Oh, de clouds is mighty heavy An’ de rain is mighty thick; Keep a song up on de way. An’ de waters is a rumblin’ On de boulders in de crick,

AFTER READING ‘LEAD,… Lead gently, Lord, and slow, For oh, my steps are weak, And ever as I go, Some soothing sentence speak;

IN de dead of night I sometimes, Git to t’inkin’ of de pas’ An’ de days w’en slavery helt me In my mis’ry —ha’d an’ fas’. Dough de time was mighty tryin’,

Ah, yes, the chapter ends to—day; We even lay the book away; But oh, how sweet the moments sped Before the final page was read! We tried to read between the lines

Caught Susanner whistlin’; well, It’s most nigh too good to tell. ‘Twould ’a’ b’en too good to see Ef it had n’t b’en fur me, Comin’ up so soft an’ sly

ERE sleep comes down to soothe th… Which all the day with ceaseless c… The magic gold which from the seek… Ere dreams put on the gown and cap… And make the waking world a world…

If thro’ the sea of night which here summons me, I could swim out beyond the farthest star, Break every barrier of circumstanc…

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…

THE wind told the little leaves t… And chased them down the way, While the mother tree laughed loud… For she thought her babes at play. The cruel wind and the rain laughe…

The sun has slipped his tether And galloped down the west. (Oh, it’s weary, weary waiting, lo… The little bird is sleeping In the softness of its nest.

I STOOD by the shore at the dea… As the sun sank flaming red; And the face of the waters that sp… Was as gray as the face of the dea… And I heard the cry of the wanton…

W’en daih’s chillun in de house, Dey keep on a—gittin’ tall; But de folks don’ seem to see Dat dey’s growin’ up at all, 'Twell dey fin’ out some fine day

THE wind is out in its rage to—ni… And your father is far at sea. The rime on the window is hard and… But dear, you are near to me. Heave ho, weave low,

De times is mighty stirrin’ ‘mong… Dey ’sputin’ an’ dey argyin’ an’ f… An’ all dis monst’ous trouble dat… Is 'bout dat Lucy Jackson dat was… She was de preachah’s favoured, an…

I done got 'uligion, honey, an’ I… Evahthing I see erbout me ’s jes’… An’ it seems lak I do’ want to do… But jes’ run an’ tell de neighbour… I done shuk my fis’ at Satan, an’…