On the wide veranda white,
In the purple failing light,
Sits the master while the sun is lowly burning;
And his dreamy thoughts are drowned
In the softly flowing sound
Of the corn-songs of the field-hands slow returning.

        Oh, we hoe de co’...

She told the story, and the whole world wept
At wrongs and cruelties it had not known
But for this fearless woman’s voice alone.
She spoke to consciences that long had slept:
Her message, Freedom’s clear reveille, swept
From heedless hovel to complacent...

“thou art a fool,” said my head to my heart,
“Indeed, the greatest of fools thou art,
  To be led astray by the trick of a tress,
By a smiling face or a ribbon smart;”
  And my heart was in sore distress.

Then Phyllis came by, and her face was fair,...

I’ S boun’ to see my gal to-night—
  Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
De moon ain’t out, de stars ain’t bright—
  Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
Dis hoss o’ mine is pow’ful slow,
But when I does git to yo’ do’
Yo’ kiss ’ll pay me back, an’ mo’,
  ...

O Li’l’ lamb out in de col’,
De Mastah call you to de fol’,
        O li’l’ lamb!
He hyeah you bleatin’ on de hill;
Come hyeah an’ keep yo’ mou’nin’ still,
        O li’l’ lamb!

De Mastah sen’ de Shepud fo’f;
He wandah souf, he wandah no’...

Lay me down beneaf de willers in de grass,
Whah de branch ’ll go a-singin’ as it pass.
  An’ w’en I ’s a-layin’ low,
  I kin hyeah it as it go
Singin’, “Sleep, my honey, tek yo’ res’ at las’.”

Lay me nigh to whah hit meks a little pool,
An’ de...

I ’s boun’ to see my gal to-night—
  Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
De moon ain’t out, de stars ain’t bright—
  Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
Dis hoss o’ mine is pow’ful slow,
But when I does git to yo’ do’
Yo’ kiss ’ll pay me back, an’ mo’,
  ...

“good-bye,” I said to my Conscience—
  “Good-bye for aye and aye;”
And I put her hands off harshly,
  And turned my face away:
And Conscience, smitten sorely,
  Returned not from that day.

But a time came when my spirit
  Grew weary of...

She told the story, and the whole world wept
At wrongs and cruelties it had not known
But for this fearless woman’s voice alone.
She spoke to consciences that long had slept:
Her message. Freedom’s clear reveille, swept
From heedless hovel to complacent...