Pebbles and Shells (Hawkes collection)/Gettin' Hum

by Clarence Hawkes

GETTIN' HUM

There air some mighty purty scenes
Ter see upon the farm,
An' there ain't nothin' in the town
Ter my notion ter charm
Yer like those homely kentry scenes,
With all their quiet ways,
Instead o' everything agog,
An' everything ablaze.

I went down ter the city once
Ter see what I could see,
An' got alfired lonesome like
An' blue as I could be;
The folks all look so worried like
An' never stop ter talk,
An' don't say nuthin' 'bout the craps,
An' gallup when they walk.

I didn't see a bit o' grass,
Or any kind o' land,
Or anything but bricks and stun
An' houses built so grand
You'd hardly dast ter look at em,
An' made so tarnal high
You'd kinder hev ter hold yer breath
Whenever yer went by.

The furniture is all so soft
Made out o' plush and hair,
It kinder seemed ter say ter you
Sit down on me with care;
I didn't sit down good and hard
The whole time I wuz there—
I tell yer what, I longed sometimes
Fur my ole straight-backed chair.

My cousins were so tarnal p'lite
An' made so many bones
About my comin' down ter town,
An' called me Mr. Jones,
An' axed sech funny questions too,
They made me want ter run,
I'd gin a V ter heard um say
"How be yer, Jonathan."

I shook the dust off o' my feet
When I had stayed a week,
And got out of that Babylon,
Where everything wuz Greek,
An' homes were kept so mighty fine
You'd think they're made for kings,
With beds that wouldn't let yer sleep
For fear you'd bust their springs.

When I gut hum 'twas harvest time
An' there wuz golden corn
A-standin' waitin' in the shocks,
An' mother's dinner horn
Cum ringin' cheery down the road,
It sounded mighty sweet,
It seemed ter say, cum home old man
An' git somethin' ter eat.

An' there wuz cattle in the fields
An' punkins on the vines
An' flaming maples in the woods
Among the spruce an' pines,
An' squirrels jumped from limb to limb
Where there was nuts to spare,
An' autumn's haze wuz on the hills,
An' peace wuz in the air.

An' when I saw our little home
A-nestlin' in the trees,
Jest in the sunshine an' the shade
With jest a bit o' breeze,
I'll 'low my heart swelled up a bit
An' kept a-swellin' more,
Until it fairly bust itself
With Hannah at the door.

An' when she hugged me roun' the neck
An' kissed me on the cheek,
An' said, "how be yer, Jonathan,"
I swow, I couldn't speak.
'Twuz worth a year of city life,
An' more than kingdom come—
'Bout all the fun o' goin' off
Is jest a gettin' hum.