloved is like blue smoke that rises


s: Over the dark paths of old gardens long neglected.


s: Out of the crane-haunted mists of autumn,


s: There is only one stone left half-buried in the marsh,


s: With characters upon it which no one now can read.


s: Despair hangs in the broken folds of my garments;


s: Of years like red leaves buried in snow.


s: Pilgrims will ascend the road in early summer,


s: Girls will laugh and scatter cherry petals,


s: Sometimes they will rest in the twisted pine-trees' shade.


s: If one presses her warm lips to this tablet


s: The city gleams with lights this evening


s: Like loud and yawning laughter from red lips.


s: As the dropping of a November leaf at twilight,


s: As the faint flicker of lightning down the southern sky,


s: I almost thought it was the trees that were talking.


s: Because of the long pallid petals of white chrysanthemums


s: A piece of paper ready to toss in the fire,


s: Blackened, scrawled with fragments of an incomplete song:


s: There is a goddess who walks shrouded by day:


s: At night she throws her blue veil over the earth.


s: The splaying silhouette of horse-chestnut leaves


s: Against the tall and delicate, patrician-tinged sky


s: Like a princess in blue robes behind a grille of bronze.


s: Pygmæo-gerano-machia: The Battle of the Pigmies and Cranes


s: Epitaph: being Part of an Inscription for a Monument,


s: to be erected by a Gentleman to the Memory


s: To the Right Hon. Lady Charlotte Gordon, dressed in


s: a Tartan Scotch Bonnet, with Plumes, &c.


s: Quarum sacra fero, ingenti perculsus amore,


s: Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb


s: The steep, where Fame's proud temple shines afar!


s: Ah! who can tell how many a soul sublime


s: Has felt the influence of malignant star,


s: Checked by the scoff of Pride, by Envy's frown,


s: In life's low vale remote has pined alone,


s: Then dropt into the grave, unpitied and unknown!


s: Him, who ne'er listened to the voice of praise,


s: There are, who, deaf to mad Ambition's call,


s: Would shrink to hear th' obstreperous trump of Fame;


s: Supremely blest, if to their portion fall


s: Health, competence, and peace. Nor higher aim


s: Had He, whose simple tale these artless lines proclaim.


s: This sapient age disclaims all classic lore;


s: Else I should here, in cunning phrase, display,


s: How forth THE MINSTREL fared in days of yore,


s: Right glad of heart, though homely in array;


s: His waving locks and beard all hoary grey:


s: And, from his bending shoulder, decent hung


s: His harp, the sole companion of his way,


s: Which to the whistling wind responsive rung:


s: And ever as he went some merry lay he sung.


s: Fret not yourselves, ye silken sons of pride,


s: That a poor Wanderer should inspire my strain.


s: The Muses fortune's fickle smile deride,


s: For their delights are with the village-train,


s: Whom Nature's laws engage, and Nature's charms:


s: They hate the sensual, and scorn the vain;


s: The parasite their influence never warms,


s: Nor him whose sordid soul the love of wealth alarms.


s: Though richest hues the peacock's plumes adorn,


s: Yet horror screams from his discordant throat.


s: Rise, sons of harmony, and hail the morn,


s: While warbling larks on russet pinions float;


s: Or seek, at noon, the woodland scene remote,


s: Where the grey linnets carol from the hill.


s: To please a tyrant, strain the little bill!


s: But sing what heaven inspires, and wander where they will.


s: Liberal, not lavish, is kind Nature's hand;


s: Yet all her schemes with nicest art are planned,


s: Good counteracting ill, and gladness woe.


s: With gold and gems if Chilian mountains glow,


s: If bleak and barren Scotia's hills arise;


s: There, plague and poison, lust and rapine grow;


s: Here, peaceful are the vales, and pure the skies,


s: And freedom fires the soul, and sparkles in the eyes.


s: Then grieve not, thou, to whom the indulgent Muse


s: Nor blame the partial fates, if they refuse


s: The imperial banquet, and the rich attire.


s: Know thine own worth, and reverence the lyre.


s: Wilt thou debase the heart which God refined?


s: No; let thy heaven-taught soul to heaven aspire,


s: Ambition's grovelling crew for ever left behind.


s: Canst thou forego the pure ethereal soul


s: Stung with disease, and stupified with spleen;


s: Fain to implore the aid of Flattery's screen,


s: Even from thyself thy loathsome heart to hide,


s: (The mansion, then, no more of joy serene)


s: Where fear, distrust, malevolence, abide,


s: And impotent desire, and disappointed pride?


s: O, how canst thou renounce the boundless store


s: Of charms which Nature to her votary yields!


s: The warbling woodland, the resounding shore,


s: The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields;


s: All that the genial ray of morning gilds,


s: And all that echoes to the song of even,


s: All that the mountain's sheltering bosom shields,


s: And all the dread magnificence of heaven,


s: O how canst thou renounce, and hope to be forgiven!


s: These charms shall work thy soul's eternal health,


s: And love, and gentleness, and joy, impart.


s: But these thou must renounce, if lust of wealth


s: E'er win its way to thy corrupted heart;


s: For ah! it poisons like a scorpion's dart;


s: Prompting the ungenerous wish, the selfish scheme,


s: The stern resolve, unmoved by pity's smart,


s: The troublous day, and long distressful dream.


