Dis hyeah sweat’s been po’in’
  Down my face sence dawn;
  Ain’t hit time we ‘s hyeahin’
  Dat ah dinnah ho’n? 
  Go on, Ben an’ Jaspah,
  Lif yo’ feet an’ fly,
  Hit out fu’ de shadder
  Fo’ I drap an’ die.

  Hongry, lawd a’ mussy,
  Hongry as a baih,
  Seems lak I hyeah dinnah
  Callin’ evahwhaih;
  Daih ‘s de ho’n a blowin’! 
  Let dat cradle swing,
  One mo’ sweep, den da’kies,
  Beat me to de spring!

AT THE TAVERN

      A lilt and a swing,
      And a ditty to sing,
    Or ever the night grow old;
      The wine is within,
      And I ’m sure ’t were a sin
  For a soldier to choose to be cold, my dear,
  For a soldier to choose to be cold.

      We ’re right for a spell,
      But the fever is—­well,
    No thing to be braved, at least;
      So bring me the wine;
      No low fever in mine,
  For a drink is more kind than a priest, my dear,
  For a drink is more kind than a priest.

DEATH

  Storm and strife and stress,
  Lost in a wilderness,
  Groping to find a way,
  Forth to the haunts of day

  Sudden a vista peeps,
  Out of the tangled deeps,
  Only a point—­the ray
  But at the end is day.

  Dark is the dawn and chill,
  Daylight is on the hill,
  Night is the flitting breath,
  Day rides the hills of death.

NIGHT, DIM NIGHT

  Night, dim night, and it rains, my love, it rains,
    (Art thou dreaming of me, I wonder)
  The trees are sad, and the wind complains,
    Outside the rolling of the thunder,
  And the beat against the panes.

  Heart, my heart, thou art mournful in the rain,
    (Are thy redolent lips a-quiver?)
  My soul seeks thine, doth it seek in vain? 
    My love goes surging like a river,
  Shall its tide bear naught save pain?

LYRICS OF LOVE AND SORROW

I

  Love is the light of the world, my dear,
    Heigho, but the world is gloomy;
  The light has failed and the lamp down hurled,
    Leaves only darkness to me.

  Love is the light of the world, my dear,
    Ah me, but the world is dreary;
  The night is down, and my curtain furled
    But I cannot sleep, though weary.

  Love is the light of the world, my dear,
    Alas for a hopeless hoping,
  When the flame went out in the breeze that swirled,
    And a soul went blindly groping.

II

  The light was on the golden sands,
    A glimmer on the sea;
  My soul spoke clearly to thy soul,
    Thy spirit answered me.

  Since then the light that gilds the sands,
    And glimmers on the sea,
  But vainly struggles to reflect
    The radiant soul of thee.