Heart-Stirrings

You axe me as de bell begin fe ‘trike,
Me Mikey, ef de wuk a didn’ like;
De queshton, like de bell, soun’ in me heart
Same how de anvil usual mek me ‘tart.^[1]

You’s a chil’^[2] an’ know naught ’bout de wul’ yet,
But you’ll grow an’ larn t’ings you won’t feget;
You lub you’ life, an’ t’ink dere’s nuttin’ better,
Yet all you’ pickny dream dem soon will ‘ketter.^[3]

Tek me advice ya, chil’, an’ as you grow
Don’t choose a wuk dat you no like: aldough
You might see money in o’ it, at lengt’
You will get tired o’ it an’ repent.

A suffer, but I t’ink it mek me wise;
It wasn’ fe de money ‘trike me yeyes,^[4]
But “water mo’ ‘an flour”^[5] is true wud,
An’ eye-water run too long tu’n to blood.^[6]

Hard life caan’ kill me, but annoyance might,
Me lub me right, an’ fe it me wi’ fight:
Me wi’ lef beef fe nyam an’ choose cow-lung,
Fe sabe meself from an annoying tongue.^[7]

But sometime’, chil’, you jump from fryin’-pan
‘Traight in a fire; an’, try as you can,
You caan’ come out, but always wishin’ den
Fe get back in de fryin’-pan again.

Ole Buccra Dabis, libing easy life,
One night get mad an’ kill himself an’ wife;
Den we hear t’ings we neber be’n know yet,
De b’uccra man was ears an’ han’s in debt.

Miss Laura lean back in her rockin’-chair
So sweet dat we might jes’ t’ink she no care
‘Bout naught; yet some say dat ‘cos she caan’ get
Mas’ Charley fe him husban’ she deh fret.

Dat’s how life ‘tan’,^[8] me chiI’; dere is somet’ing
Deep down in we dat you can neber bring
People, howeber wise, fe understan’:
Caan’ feel man heart same how you feel dem han’.

Fe lub, me chil’, lub wha’ you natur’ hate!^[9] —
You’ll live in misery, prayin’ hard fe fait’,
Which won’t come eben ef you ‘crub you’ knees
In fifty quart o’ corn an’ lady-peas.^[10]

Fe hate a t’ing you whole min’ come in one:
You try fe keep it^[11] back much as you can,
But” flesh caan’ conquer ‘perit” Bible say,
You hab fe give it up,^[12] an’ den ‘top pray.

Me carry hell, me chit’, in a me ches’,
Me laugh, me cry, me couldn’ get no res’ ;
Eat all de same an’ neber fatter less^[13]
Dan now, aldough me min’ was so distress’.

An’ though a feel it hard, a wouldn’ fret;
Me min’ don’t mek so, but it eber set
Fe conquer, yet it couldn’ wash away
De t’oughts dem dat come ‘tronger ebery day.

You ‘stan’,^[14] me chil’? I caan’ explain it mo’ :
Life funny bad, so is de ways also;
For what we fink is right is often wrong,
We live in sorrow as we journey ‘long.