Always suddenly they are gone - The friends we trusted and held secure - Suddenly we are gazing on, Not a smiling face, but the marble-pure Dead mask of a face that nevermore...
Fer forty year and better you have been a friend to me, Through days of sore afflictions and dire adversity, You allus had a kind word of counsul to impart,...
The deadnin' and the thicket's jes' a b'ilin' full o' June, From the rattle o' the cricket, to the yaller-hammer's tune; And the catbird in the bottom and the sap-suck on the snag,...
Wait for the morning: - It will come, indeed, As surely as the night hath given need. The yearning eyes, at last, will strain their sight No more unanswered by the morning light;...
Lawzy! don't I rickollect That-'air old swing in the lane! Right and proper, I expect, Old times can't come back again; But I want to state, ef they Could come back, and I could say...
Wintertime, er Summertime, Of late years I notice I'm, Kindo'-like, more subjec' to What the weather is. Now, you Folks 'at lives in town, I s'pose, Thinks its bully when it snows;...
There wasn't two purtier farms in the state Than the couple of which I'm about to relate; - Jinin' each other - belongin' to Brown, And jest at the edge of a flourishin' town....
What dat scratchin' at de kitchin do'? Done heah'n dat foh an hour er mo'! Tell you Mr. Niggah, das sho's yo' bo'n, Hit's mighty lonesome waitin' when de folks is gone! ...
When evening shadows fall, She hangs her cares away Like empty garments on the wall That hides her from the day; And while old memories throng, And vanished voices call,...
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock, And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock, And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,...
Wasn't it a good time, Long Time Ago - When we all were little tads And first played "Show"! - When every newer day Wore as bright a glow As the ones we laughed away - Long Time Ago! ...
Winter without And warmth within; The winds may shout And the storm begin; The snows may pack At the window pane, And the skies grow black, And the sun remain Hidden away...
My dear old friends - It jes beats all, The way you write a letter So's ever' last line beats the first, And ever' next-un's better! - W'y, ever' fool-thing you putt down You make so interestin',...