Thinking of the days when Dinah

Won old Missus' heart and praise,

By her wondrous dainty cooking,

And her charming well-bred ways:—

When his own black arm was brawny—

Swift the step that now is slow—

When he stole the heart of Dinah,

In the happy long ago.

What care they for big corn shuckings?—

Negroes versed in modern lore—

"What a fool is poor old Isham

Dozing by his cabin door!"

Ah! I know why Isham's dreaming

[Pg 25]

Where the gourd-vines twine and grow;

He is living still with Dinah,

In the happy long ago!

THE OLD DRINKING GOURD

A deep alcove where clambering vine

Enfashioned wreathes of green festoon,

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