He Knew Jim Poem by Robert Kirkland Kernighan

I 'm the same age ez Garfield wuz,
An I went t' school with him ;
But here I be in No. i
While millions is mournin Jim.
I knowed him better 'n I know you

He lived next farm to us ;
But he wuz good ez wheat, while I

Wuz allus a worthless cuss.

Why I can well remember when
He driv an Erie mule,


An I would stand aside and say,

Well, you 're a thundren fool !
But on he 'd go with laughing eye,

Whistlin a Meth'dist hymn
And here I be in No. i

While millions is mournin Jim.

I went down and he went up :

Queer when I come to think,
Jim ud never go on a whirl

An never learned to drink.
I tell you what there must hev been

A lot of sand in Jim,
Fer here I be in No. i

While millions is mournin him.

Why blame it, I remember Jim

In rags an such when I
Wuz dressed like any dry goods clerk,

An reckoned pretty fly.
I had a chance to climb the hill

God never gave to Jim,
Yet here I am in No. i

While millions is mournin him.

Why did n't they go to work and shoot

A worthless cuss like me?
But he, poor chap, wuz fit to die,

Which ain't my case, d' ye see.
I wish that I was dead an gone,

Once more along of Jim ;
But here I be in No. i

While millions is mournin him.