Of'en w'en de race I'm runnin',
Chil' my feet gits blistered so'
Dat I hav' a notion fallin'
'Pears I jus' can' run no mo
...
Life is a boundless sea, on which men float;
Succeed we may to ride the waves of Fate,
Yet still within our paths there surely lies,
...
With joy I plod life's weary road;
Sometimes I'm free, then with a load;
The cares I gather through the day,
...
So oft I've read what poets sang of love,
To feel their joy far years in vain I sought;
At last love came, a cooing little dove;
...
I'll ne'er forget the day,
When I was young and gay,
A rolling 'round the floor in Tennessee;
From th' cotton field so white,
...
Around the glowing fireside of the nation
A vacant chair no one can ever fill;
Death came, and stole from it a temperance mother,
...
Among the dear old friends we people cherish
Within the highest portals of our hearts,
The name that sounds as dear as dear old mother's
...
When bygone days come rushing to my memory,
Those happy days I spent when but a boy,
It brings to me a picture tinged with sadness;
...
Dear father Browne, the great, the good,
The noble leader of our race;
With task complete his spirit fled
To he'ven its final resting place.
...
My dear old home's not like it used to be,
Since my dear old mother died;
Sunshine from it has passed away,
The old cot seems so lonely,
...