s: Return, my roving Muse! resume thy purposed theme.


s: There lived, in Gothic days, as legends tell,


s: Whose sires, perchance, in Fairyland might dwell,


s: But he, I ween, was of the North Countrie:


s: A nation famed for song, and beauty's charms;


s: Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free;


s: Inflexible in faith; invincible in arms.


s: The shepherd-swain, of whom I mention made,


s: On Scotia's mountains fed his little flock;


s: The sickle, scythe, or plough, he never swayed;


s: An honest heart was almost all his stock;


s: His drink the living water from the rock:


s: The milky dams supplied his board, and lent


s: Their kindly fleece to baffle winter's shock;


s: And he, though oft with dust and sweat besprent,


s: Did guide and guard their wanderings, wheresoe'er they went.


s: From labour health, from health contentment springs.


s: Contentment opes the source of every joy.


s: He envied not, he never thought of kings;


s: Nor from those appetites sustained annoy,


s: Which chance may frustrate, or indulgence cloy:


s: Nor fate his calm and humble hopes beguiled;


s: He mourned no recreant friend, nor mistress coy,


s: For on his vows the blameless Phoebe smiled,


s: And her alone he loved, and loved her from a child.


s: No jealousy their dawn of love o'ercast,


s: Nor blasted were their wedded days with strife;


s: Each season looked delightful, as it past,


s: To the fond husband, and the faithful wife.


s: They never roamed; secure beneath the storm


s: Where peace and love are cankered by the worm


s: Of pride, each bud of joy industrious to deform.


s: The wight, whose tale these artless lines unfold,


s: Was all the offspring of this simple pair.


s: Nor aught that might a strange event declare.


s: You guess each circumstance of EDWIN'S birth;


s: The parent's transport, and the parent's care;


s: The gossip's prayer for wealth, and wit, and worth;


s: And one long summer-day of indolence and mirth.


s: Deep thought oft seemed to fix his infant eye.


s: Dainties he heeded not, nor gaude, nor toy,


s: Save one short pipe of rudest minstrelsy.


s: Silent when glad; affectionate, though shy;


s: And now he laughed aloud, yet none knew why.


s: The neighbours stared and sighed, yet blessed the lad:


s: Some deemed him wondrous wise, and some believed him mad.


s: But why should I his childish feats display?


s: Concourse, and noise, and toil, he ever fled;


s: Nor cared to mingle in the clamorous fray


s: Of squabbling imps; but to the forest sped,


s: Or roamed at large the lonely mountain's head;


s: Or, where the maze of some bewildered stream


s: To deep untrodden groves his footsteps led,


s: There would he wander wild, 'till Phoebus' beam,


s: Shot from the western cliff, released the weary team.


s: The exploit of strength, dexterity, or speed,


s: His heart, from cruel sport estranged, would bleed


s: These he detested, those he scorned to wield:


s: He wished to be the guardian, not the king,


s: Tyrant, far less, or traitor, of the field.


s: And sure the sylvan reign unbloody joy might yield.


s: Lo! where the stripling, wrapt in wonder, roves


s: Beneath the precipice o'erhung with pine;


s: And sees, on high, amidst the encircling groves,


s: From cliff to cliff the foaming torrents shine:


s: While waters, woods, and winds, in concert join,


s: And Echo swells the chorus to the skies.


s: For aught the huntsman's puny craft supplies?


s: Ah! no: he better knows great Nature's charms to prize.


s: And oft he traced the uplands, to survey,


s: When o'er the sky advanced the kindling dawn,


s: The crimson cloud, blue main, and mountain grey,


s: And lake, dim-gleaming on the smoky lawn;


s: Far to the west the long, long vale withdrawn,


s: Where twilight loves to linger for a while;


s: And now he faintly kens the bounding fawn,


s: But, lo! the sun appears! and heaven, earth, ocean, smile.


s: And oft the craggy cliff he loved to climb,


s: When all in mist the world below was lost.


s: What dreadful pleasure! there to stand sublime,


s: Like shipwrecked mariner on desert coast,


s: And view the enormous waste of vapour, tost


s: In billows, lengthening to the horizon round,


s: Now scooped in gulfs, with mountains now embossed!


s: And hear the voice of mirth and song rebound,


s: Flocks, herds, and waterfalls, along the hoar profound!


s: In truth he was a strange and wayward wight,


s: Fond of each gentle, and each dreadful scene.


s: In darkness, and in storm, he found delight:


s: Nor less, than when on ocean-wave serene


s: The southern sun diffused his dazzling shene.


s: And if a sigh would sometimes intervene,


s: A sigh, a tear, so sweet, he wished not to controul.


s: 'O ye wild groves, O where is now your bloom!'


s: (The Muse interprets thus his tender thought.)


s: 'Your flowers, your verdure, and your balmy gloom,


s: 'Of late so grateful in the hour of drought!


s: 'Why do the birds, that song and rapture brought


s: 'To all your bowers, their mansions now forsake?


s: 'Ah! why has fickle chance this ruin wrought!


s: 'For now the storm howls mournful through the brake,


s: 'And the dead foliage flies in many a shapeless flake.


s: 'Where now the rill, melodious, pure, and cool,


s: 'And meads, with life, and mirth, and beauty, crowned!


s: 'Ah! see, the unsightly slime, and sluggish pool,


s: 'Fled each fair form, and mute each melting sound.


