Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow/A Love Letter

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Layout 2

A LOVE LETTER

OH, I des received a letter f'om de sweetest
 little gal;
    Oh, my; oh, my.
She's my lovely little sweetheart an' her name
  is Sal:
    Oh, my; oh, my.

She writes me dat she loves me an' she loves
  me true,
 She wonders ef I'll tell huh dat I loves
  huh, too;
An' my heaht's so full o' music dat I do'
  know what to do;
    Oh, my; oh, my.

I got a man to read it an' he read it fine;
    Oh, my; oh, my.
Dey ain' no use denying dat her love is mine;
    Oh, my; oh, my.

But hyeah's de t'ing dat's puttin' me in such
  a awful plight,
I t'ink of huh at mornin' an' I dream of huh
  at night;
But how's I gwine to cou't huh w'en I do'
  know how to write?
    Oh, my; oh, my.

My heaht is bubblin' ovah wid de t'ings I
  want to say;
    Oh, my; oh, my.
An' dey's lots of folks to copy what I tell 'em
  fu' de pay;
    Oh, my; oh, my.
But dey's t'ings dat I's a-t'inkin' dat is only
  fu' huh ears,
An' I couldn't lu'n to write 'em ef I took a
  dozen years;
So to go down daih an' tell huh is de only
  way, it 'pears;
    Oh, my; oh, my.