What are the things that make life bright?A star gleam in the night.What hearts us for the coming fray?The dawn tints of the day.What helps to speed the weary mile?A brother’s friendly smile.What turns o’ gold the evening gray?A flower beside the way.

Days git wa’m an’ wa’mah,School gits mighty dull,Seems lak dese hyeah teachahsMus’ feel mussiful.Hookey’s wrong, I know itAin’t no gent’man’s trick;But de aih’s a-callin’,“Come on to de crick.” Dah de watah’s gu’glin’Ovah shiny stones,Des hit’s ve’y singin’Seems to soothe yo’ bones.Wat’s de use o’ waitin’Go on good an’ quick:Dain’t no fun lak dis hyeahWadin’ in […]

Ain’t it nice to have a mammyW’en you kin’ o’ tiahed outWid a-playin’ in de meddah,An’ a-runnin’ roun’ aboutTill hit’s made you mighty hongry,An’ yo’ nose hit gits to knowWhat de smell means dat ‘s a-comin’F’om de open cabin do’?She wash yo’ face,An’ mek yo’ place,You’s hongry as a tramp;Den hit’s eat you suppah right […]

Dolly sits a-quilting by her mother, stich by stitch,Gracious, how my pulses throb, how my fingers itch,While I note her dainty waist and her slender hand,As she matches this and that, she stitches strand by strand.And I long to tell her Life’s a quilt and I’m a patch;Love will do the stitching if she’ll only […]

She wrapped her soul in a lace of lies,With a prime deceit to pin it;And I thought I was gaining a fearsome prize,So I staked my soul to win it. We wed and parted on her complaint,And both were a bit of barter,Tho’ I’ll confess that I’m no saint,I’ll swear that she’s no martyr.

Mammy’s in de kitchen, an’ de do’ is shet;All de pickaninnies climb an’ tug an’ sweat,Gittin’ to de winder, stickin’ dah lak flies,Evah one ermong us des all nose an’ eyes. “Whut’s she cookin’, Isaac?”“Whut’s she cookin’, Jake?”“Is it sweet pertaters? Is hit pie er cake?”But we couldn’t mek out even whah we stoodWhut was […]

‘Twixt a smile and a tear,‘Twixt a song and a sigh,‘Twixt the day and the dark,When the night draweth nigh. Ah, sunshine may fadeFrom the heavens above,No twilight have weTo the day of our love.

Wintah time hit comin’Stealin’ thoo de night;Wake up in the mo’nin’Evah t’ing is white;Cabin lookin’ lonesomeStannin’ in de snow,Meks you kin’ o’ nervous,Wen de win’ hit blow. Trompin’ back from feedin’,Col’ an’ wet an’ blue,Homespun jacket ragged,Win’ a-blowin’ thoo.Cabin lookin’ cheerful,Unnerneaf de do’,Yet you kin’ o’ keerfulWen de win’ hit blow. Hickory log a-blazin’Light a-lookin’ […]

The wind is out in its rage to-night,And your father is far at sea.The rime on the window is hard and whiteBut dear, you are near to me.Heave ho, weave low,Waves of the briny deep;Seethe low and breathe low,But sleep you, my little one, sleep, sleep. The little boat rocks in the cove no more,But […]

Eight of ’em hyeah all tol’ an’ yetDese eyes o’ mine is wringin’ wet;My haht’s a-achin’ ha’d an’ so’,De way hit nevah ached befo’;My soul’s a-pleadin’, “Lawd, give backDis little lonesome baby black,Dis one, dis las’ po’ he’pless oneWhose little race was too soon run.” Po’ Little Jim, des fo’ yeahs ol’A-layin’ down so still […]

On a summer’s day as I sat by a stream,A dainty maid came by,And she blessed my sight like a rosy dream,And left me there to sigh, to sigh,And left me there to sigh, to sigh. On another day as I sat by the stream,This maiden paused a while,Then I made me bold as I […]

The gray dawn on the mountain topIs slow to pass away.Still lays him by in sluggish dreams,The golden God of day. And then a light along the hills,Your laughter silvery gay;The Sun God wakes, a bluebird trills,You come and it is day.

My muvver’s ist the nicest one‘At ever lived wiz folks;She lets you have ze mostes’ fun,An’ laffs at all your jokes. I got a ol’ maid auntie, too,The worst you ever saw;Her eyes ist bore you through and through,–She ain’t a bit like ma. She’s ist as slim, as slim can be,An’ when you want […]

There’s a fabulous storyFull of splendor and glory,That Arabian legends transcends;Of the wealth without measure,The coffers of treasure,At the place where the rainbow ends. Oh, many have sought it,And all would have bought it,With the blood we so recklessly spend;But none has uncovered,The gold, nor discoveredThe spot at the rainbow’s end. They have sought it […]

Oh, the little bird is rocking in the cradle of the wind,And it’s bye, my little wee one, bye;The harvest all is gathered and the pippins all are binned;Bye, my little wee one, bye;The little rabbit’s hiding in the golden shock of corn,The thrifty squirrel’s laughing bunny’s idleness to scorn;You are smiling with the angels […]

I found you and I lost you,All on a gleaming day.The day was rilled with sunshine,And the land was full of May. A golden bird was singingIts melody divine,I found you and I loved you,And all the world was mine. I found you and I lost you,All on a golden day,But when I dream of […]

Ef you’s only got de powah fe’ to blow a little whistle,Keep ermong de people wid de whistles.Ef you don’t, you’ll fin’ out sho’tly dat you’s th’owed yo’ fines’ feelin’In a place dat’s all a bed o’ thistles.‘Tain’t no use a-goin’ now, ez sho’s you bo’n,A-squeakin’ of yo’ whistle ‘g’inst a gread big ho’n. Ef […]

The trees bend down along the stream,Where anchored swings my tiny boat.The day is one to drowse and dreamAnd list the thrush’s throttling note.When music from his bosom bleedsAmong the river’s rustling reeds. No ripple stirs the placid pool,When my adventurous line is cast,A truce to sport, while clear and cool,The mirrored clouds slide softly […]

W’en you full o’ worry‘Bout yo’ wo’k an’ sich,W’en you kind o’ botheredCase you can’t get rich,An’ yo’ neighboh p’ospahPast his jest desu’ts,An’ de sneer of comerdsStuhes yo’ heaht an’ hu’ts,Des don’ pet yo’ worries,Lay ’em on de she’f,Tek a little troubleBrothah, wid yo’se’f. Ef a frien’ comes mou’nin’‘Bout his awful case,You know you don’ […]

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 needs so bad in death.What’s the use? What’s the use o’ even weepin’?Might as well […]