A little dreaming by the way, A little toiling day by day; A little pain, a little strife, A little joy,—and that is life. A little short—lived summer’s morn…

OH, I haven’t got long to live, f… Die soon, e’en those who live long… And the poorest and weakest are ta… Along with the richest and stronge… So it’s heigho for a glass and a s…

MAMMY’S in de kitchen, an’ de d… All de pickaninnies climb an’ tug… Gittin’ to de winder, stickin’ dah… Evah one ermong us des all nose an… 'Whut’s she cookin’, Isaac?' 'Whu…

By rugged ways and thro’ the night We struggle blindly toward the lig… And groping, stumbling, ever pray For sight of long delaying day. The cruel thorns beside the road

Once Love grew bold and arrogant… Proud of the youth that made him f… So unto Grief he spake, ‘What rig… To part or parcel of this heart?’… Was darkened with the storm of inw…

GOD has his plans, and what if we With our sight be too blind to see Their full fruition; cannot he, Who made it, solve the mystery? One whom we loved has fall’n aslee…

I’ve been list’nin’ to them lawyer… In the court house up the street, An’ I’ve come to the conclusion That I’m most completely beat. Fust one feller riz to argy,

AH, I have changed, I do not kno… Why lonely hours affect me so. In days of yore, this were not won… No loneliness my soul could daunt. For me too serious for my age,

This is the debt I pay Just for one riotous day, Years of regret and grief, Sorrow without relief. Pay it I will to the end —

Slow moves the pageant of a climbi… Their footsteps drag far, far belo… And, unprevailing by their utmost… Seem faltering downward from each… No strange, swift—sprung exception…

Yes, my ha’t’s ez ha’d ez stone— Go 'way, Sam, an’ lemme 'lone. No; I ain’t gwine change my min’; Ain’t gwine ma’y you—nuffin’ de ki… Phiny loves you true an’ deah?

IF 'twere fair to suppose That your heart were not taken, That the dew from the rose Petals still were not shaken, I should pluck you,

HE scribbles some in prose and ve… And now and then he prints it; He paints a little, —gathers some Of Nature’s gold and mints it. He plays a little, sings a song,

Back to the breast of thy mother, Child of the earth! E’en her caress can not smother What thou hast done. Follow the trail of the westering…