s: 'The raven croaks forlorn on naked spray:


s: 'And, hark! the river, bursting every mound,


s: 'Down the vale thunders; and, with wasteful sway,


s: 'Uproots the grove, and rolls the shattered rocks away.


s: 'Fair is the bud his vernal morn brings forth,


s: 'And fostering gales awhile the nursling fan.


s: 'O smile, ye heavens, serene; ye mildews wan,


s: 'Ye blighting whirlwinds, spare his balmy prime,


s: 'Nor lessen of his life the little span.


s: 'Borne on the swift, though silent, wings of Time,


s: 'Old-age comes on apace to ravage all the clime.


s: 'And be it so. Let those deplore their doom,


s: 'Whose hope still grovels in this dark sojourn.


s: 'But lofty souls, who look beyond the tomb,


s: 'Can smile at Fate, and wonder how they mourn.


s: 'Shall spring to these sad scenes no more return?


s: 'Soon shall the orient with new lustre burn,


s: 'And spring shall soon her vital influence shed,


s: 'Again attune the grove, again adorn the mead.


s: 'When Fate, relenting, lets the flower revive?


s: 'Shall Nature's voice, to man alone unjust,


s: 'Bid him, though doomed to perish, hope to live?


s: 'Is it for this fair Virtue oft must strive


s: 'No: Heaven's immortal spring shall yet arrive;


s: 'Bright through the eternal year of Love's triumphant reign.'


s: This truth sublime his simple sire had taught.


s: In sooth, 'twas almost all the shepherd knew.


s: No subtle nor superfluous lore he sought,


s: 'Let man's own sphere (quoth he) confine his view,


s: 'Be man's peculiar work his sole delight.'


s: And much, and oft, he warned him, to eschew


s: Falsehood and guile, and aye maintain the right,


s: By pleasure unseduced, unawed by lawless might.


s: 'And, from the prayer of Want, and plaint of Woe,


s: 'Forlorn, in this bleak wilderness below,


s: 'Ah! what were man, should Heaven refuse to hear!


s: 'What to thyself thou wishest to be done.


s: 'Forgive thy foes; and love thy parents dear,


s: 'And friends, and native land; nor those alone;


s: 'All human weal and woe learn thou to make thine own.'


s: See, in the rear of the warm sunny shower,


s: For now the storm of summer-rain is o'er,


s: And cool, and fresh, and fragrant is the sky.


s: And, lo! in the dark east, expanded high,


s: The rainbow brightens to the setting sun!


s: Fond fool, that deem'st the streaming glory nigh,


s: How vain the chace thine ardour has begun!


s: 'Tis fled afar, ere half thy purposed race be run.


s: Yet couldst thou learn, that thus it fares with age,


s: When pleasure, wealth, or power, the bosom warm,


s: This baffled hope might tame thy manhood's rage,


s: And Disappointment of her sting disarm.----


s: But why should foresight thy fond heart alarm?


s: Perish the lore that deadens young desire!


s: Indulge gay hope, and fancy's pleasing fire:


s: Fancy and Hope too soon shall of themselves expire.


s: When the long-sounding curfew, from afar,


s: Loaded with loud lament the lonely gale,


s: Young Edwin, lighted by the evening star,


s: Lingering and listening, wandered down the vale.


s: There would he dream of graves, and corses pale;


s: And ghosts, that to the charnel-dungeon throng,


s: And drag a length of clanking chain, and wail,


s: Till silenced by the owl's terrific song,


s: Or blast that shrieks by fits the shuddering aisles along.


s: Or, when the setting moon, in crimson dyed,


s: To haunted stream, remote from man, he hied,


s: Where fays, of yore, their revels wont to keep;


s: And there let Fancy roam at large, till sleep


s: A vision brought to his entranced sight.


s: And first, a wildly murmuring wind 'gan creep


s: Shrill to his ringing ear; then tapers bright,


s: With instantaneous gleam, illumed the vault of night.


s: Arose; the trumpet bids the valves unfold;


s: And forth an host of little warriors march,


s: Grasping the diamond lance, and targe of gold.


s: Their look was gentle, their demeanour bold,


s: And green their helms, and green their silk attire;


s: And here and there, right venerably old,


s: The long-robed minstrels wake the warbling wire,


s: And some with mellow breath the martial pipe inspire.


s: With merriment, and song, and timbrels clear,


s: A troop of dames from myrtle bowers advance;


s: The little warriors doff the targe and spear,


s: And loud enlivening strains provoke the dance.


s: They meet, they dart away, they wheel askance;


s: To right, to left, they thrid the flying maze;


s: Now bound aloft with vigorous spring, then glance


s: Of tapers, gems, and gold, the echoing forests blaze.


s: The dream is fled. Proud harbinger of day,


s: Who scar'dst the vision with thy clarion shrill,


s: Fell chanticleer! who oft hast reft away


s: My fancied good, and brought substantial ill!


s: O to thy cursed scream, discordant still,


s: Thy boastful mirth let jealous rivals spill,


s: Insult thy crest, and glossy pinions tear,


s: And ever in thy dreams the ruthless fox appear.


s: Forbear, my Muse. Let love attune thy line.


s: Revoke the spell. Thine Edwin frets not so.


