I'SE a sittin' neaf de ole magnolia tree So't o' thinkin' ob de times dat used to be, In de huckleberry patches When we heah'd the steamah Natchez, An' de white folks all u'd hustle down to see. Dar was Missy Elenor an' Julie Ann, An' Haidee Lee, who lived wid Uncle Dan. But she went and run'd away, An' de folks set up an' say Dat she 'loped off wid a wicked no' then man. Po' Cindy she is daid, and Aunty Mary Doan do nuffin' now but sate aroun' en worry; En ebery night she say She 'specks to go next day, But her disease ain' one dat 'pears to hurry. De doctors seems es ef dey hadn't made out What 't is das makes ole aunty look so played out; But de time she will consume Turnin' Heaven into gloom Will make de Lo'd repent when sh's done laid out. Missie Elenor she married Col. Paxton, An' de scandal 'bout the colonel don't be axin', But dey say, I undahstan', Dat he done shot off his han', Jes' to keep from jinin' good ole Stonewall Jackson. An' Julie Ann dat talk like she was hoarse, Dat huzzy she's done gone an' got divorce. Dey lived in Chicamauga Till she moved up to Chicagah, Kase tings is mighty cheap up dar ob course, Yo' 'membah Haidee Lee? I undahstan' Dat she's trablin' roun' de country wid a band, An' heah she sort o' prances Wid a skirt an' thinks she dances, Did you evah, evah, goodness land! Wid de 'vantages dey used to hab en' see How dem girls was all turned out. Now can it be Dat cussidness is sown, Or is it in de bone? Well, hit mus' be in de family, seems to me. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A PAINTED FAN by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON COMMUNION by DOROTHY P. ALBAUGH THE ART OF PRESERVING HEALTH: BOOK 2. THE GASTRIC MUSE by JOHN ARMSTRONG WESTERN MORNING by WILLIMINA L. ARMSTRONG THE TRUANTS by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE ANCIENTS by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |