Ef you’s only got de powah fe’ to blow a little whistle,
    Keep ermong de people wid de whistles. 
  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’ de folks is mighty ‘spicious, an’ dey’s ap’ to come apeerin’,
    Lookin’ fe’ de scraps you lef’ at leas’. 
  Wen de meal’s a-hidin’ f’om de meal-bin’s top,
  You needn’t talk to hide it; ef you sta’ts, des stop.

  Ef yo’ min’ kin only carry half a pint o’ common idees,
    Don’ go roun’ a-sayin’ hit’s a bar’l;
  ‘Ca’se de people gwine to test you, an’ dey’ll fin’ out you’s a-lyin’,
    Den dey’ll twis’ yo’ sayin’s in a snarl. 
  Wuss t’ing in de country dat I evah hyahed—­
  A crow dot sat a-squawkin’, “I’s a mockin’-bird.”

A GOLDEN DAY

  I found you and I lost you,
    All on a gleaming day. 
  The day was rilled with sunshine,
    And the land was full of May.

  A golden bird was singing
    Its melody divine,
  I found you and I loved you,
    And all the world was mine.

  I found you and I lost you,
    All on a golden day,
  But when I dream of you, dear,
    It is always brimming May.

THE UNLUCKY APPLE

  ’Twas the apple that in Eden
     Caused our father’s primal fall;
  And the Trojan War, remember—­
    ’Twas an apple caused it all. 
  So for weeks I’ve hesitated,
    You can guess the reason why,
  For I want to tell my darling
    She’s the apple of my eye.

THE DISCOVERY

  These are the days of elfs and fays: 
  Who says that with the dreams of myth,
  These imps and elves disport themselves? 
  Ah no, along the paths of song
  Do all the tiny folk belong.

  Round all our homes,
  Kobolds and gnomes do daily cling,
  Then nightly fling their lanterns out. 
  And shout on shout, they join the rout,
  And sing, and sing, within the sweet enchanted ring.

  Where gleamed the guile of moonlight’s smile,
  Once paused I, listening for a while,
  And heard the lay, unknown by day,—­
  The fairies’ dancing roundelay.

  Queen Mab was there, her shimmering hair
  Each fairy prince’s heart’s despair. 
  She smiled to see their sparkling glee,
  And once I ween, she smiled at me.

  Since when, you may by night or day,
  Dispute the sway of elf-folk gay;
  But, hear me, stay! 
  I’ve learned the way to find Queen
     Mab and elf and fay.

  Where e’er by streams, the moonlight gleams,
  Or on a meadow softly beams,
  There, footing round on dew-lit ground,
  The fairy folk may all be found.