s: For how should he at wicked chance repine,


s: Who feels, from every change, amusement flow?


s: Even now his eyes with smiles of rapture glow,


s: As on he wanders through the scenes of morn,


s: Where the fresh flowers in living lustre blow,


s: Where thousand pearls the dewy lawns adorn,


s: A thousand notes of joy in every breeze are borne.


s: The wild brook babbling down the mountain side;


s: The lowing herd; the sheepfold's simple bell;


s: The pipe of early shepherd, dim descried


s: In the lone valley; echoing far and wide,


s: The clamorous horn, along the cliffs above;


s: The hum of bees, and linnet's lay of love,


s: And the full choir that wakes the universal grove.


s: Crowned with her pail the tripping milkmaid sings;


s: The whistling ploughman stalks afield; and, hark!


s: Down the rough slope the ponderous waggon rings;


s: Through rustling corn the hare astonished springs;


s: Slow tolls the village-clock the drowsy hour;


s: The partridge bursts away on whirring wings;


s: Deep mourns the turtle in sequestered bower,


s: And shrill lark carols clear from her aërial tour.


s: Whose votaries feast on raptures ever new!


s: Blessed be the day I 'scaped the wrangling crew,


s: And held high converse with the godlike few,


s: Who to the enraptured heart, and ear, and eye,


s: Teach beauty, virtue, truth, and love, and melody.


s: Hence! ye, who snare and stupify the mind,


s: Sophists, of beauty, virtue, joy, the bane!


s: Greedy and fell, though impotent and blind,


s: Who spread your filthy nets in Truth's fair fane,


s: Hence to dark Error's den, whose rankling slime


s: First gave you form! hence! lest the Muse should deign,


s: (Though loath on theme so mean to waste a rhyme),


s: With vengeance to pursue your sacrilegious crime.


s: Nature's true sons, the friends of man and truth!


s: Whose song, sublimely sweet, serenely gay,


s: Amused my childhood, and informed my youth.


s: Inspire my dreams, and my wild wanderings guide!


s: Your voice each rugged path of life can smooth;


s: There harmony, and peace, and innocence, abide.


s: Save when against the winter's drenching rain,


s: And driving snow, the cottage shut the door.


s: Her legends when the Beldam 'gan impart,


s: Wonder and joy ran thrilling to his heart;


s: Much he the tale admired, but more the tuneful art.


s: Various and strange was the long-winded tale;


s: And halls, and knights, and feats of arms, displayed;


s: Or merry swains, who quaff the nut-brown ale,


s: And sing, enamoured of the nut-brown maid;


s: The moon-light revel of the fairy glade;


s: 'Midst fiends and spectres, quench the moon in blood,


s: Yell in the midnight storm, or ride the infuriate flood.


s: A gentler strain the Beldam would rehearse,


s: The orphan-babes, and guardian uncle fierce.


s: That heart by lust of lucre seared to stone!


s: For sure, if aught of virtue last, or verse,


s: To latest times shall tender souls bemoan


s: Those helpless orphan-babes by thy fell arts undone.


s: Behold, with berries smeared, with brambles torn,


s: The babes, now famished, lay them down to die;


s: 'Midst the wild howl of darksome woods forlorn,


s: Nor friend, nor stranger, hears their dying cry:


s: 'For from the town the man returns no more.'


s: But thou, who Heaven's just vengeance darest defy,


s: This deed with fruitless tears shalt soon deplore,


s: When Death lays waste thy house, and flames consume thy store.


s: Brightened one moment Edwin's starting tear.--


s: 'But why should gold man's feeble mind decoy,


s: 'And innocence thus die by doom severe?'


s: O Edwin! while thy heart is yet sincere,


s: The assaults of discontent and doubt repel:


s: Dark even at noontide is our mortal sphere;


s: Let us exult in hope, that all shall yet be well.


s: Nor be thy generous indignation checked,


s: Nor checked the tender tear to misery given;


s: From Guilt's contagious power shall that protect,


s: This soften and refine the soul for heaven.


s: But dreadful is their doom, whom doubt hath driven


s: Like yonder blasted boughs by lightning riven,


s: Perfection, beauty, life, they never know,


s: But frown on all that pass, a monument of woe.


s: Shall he, whose birth, maturity, and age,


s: Scarce fill the circle of one summer-day,


s: Shall the poor gnat, with discontent and rage,


s: Or shall frail man Heaven's dread decree gainsay,


s: Wide through unnumbered worlds, and ages without end!


s: One part, one little part, we dimly scan,


s: Through the dark medium of life's feverish dream;


s: Yet dare arraign the whole stupendous plan,


s: If but that little part incongruous seem.


s: Nor is that part, perhaps, what mortals deem;


s: Oft from apparent ill our blessings rise.


s: O then, renounce that impious self-esteem,


s: That aims to trace the secrets of the skies:


s: For thou art but of dust; be humble, and be wise.


s: Thus, Heaven enlarged his soul in riper years.


s: For Nature gave him strength, and fire, to soar,


s: On Fancy's wing above this vale of tears;


s: Where dark cold-hearted sceptics, creeping, pore


s: And much they grope for truth, but never hit.


s: For why? their powers, inadequate before,


s: This art preposterous renders more unfit;


s: Yet deem they darkness light, and their vain blunders wit.


s: Nor was this ancient dame a foe to mirth.


