 | A Dream |  |
117
COLORED TOES.
Little Emma was just eight,
She had golden, floating hair,
Hanging round her baby face,
All in beauty, rich and rare.
She had golden, floating hair,
Hanging round her baby face,
All in beauty, rich and rare.
In a house beside her lived
Ella Ray, a colored girl,
Just her age and just as big;
But her hair much more did curl,
Ella Ray, a colored girl,
Just her age and just as big;
But her hair much more did curl,
'Neath her curly, raven locks,
Was a brow of darker hue;
But the difference was a blank.
Never coming to the two.
Was a brow of darker hue;
But the difference was a blank.
Never coming to the two.
All their mud pies did they bake
On the same board in the sun,
All their apples did they share,
Taking half the biggest one.
On the same board in the sun,
All their apples did they share,
Taking half the biggest one.
Not a word was ever passed
In their happy childish play,
That a feeling ever caused,
Till one bright and sunny day.
In their happy childish play,
That a feeling ever caused,
Till one bright and sunny day.
118
Then while Emma o'er the fence
Leaned and watched some boys at play,
Did she hear an odd, strange word,
And this word she learned to say.
Leaned and watched some boys at play,
Did she hear an odd, strange word,
And this word she learned to say.
In the ev'ning of this day
Both were playing long and late;
And our Emma said the word
That will make a negro hate.
Both were playing long and late;
And our Emma said the word
That will make a negro hate.
Ella, crying, soon went home,
Emma sighing could not see
Why she'd left her all alone,
When all seemed so light and free.
Emma sighing could not see
Why she'd left her all alone,
When all seemed so light and free.
Then her mother all she told,
While she stroked a forehead curl;
“Don't say that my little dear;
Say a little colored girl.”
While she stroked a forehead curl;
“Don't say that my little dear;
Say a little colored girl.”
Well, one day her pa came home
Bringing nuts for her to eat,
And she asked what kind they were
All in innocence so sweet.
Bringing nuts for her to eat,
And she asked what kind they were
All in innocence so sweet.
119
“Those are nigg*r toes, my dear,
Though Brazillian's their true name
That they go by, little one,—
That's the place from whence they came.”
Though Brazillian's their true name
That they go by, little one,—
That's the place from whence they came.”
Then our Emma went to find
Ella whom the reader knows,
Then she said: “My Ella, dear,
Will you have some colored toes?”
Ella whom the reader knows,
Then she said: “My Ella, dear,
Will you have some colored toes?”
| A Dream | |