[Remarks of Sergeant Tilmon Joy to the White Man’s Committee of Spunky Point, Illinois]
I RECKON I git your drift, gents—
You ’low the boy sha’n’t stay;
This is a white man’s country:
You ’re Dimocrats, you say:
And whereas, and seein’, and...
A Pike County View of Special Providence
I DON’T go much on religion,
I never ain’t had no show;
But I ’ve got a middlin’ tight grip, sir,
On the handful o’ things I know.
I don’t pan out on the prophets
And free-will, and that sort o’ thing...
Pike County Ballads
WALL, no! I can’t tell whar he lives,
Because he don’t live, you see;
Leastways, he ’s got out of the habit
Of livin’ like you and me.
Whar have you been for the last three year
That you haven’t heard folks tell
How...
What man is there so bold that he should say,
“Thus, and thus only, would I have the Sea”?
For whether lying calm and beautiful,
Clasping the earth in love, and throwing back
The smile of Heaven from waves of amethyst;
Or whether, freshened by the busy...
He stood before the Sanhedrim;
The scowling rabbis gazed at him;
He recked not of their praise or blame;
There was no fear, there was no shame
For one upon whose dazzled eyes
The whole world poured its vast surprise.
The open heaven was far too...
A Sentinel angel, sitting high in glory,
Heard this shrill wail ring out from Purgatory:
“Have mercy, mighty angel, hear my story!
“I loved,—and, blind with passionate love, I fell.
Love brought me down to death, and death to Hell;
For God is just, and...
My short and happy day is done,
The long and dreary night comes on,
And at my door the pale horse stands
To carry me to unknown lands.
His whinny shrill, his pawing hoof,
Sound dreadful as a gathering storm;
And I must leave this sheltering roof...
I don’t go much on religion,
I never ain’t had no show;
But I ’ve got a middlin’ tight grip, sir,
On the handful o’ things I know.
I don’t pan out on the prophets
And free-will and that sort of thing,—
But I b’lieve in God and the angels,...
Wall, no! I can’t tell whar he lives,
Becase he don’t live, you see;
Leastways, he ’s got out of the habit
Of livin’ like you and me.
Whar have you been for the last three year
That you haven’t heard folks tell
How Jimmy Bludso passed in his...
The beauty of the northern dawns,
Their pure, pale light is thine;
Yet all the dreams of tropic nights
Within thy blue eyes shine.
Not statelier in their prisoning seas
The icebergs grandly move,
But in thy smile is youth and joy,...
