Long Ago
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
De ol’ time’s gone, de new time’s hyeah
Wid all hits fuss an’ feddahs;
I done fu’got de joy an’ cheah
We knowed all kin’s o’ weddahs,
I done fu’got each ol’-time hymn
We ust to sing in meetin’;
I’s lehned de prah’s, so neat an’ tim,
De preachah keeps us ‘peatin’.
Hang a vine by de chimney side,
An’ one by de cabin do’;
An’ sing a song fu’ de day dat died,
De day of long ergo.
My youf, hit’s gone, yes, long ergo,
An’ yit I ain’t a-moanin’;
Hit’s fu’ somet’ings I ust to know
I set to-night a-honin’.
De pallet on de ol’ plank flo’,
De rain bar’l und’ de eaves,
De live oak ‘fo de cabin do’,
Whaih de night dove comes an grieves.
Hang a vine by de chimney side,
An’ one by de cabin do’;
An’ sing a song fu’ de day dat died,
De day of long ergo.
I’d lak a few ol’ frien’s to-night
To come an’ set wid me;
An’ let me feel dat ol’ delight
I ust to in dey glee.
But hyeah we is, my pipe an’ me,
Wid no one else erbout;
We bofe is choked ez choke kin be,
An’ bofe’ll soon go out.
Hang a vine by de chimney side,
An’ one by de cabin do’;
An’ sing a song fu’ de day dat died,
De day of long ergo.
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