Dis wood fiah is invitin’ dho’,
    Hit seems to wa’m de ve’y flo’—­
  An’ nuffin’ ain’t a whit ez sweet,
    Ez settin’ toastin’ of yo’ feet. 
  Hit mek you drowsy, too, but La! 
    Hyeah, ‘Lias, don’t you hyeah yo’ ma? 
  Ef I gits sta’ted f’om dis cheah
    I’ lay, you scamp, I’ll mek you heah!

  To-morrer mo’nin’ I kin bawl
    Twell all de neighbohs hyeah me call;
  An’ you’ll be snoozin’ des ez deep
    Ez if de day was made fu’ sleep;
  Hit’s funny when you got a cough
    Somehow yo’ voice seems too fu’ off—­
  Can’t wake dat boy fu’ all I say,
  I reckon he’ll sleep daih twell day!

KIDNAPED

  I held my heart so far from harm,
    I let it wander far and free
  In mead and mart, without alarm,
    Assured it must come back to me.

  And all went well till on a day,
    Learned Dr. Cupid wandered by
  A search along our sylvan way
    For some peculiar butterfly.

  A flash of wings, a hurried dive,
    A flutter and a short-lived flit;
  This Scientist, as I am alive
    Had seen my heart and captured it.

  Right tightly now ’tis held among
    The specimens that he has trapped,
  And sings (Oh, love is ever young),
  ’Tis passing sweet to be kidnaped.

COMPENSATION

  Because I had loved so deeply,
    Because I had loved so long,
  God in His great compassion
    Gave me the gift of song.

  Because I have loved so vainly,
    And sung with such faltering breath,
  The Master in infinite mercy
    Offers the boon of Death.

WINTER’S APPROACH

  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—­

  De dog he lick his sliverin’ chop,
  An’ he tongue ‘gin’ his mouf go flop, flop—­
    He—­
  He rub his nose fu’ to clah his scent
  So’s to tell w’ich way dat cottontail went,
   He—­

  De huntah’s wife she set an’ spin
    A good wahm coat fu’ to wrop him in
    She—­
  She look at de skillet an’ she smile, oh my! 
  An’ ol’ Brer Rabbit got to sholy fly. 
    Dey know.

ANCHORED

  If thro’ the sea of night which here surrounds me,
    I could swim out beyond the farthest star,
  Break every barrier of circumstance that bounds me,
    And greet the Sun of sweeter life afar,

  Tho’ near you there is passion, grief, and sorrow,
    And out there rest and joy and peace and all,
  I should renounce that beckoning for to-morrow,
    I could not choose to go beyond your call.

THE VETERAN