Dey was talkin' in de cabin, dey was talkin' in de hall; But I listened kin' o' keerless, not a-t'inkin' 'bout it all; An' on Sunday, too, I noticed, dey was whisp'rin' mighty much,...
G'way an' quit dat noise, Miss Lucy-- Put dat music book away; What's de use to keep on tryin'? Ef you practise twell you 're gray, You cain't sta't no notes a-flyin' Lak de ones dat rants and rings...
Hyeah dat singin' in de medders Whaih de folks is mekin' hay? Wo'k is pretty middlin' heavy Fu' a man to be so gay. You kin tell dey 's somep'n special F'om de canter o' de song;...
In the forenoon's restful quiet, When the boys are off at school, When the window lights are shaded And the chimney-corner cool, Then the old man seeks his armchair, Lights his pipe and settles back;...
Slow de night 's a-fallin', An' I hyeah de callin, Out erpon de lonesome hill; Soun' is moughty dreary, Solemn-lak an' skeery, Sayin' fu' to "whip po' Will."
I has hyeahd o' people dancin' an' I 's hyeahd o' people singin'. An' I 's been 'roun' lots of othahs dat could keep de banjo ringin'; But of all de whistlin' da'kies dat have lived an' died since Ham,...
Not o'er thy dust let there be spent The gush of maudlin sentiment; Such drift as that is not for thee, Whose life and deeds and songs agree, Sublime in their simplicity. ...
Why fades a dream? An iridescent ray Flecked in between the tryst Of night and day. Why fades a dream?-- Of consciousness the shade Wrought out by lack of light and made Upon life's stream....
De sun hit shine an' de win' hit blow, Ol' Brer Rabbit be a-layin' low, He know dat de wintah time a-comin', De huntah man he walk an' wait, He walk right by Brer Rabbit's gate-- He know-- ...
Oh, who would be sad tho' the sky be a-graying, And meadow and woodlands are empty and bare; For softly and merrily now there come playing, The little white birds thro' the winter-kissed air. ...
Night is for sorrow and dawn is for joy, Chasing the troubles that fret and annoy; Darkness for sighing and daylight for song,-- Cheery and chaste the strain, heartfelt and strong....