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 to slop,
  An’ you feel jes’ lak a racah,
    Dat is trainin’ fu’ to trot—­
  When yo’ mammy says de blessin’
    An’ de co’n pone ’s hot.

  When you set down at de table,
    Kin’ o’ weary lak an’ sad,
  An’ you ‘se jes’ a little tiahed
    An’ purhaps a little mad;
  How yo’ gloom tu’ns into gladness,
    How yo’ joy drives out de doubt
  When de oven do’ is opened,
    An’ de smell comes po’in’ out;
  Why, de ‘lectric light o’ Heaven
    Seems to settle on de spot,
  When yo’ mammy says de blessin’
    An’ de co’n pone ’s hot.

  When de cabbage pot is steamin’
    An’ de bacon good an’ fat,
  When de chittlins is a-sputter’n’
    So ’s to show you whah dey’s at;
  Tek away yo’ sody biscuit,
    Tek away yo’ cake an’ pie,
  Fu’ de glory time is comin’,
    An’ it’s ‘proachin’ mighty nigh,
  An’ you want to jump an’ hollah,
    Dough you know you ’d bettah not,
  When yo’ mammy says de blessin’
    An’ de co’n pone ’s hot.

  I have hyeahd o’ lots o’ sermons,
    An’ I ‘ve hyeahd o’ lots o’ prayers,
  An’ I ‘ve listened to some singin’
    Dat has tuck me up de stairs
  Of de Glory-Lan’ an’ set me
    Jes’ below de Mastah’s th’one,
  An’ have lef my hea’t a-singin’
    In a happy aftah tone;
  But dem wu’ds so sweetly murmured
    Seem to tech de softes’ spot,
  When my mammy says de blessin’,
    An’ de co’n pone’s hot.

BALLAD

  I know my love is true,
    And oh the day is fair. 
  The sky is clear and blue,
  The flowers are rich of hue,
    The air I breathe is rare,
    I have no grief or care;
  For my own love is true,
    And oh ’the day is fair.

  My love is false I find,
    And oh the day is dark. 
  Blows sadly down the wind,
  While sorrow holds my mind;
    I do not hear the lark,
    For quenched is life’s dear spark,—­
  My love is false I find,
    And oh the day is dark!

  For love doth make the day
    Or dark or doubly bright;
  Her beams along the way
  Dispel the gloom and gray. 
    She lives and all is bright,
    She dies and life is night. 
  For love doth make the day,
   Or dark or doubly bright.

THE CHANGE HAS COME

  The change has come, and Helen sleeps—­
  Not sleeps; but wakes to greater deeps
    Of wisdom, glory, truth, and light,
    Than ever blessed her seeking sight,
    In this low, long, lethargic night,
      Worn out with strife
      Which men call life.