s: Her ballad, jest, and riddle's quaint device,


s: Oft cheered the shepherds round their social hearth;


s: Whom levity or spleen could ne'er entice


s: To purchase chat or laughter at the price


s: That Nature forms a rustic taste so nice.


s: Ah! had they been of court or city breed,


s: Such delicacy were right marvellous indeed.


s: Oft when the winter-storm had ceased to rave,


s: He roamed the snowy waste at even, to view


s: The cloud stupendous, from the Atlantic wave


s: High-towering, sail along the horizon blue:


s: Where, 'midst the changeful scenery ever new,


s: Fancy a thousand wondrous forms descries,


s: More wildly great than ever pencil drew;


s: Rocks, torrents, gulfs, and shapes of giant size,


s: And glittering cliffs on cliffs, and fiery ramparts rise.


s: Thence, musing, onward to the sounding shore,


s: The lone enthusiast oft would take his way,


s: Listening, with pleasing dread, to the deep roar


s: Of the wide-weltering waves. In black array


s: When sulphurous clouds rolled on the vernal day,


s: Even then he hastened from the haunt of man,


s: Along the darkening wilderness to stray,


s: What time the lightning's fierce career began,


s: And o'er heaven's rending arch the rattling thunder ran.


s: Responsive to the sprightly pipe, when all


s: In sprightly dance the village-youth were joined,


s: From the rude gambol far remote reclined,


s: Soothed with the soft notes warbling in the wind.


s: Ah then, all jollity seemed noise and folly.


s: To the pure soul, by Fancy's fire refined,


s: Ah, what is mirth, but turbulence unholy,


s: When with the charm compared of heavenly melancholy!


s: Is there a heart that music cannot melt?


s: Ah me! how is that rugged heart forlorn!


s: Is there, who ne'er those mystic transports felt,


s: He needs not woo the Muse; he is her scorn.


s: The sophist's rope of cobweb he shall twine;


s: Mope o'er the schoolman's peevish page; or mourn,


s: And delve for life, in Mammon's dirty mine;


s: Sneak with the scoundrel fox, or grunt with glutton swine.


s: For Edwin, Fate a nobler doom had planned;


s: Song was his favourite and first pursuit.


s: The wild harp rang to his adventurous hand,


s: And languished to his breath the plaintive flute.


s: His infant muse, though artless, was not mute:


s: For this of time and culture is the fruit;


s: And Edwin gained, at last, this fruit so rare:


s: As in some future verse I purpose to declare.


s: Meanwhile, whate'er of beautiful, or new,


s: Sublime, or dreadful, in earth, sea, or sky,


s: By chance, or search, was offered to his view,


s: He scanned with curious and romantic eye.


s: From Gothic tale, or song, or fable old,


s: Roused him, still keen to listen and to pry.


s: At last, though long by penury controuled,


s: And solitude, his soul her graces 'gan unfold.


s: Thus, on the chill Lapponian's dreary land,


s: For many a long month lost in snow profound,


s: When Sol from Cancer sends the season bland,


s: And in their northern cave the storms hath bound;


s: From silent mountains, straight, with startling sound,


s: Torrents are hurled; green hills emerge; and lo,


s: The trees with foliage, cliffs with flowers are crowned;


s: Pure rills through vales of verdure warbling go;


s: And wonder, love, and joy, the peasant's heart o'erflow.


s: Here pause, my Gothic lyre, a little while.


s: The leisure hour is all that thou can'st claim.


s: But on this verse if MONTAGU should smile,


s: New strains, ere long, shall animate thy frame:


s: And his applause to me is more than fame;


s: For still with truth accords his taste refined.


s: Whom Nature's charms inspire, and love of humankind.


s: Of chance or change, O let not man complain,


s: Else shall he never never cease to wail:


s: For, from the imperial dome, to where the swain


s: Rears the lone cottage in the silent dale,


s: All feel the assault of fortune's fickle gale;


s: Art, empire, earth itself, to change are doomed;


s: Earthquakes have raised to heaven the humble vale;


s: And gulfs the mountain's mighty mass entombed;


s: And where the Atlantic rolls wide continents have bloomed.


s: But sure to foreign climes we need not range,


s: Nor search the ancient records of our race,


s: To learn the dire effects of time and change,


s: Which in ourselves, alas! we daily trace.


s: Yet, at the darkened eye, the withered face,


s: But spare, O Time, whate'er of mental grace,


s: Whate'er of fancy's ray, or friendship's flame, is mine.


s: So I, obsequious to Truth's dread command,


s: Shall here, without reluctance, change my lay,


s: And smite the Gothic lyre with harsher hand;


s: Now when I leave that flowery path, for aye,


s: Of childhood, where I sported many a day,


s: Warbling, and sauntering carelessly along;


s: Each vale romantic, tuneful every tongue,


s: Sweet, wild, and artless all, as Edwin's infant song.


s: 'Perish the lore that deadens young desire,'


s: Edwin, though loved of heaven, must not aspire


s: To bliss, which mortals never knew before.


s: On trembling wings let youthful fancy soar,


s: Nor always haunt the sunny realms of joy,


s: But now and then the shades of life explore;


s: Though many a sound and sight of woe annoy,


s: And many a qualm of care his rising hopes destroy.


s: Vigour from toil, from trouble patience grows.


