Moon ’s a-kinder shaddered on de melon patch;
    No one ain’t a-watchin’ ez I go. 
  Climbin’ of de fence so ’s not to click de latch
    Meks my gittin’ in a little slow. 
  Watermelon smilin’ as it say, “I’ s free;”
  Alligator boomin’, but I let him be,
  Florida, oh, Florida ‘s de lan’ fu’ me—­
    (Lizy Ann a-singin’ sweet an’ low).

DIFFERENCES

  My neighbor lives on the hill,
    And I in the valley dwell,
  My neighbor must look down on me,
    Must I look up?—­ah, well,
  My neighbor lives on the hill,
    And I in the valley dwell.

  My neighbor reads, and prays,
    And I—­I laugh, God wot,
  And sing like a bird when the grass is green
    In my small garden plot;
  But ah, he reads and prays,
    And I—­I laugh, God wot.

  His face is a book of woe,
    And mine is a song of glee;
  A slave he is to the great “They say,”
    But I—­I am bold and free;
  No wonder he smacks of woe,
    And I have the tang of glee.

  My neighbor thinks me a fool,
    “The same to yourself,” say I;
  “Why take your books and take your prayers,
    Give me the open sky;”
  My neighbor thinks me a fool,
    “The same to yourself,” say I.

LONG AGO

  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 leahned de prah’s, so neat an’ trim,
    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 choked 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.

A PLANTATION MELODY

  De trees is bendin’ in de sto’m,
  De rain done hid de mountain’s fo’m,
    I ’s ‘lone an’ in distress. 
  But listen, dah ’s a voice I hyeah,
    A-sayin’ to me, loud an’ cleah,
  “Lay low in de wildaness.”