when I'se dry;
An' if de whitefolks don't kill me,
I'll live till I die.

In my liddle log cabin,
Ever since I'se been born;
Dere hain't been no nothin'
'Cept dat hard salt parch corn.

But I knows whar's a henhouse,
An' de tucky he charve;
An' if ole Mosser don't kill me,
I cain't never starve.

HEAR-SAY

Hello! Br'er Jack. How do you do?
I'se been a-hearin' a heaps o' things 'bout you.
I'll jes declar! It beats de Dickuns!
Dey's been tryin' to say you's been a-stealin' chickens!

NEGRO SOLDIER'S CIVIL WAR CHANT

Ole [32]Abe (God bless 'is ole soul!)
Got a plenty good victuals, an' a plenty good clo'es.
Got powder, an' shot, an' lead,
To bust in Adam's liddle Confed'
In dese hard times.

Oh, once dere wus union, an' den dere wus peace;
De slave, in de cornfield, bare up to his knees.
But de Rebel's in gray, an' Sesesh's in de way,
An' de slave'll be free
In dese hard times.

[32] Abraham Lincoln.

PARODY ON "NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP"

Uh-huh: "Now I lays me down to sleep!"--
While dead oudles o' bedbugs 'round me creep,--
Well: If dey bites me bef[=o]' "I" wake,
I hopes "deir" ole jawbones'll break.

I'LL GET YOU, RABBIT!

Rabbit! Rabbit! You'se got a mighty habit,
A-runnin' through de grass,
Eatin' up my cabbages;
But I'll git you shore at las'.

Rabbit! Rabbit! Ole rabbit in de bottoms,
A-playin' in de san',
By to-morrow mornin',
You'll be in my fryin' pan.

THE ELEPHANT

My mammy gimme fifteen cents
Fer to see dat elephan' jump de fence.
He jump so high, I didn' see why,
If she gimme a dollar he mought not cry.

So I axed my mammy to gimme a dollar,
Fer to go an' hear de elephan' holler.
He holler so loud, he skeered de crowd.

Nex' he jump so high, he tetch de sky;
An' he won't git back 'fore de fo'th o' July.

A FEW NEGROES BY STATES

Alabammer Nigger say he love mush.
Tennessee Nigger say: "Good Lawd, hush!"

Fifteen cents in de panel of de fence,
South Ca'lina Nigger hain't got no sense.

Dat Kentucky Nigger jes think he's fine,
'Cause he drink dat Gooseberry wine.

I'se done heared some twenty year ago
Dat de Missippi Nigger hafter sleep on de fl[=o]'.

Lousanner Nigger fall out'n de bed,
An' break his head on a pone o' co'n bread.