s: The weakly blossom, warm in summer bower,


s: Some tints of transient beauty may disclose;


s: But ah, it withers in the chilling hour.


s: Of all the warring winds of heaven, they rise,


s: And toss their giant arms amid the skies,


s: While each assailing blast increase of strength supplies.


s: And now the downy cheek and deepened voice


s: And walks of wider circuit were his choice,


s: And vales more wild, and mountains more sublime.


s: One evening, as he framed the careless rhyme,


s: Which heretofore his foot had never trode;


s: A vale appeared below, a deep retired abode.


s: Thither he hied, enamoured of the scene:


s: For rocks on rocks piled, as by magic spell,


s: Here scorched with lightning, there with ivy green,


s: Fenced from the north and east this savage dell;


s: Southward a mountain rose with easy swell,


s: Whose long long groves eternal murmur made;


s: And toward the western sun a streamlet fell,


s: Where, through the cliffs, the eye, remote, surveyed


s: Blue hills, and glittering waves, and skies in gold arrayed.


s: The wild deer sporting on the meadow ground,


s: Or mossy stone, or rock with woodbine crowned.


s: Oft did the cliffs reverberate the sound


s: Of parted fragments tumbling from on high;


s: And, from the summit of that craggy mound,


s: The perching eagle oft was heard to cry,


s: Or on resounding wings to shoot athwart the sky.


s: One cultivated spot there was, that spread


s: Where many a rose-bud rears its blushing head,


s: And herbs, for food, with future plenty teem.


s: Soothed by the lulling sound of grove and stream,


s: He minded not the sun's last trembling gleam,


s: Nor heard from far the twilight curfew toll,


s: When slowly on his ear these moving accents stole.


s: 'Hail, awful scenes, that calm the troubled breast,


s: 'Can passion's wildest uproar lay to rest,


s: 'And whisper comfort to the man of woes!


s: 'Here Innocence may wander, safe from foes,


s: 'And Contemplation soar on seraph wings.


s: 'When lucre lures him, or ambition stings,


s: 'Shall never know the source whence real grandeur springs.


s: 'Vain man, is grandeur given to gay attire?


s: 'Then let the butterfly thy pride upbraid:


s: 'To friends, attendants, armies, bought with hire?


s: 'It is thy weakness that requires their aid:


s: 'They fear the thief, and tremble in the storm:


s: 'To hosts, through carnage who to conquest wade?


s: 'Behold the victor vanquished by the worm!


s: 'Behold what deeds of woe the locust can perform!


s: 'True dignity is his, whose tranquil mind


s: 'Virtue has raised above the things below;


s: 'Who, every hope and fear to heaven resigned,


s: 'Shrinks not, though Fortune aim her deadliest blow.'


s: This strain, from midst the rocks, was heard to flow


s: In solemn sounds. Now beamed the evening-star;


s: And from embattled clouds, emerging slow,


s: And hoary mountain-cliffs shone faintly from afar.


s: Soon did the solemn voice its theme renew;


s: (While Edwin, wrapt in wonder, listening stood)


s: 'Scorned by the wise, and hated by the good!


s: 'Of Levity and Lust, who, all their days,


s: 'Ashamed of truth and liberty, have wooed,


s: 'And hugged the chain, that, glittering on their gaze,


s: 'Seems to outshine the pomp of heaven's empyreal blaze.


s: 'Like them, abandoned to Ambition's sway,


s: 'I sought for glory in the paths of guile;


s: 'And fawned and smiled, to plunder and betray,


s: 'Myself betrayed and plundered all the while;


s: 'So gnawed the viper the corroding file.


s: 'But now, with pangs of keen remorse, I rue


s: 'Those years of trouble and debasement vile.


s: 'Yet why should I this cruel theme pursue?


s: 'Fly, fly, detested thoughts, for ever from my view!


s: 'The gusts of appetite, the clouds of care,


s: 'And storms of disappointment, all o'erpast,


s: 'Henceforth, no earthly hope with heaven shall share


s: 'This heart, where peace serenely shines at last.


s: 'And if no future age shall hear my name,


s: 'I lurk the more secure from fortune's blast,


s: 'And with more leisure feed this pious flame,


s: 'Whose rapture far transcends the fairest hopes of fame.


s: 'The end and the reward of toil is rest.


s: 'Be all my prayer for virtue and for peace.


s: 'Of wealth and fame, of pomp and power possessed,


s: 'Who ever felt his weight of woe decrease!


s: 'Ah! what avails the lore of Rome and Greece,


s: 'The lay, heaven-prompted, and harmonious string,


s: 'The dust of Ophir, or the Tyrian fleece,


s: 'All that art, fortune, enterprise, can bring,


s: 'If envy, scorn, remorse, or pride, the bosom wring!


s: 'With trophies, rhymes, and scutcheons of renown,


s: 'In the deep dungeon of some Gothic dome,


s: 'Mine be the breezy hill that skirts the down;


s: 'Where a green grassy turf is all I crave,


s: 'Fast by a brook, or fountain's murmuring wave;


s: 'And many an evening sun shine sweetly on my grave.


s: 'And thither let the village swain repair;


s: 'And, light of heart, the village maiden gay,


s: 'To deck with flowers her half-dishevelled hair,


s: 'There let the shepherd's pipe, the live-long day,


s: 'Fill all the grove with love's bewitching woe;


s: 'And when mild Evening comes with mantle grey,


s: 'Let not the blooming band make haste to go;


s: 'No ghost, nor spell, my long and last abode shall know.


s: 'For though I fly to 'scape from fortune's rage,


s: 'And bear the scars of envy, spite, and scorn,


s: 'Yet with no impious spleen my breast is torn:


s: 'For virtue lost, and ruined man, I mourn.


s: 'O Man! creation's pride, heaven's darling child,


s: 'Whom Nature's best, divinest, gifts adorn,


s: 'Why from thy home are truth and joy exiled,


s: 'And all thy favourite haunts with blood and tears defiled!


s: 'Along yon glittering sky what glory streams!


s: 'What majesty attends night's lovely queen!


s: 'Fair laugh our vallies in the vernal beams;


s: 'And mountains rise, and oceans roll between,


s: 'And all conspire to beautify the scene.


s: 'But, in the mental world, what chaos drear!


s: 'What forms of mournful, loathsome, furious mien!


s: 'These dreadful forms to chace, this chaos dark to clear!


s: 'O Thou, at whose creative smile, yon heaven,


s: 'In all the pomp of beauty, life, and light,


s: 'Rose from the abyss; when dark Confusion, driven


s: 'Down down the bottomless profound of night,


s: 'Fled, where he ever flies thy piercing sight!


s: 'O glance on these sad shades one pitying ray,


s: 'Melt the hard heart to love and mercy's sway,


s: 'And cheer the wandering soul, and light him on the way.'


s: Silence ensued: and Edwin raised his eyes


s: In tears, for grief lay heavy at his heart.


s: 'And is it thus in courtly life,' (he cries)


s: 'That man to man acts a betrayer's part?


s: 'And dares he thus the gifts of heaven pervert,


s: 'Each social instinct, and sublime desire?


s: 'Hail Poverty! if honour, wealth, and art,


s: 'If what the great pursue, and learned admire,


s: 'Thus dissipate and quench the soul's ethereal fire!'


s: He said, and turned away; nor did the Sage


s: The Youth, his rising sorrow to assuage,


s: Home as he hied, the evening scene enjoyed:


s: For now no cloud obscures the starry void;


s: The yellow moonlight sleeps on all the hills;


s: Nor is the mind with startling sounds annoyed;


s: A soothing murmur the lone region fills,


s: Of groves, and dying gales, and melancholy rills.


s: But he, from day to day, more anxious grew.


s: The voice still seemed to vibrate on his ear.


s: Nor durst he hope the Hermit's tale untrue;


s: For man he seemed to love, and heaven to fear;


s: And none speaks false, where there is none to hear.


s: 'Yet, can man's gentle heart become so fell?


s: 'My hours away, but seek the Hermit's cell;


s: 'Tis he my doubt can clear, perhaps my care dispel.'


s: At early dawn the youth his journey took,


s: And many a mountain passed, and valley wide,


s: Then reached the wild; where, in a flowery nook,


s: An ancient man: his harp lay him beside.


s: A stag sprang from the pasture at his call,


s: And, kneeling, licked the withered hand, that tied


s: A wreath of woodbine round his antlers tall,


s: And hung his lofty neck with many a floweret small.


s: Smiled on his glowing cheek, but modest awe


s: Depressed his eye, that feared to give offence.


s: 'Who art thou, courteous stranger? and from whence?


s: 'Why roam thy steps to this abandoned dale?'


s: 'A shepherd-boy (the Youth replied), far hence


s: 'Nor levity nor falsehood shall thine ear assail.


s: 'Late as I roamed, intent on Nature's charms,


s: 'I reached, at eve, this wilderness profound;


s: 'And, leaning where yon oak expands her arms,


s: 'Heard these rude cliffs thine awful voice rebound,


s: '(For, in thy speech, I recognise the sound.)


s: 'You mourned for ruined man, and virtue lost,


s: 'And seemed to feel of keen remorse the wound,


s: 'Pondering on former days, by guilt engrossed,


s: 'Or in the giddy storm of dissipation tossed.


s: 'But say, in courtly life can craft be learned,


s: 'Where knowledge opens, and exalts the soul?


s: 'Where Fortune lavishes her gifts unearned,


s: 'Can selfishness the liberal heart controul?


s: 'Is glory there achieved by arts, as foul


s: 'As those which felons, fiends, and furies plan?


s: 'Spiders ensnare, snakes poison, tygers prowl;


s: 'O teach a simple Youth this mystery to scan!


s: 'Or else the lamentable strain disclaim,


s: 'And give me back the calm, contented mind;


s: 'Which, late, exulting, viewed, in Nature's frame,


s: 'Restore those tranquil days, that saw me still


s: 'Well pleased with all, but most with humankind;


s: 'When Fancy roamed through Nature's works at will,


s: 'Unchecked by cold distrust, and uninformed of ill.'


s: 'Wouldst thou (the Sage replied) in peace return


s: 'To the gay dreams of fond romantic youth,


s: 'Leave me to hide, in this remote sojourn,


s: 'From every gentle ear the dreadful truth:


s: 'And indignation make thine eyes o'erflow,


s: 'Alas! what comfort could thy anguish sooth,


s: 'Shouldst thou the extent of human folly know?


s: 'Be ignorance thy choice, where knowledge leads to woe.


