'Weh Down Souf and other Poems :

I don' hear dem rebolushuns 'bout whiskey en all dat,
But yo' ain't gwy nebber pas' 'um, I tells yo' dat right flat;
Don't let y'alls smartnis fool yo', en try to do too much,
'Cause yo' jes' gwy bring 'bout 'sturbance, en yo' tryin' to bus' dis chuch.

Y'all know dat whiskey bin here long 'fore we wuz born,
En t'ain't nebber trubbled nothin'—better let wel 'nuf 'lone;
'Size, Paul don' tole you take it, jes' fur de stomach's sake,
We cert'ny gwy bay de scripshur, den what y'all speck to make?

121

I hear y'all kote dat scripshur, “Ef eatin' meat 'fen, don't eat.”
But Paul won't talkin' 'bout whiskey, 'cause he pint'ly menshuns meat;
Dat drunkards khant reach Heben, de guard won't let 'um in,
But dat don't mean wid whiskey, but folks dat's drunk in sin.

“Look not on de wine cup,” is what de Word tells me,
Well, don't dat mean to drink it? 'Tis plain ez plain ken be.
But we 'cided 'fore we kum here to vote dat moshun down,
'Cause we argued it at meetin's we had all ober town.

In kos we'z pozed to dancin' en all dem no-harm sins,
An' will turn 'um out like lightnin' ef tiz dem upper tens;
But all sich things ez drinkin', playin' policy en such,
Am far too triflin' matters to fotch befo' dis chuch.

University of Virginia Library

UNCLE 'RASTUS AND THE WHISKEY QUESTION.