Den fu’ de long jou’ney back f’om de town,
Ha’d, but de dreams mek it sweet.
All de night long twell de break of de day,
Dreamin’ agin in my sleep,
Mandy comes drivin’ my sorrers away,
Axin’ me, ‘Wha’ fu’ you weep?’
All de day long twell de sun goes down,
Smilin’, I ben’ to my hoe,
Fu’ dough de weddah git nasty an’ frown,
One place I know I kin go.
All my life long twell de night has pas’
Let de wo’k come ez it will,
So dat I fin’ you, my honey, at las’,
Somewhaih des ovah de hill.
It shall departBefore thy smile.Search thou my soul;Be there deceit,‘T will vanish wholeBefore thee, sweet.Upon my mindTurn thy pure lens;Naught shalt thou findThou canst not cleanse.If I should pray,I scarcely knowIn just what wayMy prayers would go.So strong in meI feel love’s leaven,I ‘d bow to theeAs soon as Heaven!
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 you ain’t got but a teenchy bit o’ victuals on de table,Whut’ de use a-claimin’ hit’s a feas’?Fe’…
If my tongue were trained to measures,I would sing a stirring song.I would sing a song heroicOf those noble sons of Ham,Of the gallant colored soldiersWho fought for Uncle Sam!In the early days you scorned them,And with many a flip and floutSaid ‘These battles are the white man’s,And the whites will fight them out.’Up the…
Sunlight on a silver stream,Golden lilies all a-dream,Lofty mountains, bold and proud,Veiled beneath the lacelike cloud;But no lovely sight I knowEquals Dinah kneading dough.Brown arms buried elbow-deepTheir domestic rhythm keep,As with steady sweep they goThrough the gently yielding dough.Maids may vaunt their finer charms–Naught to me like Dinah’s arms;Girls may draw, or paint, or sew–I…
Were kindly; and to shield it from despoil,I fenced it safely in with grateful toil.No other hand than mine shall pluck this flower, said I,And I was jealous of the bee that hovered nigh.It grew for days; I stood hour after hourTo watch the slow unfolding of the flower,And then I did not leave its…
An’ huh purty shadder sassAt huh haid an’ feet.While she sasshay ‘roun’ an’ bow,Smilin’ den an’ poutin’ now,An’ de lookin’-glass, I ‘lowSay: ‘Now, ain’t she sweet?’All she do, de glass it see,Hit des see, no mo’,Seems to me, hit ought to beDrappin’ on de flo’.She go w’en huh time git slack,Kissin’ han’s an’ smilin’ back,Lawsy,…
