Category Poem

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;Somep’n sholy pleasin’ Sam’l, W’en he…

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 ringsF’om de kitchen to be…

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 muchStan’in’ all erroun’ de roadside w’en dey let…

Dey is times in life when Nature Seems to slip a cog an’ go,Jes’ a-rattlin’ down creation, Lak an ocean’s overflow;When de worl’ jes’ stahts a-spinnin’ Lak a picaninny’s top,An’ yo’ cup o’ joy is brimmin’ ‘Twell it seems about…

When all is done, and my last word is said,And ye who loved me murmur, “He is dead,”Let no one weep, for fear that I should know,And sorrow too that ye should sorrow so.When all is done and in the…

W’en us fellers stomp around, makin’ lots o’ noise,Gramma says, “There’s certain times come to little boysW’en they need a shingle or the soft side of a plank;”She says “we’re a-itchin’ for a right good spank.”An’ she says, “Now thes…

What’s the use o’ folks a-frownin’When the way’s a little rough?Frowns lay out the road fur smilin’You’ll be wrinkled soon enough.What’s the use? What’s the use o’ folks a-sighin’?It’s an awful waste o’ breath,An’ a body can’t stand wastin’What he…

It’s moughty tiahsome layin’ ‘roun’Dis sorrer-laden earfly groun’,An’ oftentimes I thinks, thinks I,’T would be a sweet t’ing des to die, An’ go ‘long home.Home whaih de frien’s I loved ‘ll say,”We’ve waited fu’ you many a day,Come hyeah an’…

You ask why I am sad to-day,I have no cares, no griefs, you say?Ah, yes, ‘t is true, I have no grief—But—is there not the falling leaf? The bare tree there is mourning leftWith all of autumn’s gray bereft;It is…

Long since, in sore distress, I heard one pray, “Lord, who prevailest with resistless might,Ever from war and strife keep me away, My battles fight!”I know not if I play the Pharisee, And if my brother after all be right;But…