The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,084 pages of information about The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell.

The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,084 pages of information about The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell.
right, ef I should cuss ‘n’ darn some: 
The Cunnle he apolergized; suz he, ’I’ll du wut’s right,
I’ll give ye settisfection now by shootin’ ye at sight,
An’ give the nigger (when he’s caught), to pay him fer his trickin’
In gittin’ the wrong man took up, a most H fired lickin’,—­
It’s jest the way with all on ’em, the inconsistent critters,
They’re ‘most enough to make a man blaspheme his mornin’ bitters;
I’ll be your frien’ thru thick an’ thin an’ in all kines o’ weathers,
An’ all you’ll hev to pay fer’s jest the waste o’ tar an’
  feathers:  130
A lady owned the bed, ye see, a widder, tu, Miss Shennon;
It wuz her mite; we would ha’ took another, ef ther’ ’d ben one: 
We don’t make no charge for the ride an’ all the other fixins. 
Le’ ‘s liquor; Gin’ral, you can chalk our friend for all the mixins.’ 
A meetin’ then wuz called, where they ‘RESOLVED, Thet we respec’
B.S.  Esquire for quallerties o’ heart an’ intellec’
Peculiar to Columby’s sile, an’ not to no one else’s,
Thet makes European tyrans scringe in all their gilded pel’ces,
An’ doos gret honor to our race an’ Southun institootions:’ 
(I give ye jest the substance o’ the leadin’ resolootions:) 140
’RESOLVED, Thet we revere In him a soger ’thout a flor,
A martyr to the princerples o’ libbaty an’ lor: 
RESOLVED, Thet other nations all, ef sot ‘longside o’ us,
For vartoo, larnin’, chivverlry, ain’t noways wuth a cuss.’ 
They got up a subscription, tu, but no gret come o’ thet;
I ‘xpect in cairin’ of it roun’ they took a leaky hat;
Though Southun genelmun ain’t slow at puttin’ down their name,
(When they can write,) fer in the eend it comes to jes’ the same,
Because, ye see, ’t ‘s the fashion here to sign an’ not to think
A critter’d be so sordid ez to ax ’em for the chink:  150
I didn’t call but jest on one, an’ he drawed tooth-pick on me,
An’ reckoned he warn’t goin’ to stan’ no sech dog-gauned econ’my: 
So nothin’ more wuz realized, ‘ceptin’ the good-will shown,
Than ef ’t had ben from fust to last a regular Cotton Loan. 
It’s a good way, though, come to think, coz ye enjy the sense
O’ lendin’ lib’rally to the Lord, an’ nary red o’ ’xpense: 
Sence then I’ve gut my name up for a gin’rous-hearted man
By jes’ subscribin’ right an’ left on this high-minded plan;
I’ve gin away my thousans so to every Southun sort
O’ missions, colleges, an’ sech, ner ain’t no poorer for ’t. 160

I warn’t so bad off, arter all; I needn’t hardly mention
That Guv’ment owed me quite a pile for my arrears o’ pension,—­
I mean the poor, weak thing we hed: we run a new one now,
Thet strings a feller with a claim up ta the nighes’ bough,
An’ prectises the rights o’ man, purtects down-trodden debtors,
Ner wun’t hev creditors about ascrougin’ o’ their betters: 
Jeff’s gut the last idees ther’ is, poscrip’,

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.