s: 'But let untender thoughts afar be driven;


s: 'Nor venture to arraign the dread decree:


s: 'For know, to man, as candidate for heaven,


s: 'The voice of The Eternal said, Be free:


s: 'Does virtue, happiness, and heaven convey;


s: 'Be free to keep the path, who are not free to stray.


s: 'Yet leave me not. I would allay that grief,


s: 'Which else might thy young virtue overpower;


s: 'And in thy converse I shall find relief,


s: 'When the dark shades of melancholy lower:


s: 'Even when exempt from grief, remorse, and pain:


s: 'Come often then; for, haply, in my bower,


s: 'Amusement, knowledge, wisdom, thou may'st gain:


s: 'If I one soul improve, I have not lived in vain.'


s: And now, at length, to Edwin's ardent gaze


s: But few, alas! the scenes her art displays,


s: To charm his fancy, or his heart engage.


s: Here, chiefs their thirst of power in blood assuage,


s: And straight their flames with tenfold fierceness burn:


s: Here, smiling Virtue prompts the patriot's rage,


s: But lo, ere long, is left alone to mourn,


s: And languish in the dust, and clasp the abandoned urn.


s: 'Ah, what avails (he said) to trace the springs


s: 'That whirl of empire the stupendous wheel!


s: 'Ah, what have I to do with conquering kings,


s: 'Hands drenched in blood, and breasts begirt with steel!


s: 'To those, whom Nature taught to think and feel,


s: 'Heroes, alas! are things of small concern.


s: 'Could History man's secret heart reveal,


s: 'And what imports a heaven-born mind to learn,


s: 'Her transcripts to explore what bosom would not yearn!


s: 'This praise, O Cheronean Sage, is thine.


s: '(Why should this praise to thee alone belong!)


s: 'All else from Nature's moral path decline,


s: 'Lured by the toys that captivate the throng;


s: 'Spoil, carnage, and the cruel pomp of pride;


s: 'How tyrant blood, o'er many a region wide,


s: 'Rolls to a thousand thrones its execrable tide.


s: 'The age of love, and innocence, and joy,


s: 'When all were great and free! man's sole employ


s: 'Or toward his bower the murmuring stream decoy,


s: 'To aid the floweret's long-expected birth,


s: 'And lull the bed of peace, and crown the board of mirth.


s: 'Sweet were your shades, O ye primeval groves,


s: 'Whose boughs to man his food and shelter lent,


s: 'Pure in his pleasures, happy in his loves,


s: 'His eye still smiling, and his heart content.


s: 'Then, hand in hand, Health, Sport, and Labour went.


s: 'Nature supplied the wish she taught to crave.


s: 'None prowled for prey, none watched to circumvent.


s: 'To all an equal lot Heaven's bounty gave:


s: 'No vassal feared his lord, no tyrant feared his slave.


s: 'But ah! the Historic Muse has never dared


s: 'To pierce those hallowed bowers: 'tis Fancy's beam,


s: 'Poured on the vision of the enraptured Bard,


s: 'That paints the charms of that delicious theme.


s: 'Then hail sweet Fancy's ray! and hail the dream


s: 'That weans the weary soul from guilt and woe!


s: 'Careless what others of my choice may deem,


s: 'I long where Love and Fancy lead to go,


s: 'And meditate on heaven; enough of earth I know.'


s: 'I cannot blame thy choice (the Sage replied),


s: 'For soft and smooth are Fancy's flowery ways.


s: 'And yet, even there, if left without a guide,


s: 'Eyes, dazzled long by Fiction's gaudy rays,


s: 'In modest Truth no light nor beauty find.


s: 'And who, my child, would trust the meteor-blaze,


s: 'That soon must fail, and leave the wanderer blind,


s: 'More dark and helpless far, than if it ne'er had shined?


s: 'Fancy enervates, while it sooths, the heart,


s: 'And, while it dazzles, wounds the mental sight:


s: 'To joy each heightening charm it can impart,


s: 'But wraps the hour of woe in tenfold night.


s: 'And often, where no real ills affright,


s: 'Its visionary fiends, an endless train,


s: 'And through the throbbing heart, and dizzy brain,


s: 'And shivering nerves, shoot stings of more than mortal pain.


s: 'Claim the full vigour of a mind prepared;


s: 'Prepared for patient, long, laborious strife,


s: 'Its guide Experience, and Truth its guard.


s: 'We fare on earth, as other men have fared:


s: 'Were they successful? Let not us despair.


s: 'Was disappointment oft their sole reward?


s: 'Yet shall their tale instruct, if it declare,


s: 'How they have borne the load ourselves are doomed to bear.


s: 'What charms the Historic Muse adorn, from spoils,


s: 'And blood, and tyrants, when she wings her flight,


s: 'To hail the patriot Prince, whose pious toils


s: 'And peace, through every age divinely bright,


s: 'Shall shine the boast and wonder of mankind!


s: 'Sees yonder sun, from his meridian height,


s: 'A lovelier scene, than Virtue thus inshrined


s: 'In power, and man with man for mutual aid combine!


s: 'Hail, sacred Polity, by Freedom reared!


s: 'Hail, sacred Freedom, when by Law restrained!


s: 'Without you what were man? A grovelling herd,


s: 'In darkness, wretchedness, and want enchained.