 | 'Weh Down Souf and other Poems : |  |
101
I WONDER HOW THIS IS.
I'm not a bad fellow, but just “kinder midlin,”
Not a devil incarnate, nor saint dressed in white;
But “'bout half-and-half,” with a sprinklin' of devil,
And enough of the angel to keep me near right.
Not a devil incarnate, nor saint dressed in white;
But “'bout half-and-half,” with a sprinklin' of devil,
And enough of the angel to keep me near right.
Yet often I wander; my feet get entangled,
'Mid briers and quicksands too often I stray,
And anxious I ask can I reach the pathway,
As sinful and crooked I oft lose my way.
'Mid briers and quicksands too often I stray,
And anxious I ask can I reach the pathway,
As sinful and crooked I oft lose my way.
Once I went to a funeral; the chap was a “tough one,”
A gambler, a drunkard, he cheated and lied,
A deeply-dyed rascal, but gave big donations;
So the preacher just fixed him all right when he died.
A gambler, a drunkard, he cheated and lied,
A deeply-dyed rascal, but gave big donations;
So the preacher just fixed him all right when he died.
102
I went to the graveyard and looked on the tombstones—
What lovely inscriptions! all praising the dead;
Every one there was good, every one had reached heaven—
I wondered where all the bad fellows were laid.
What lovely inscriptions! all praising the dead;
Every one there was good, every one had reached heaven—
I wondered where all the bad fellows were laid.
And thus says the world; if you've friends or have money
You are certain of heaven, your sins plastered o'er;
But the poor, seedy devils who have empty pockets,
Nobody knows if they're in heaven or no.
You are certain of heaven, your sins plastered o'er;
But the poor, seedy devils who have empty pockets,
Nobody knows if they're in heaven or no.
Perhaps this is right, and maybe up yonder
The wonder will be, not that we were bad,
But as good as we have been, 'mid all of the weakness,
And all the temptations that each must have had.
The wonder will be, not that we were bad,
But as good as we have been, 'mid all of the weakness,
And all the temptations that each must have had.
But we'll find lots of folks we thought were in heaven
Have missed it; while others, assigned down below,
Are exalted, for there full justice is given;
By the heart God judges the rich and the poor.
Have missed it; while others, assigned down below,
Are exalted, for there full justice is given;
By the heart God judges the rich and the poor.
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