Page:Claude McKay Constab Ballads.djvu/24

’Fo’ we tu’n good, came de warnin’
O’ de rousin’ bugle-soun’,
An’ you’d see us soon a marnin’
To de bat’-house hurryin’ down,
Leavin’ udders yawnin’, fumblin’,
Wid deir limbs all stiff an’ ole,
Or ’pon stretchin’ out an’ grumblin’,
Say’n’ de water be’n too col’.

In a jiffy we were washin’,
Jeerin’ dem, de lazy type,
All about us water dashin’
Out o’ de ole-fashion’ pipe:
In a lee while we were endin’,—
Dere was not much time to kill,—
Arms an’ bay’nets wanted tendin’
’Fo’ de soon-a-marnin’ drill.

So we spent five months togeder,
He was ever staunch an’ true
In sunshine or rainy weader,
No mind what wrong I would do:
But dere came de sad heart-rendin’
News dat he must part from me,
An’ I nursed my sorrow, bendin’
To de grim necessity.

All dat week was cold an’ dreary,
An’ I worked wid heavy heart;
All my limbs were weak an’ weary
When I knew dat we would part;
All de fond hopes, all de gladness

Drooped an’ faded from our sight,