 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
JIM GIVENS, 1889.
Wall, mates, I guess ye'd like to know,
How it chanced that Christmas Eve,
In the midnight darkness and the snow,
So I'll tell you by your leave;
How the “John H. Hanna” fared, worse luck,
In her last derned fatal trip,
And with all aboard her went amuck,
On the grave of the Mississip.
How it chanced that Christmas Eve,
In the midnight darkness and the snow,
So I'll tell you by your leave;
How the “John H. Hanna” fared, worse luck,
In her last derned fatal trip,
And with all aboard her went amuck,
On the grave of the Mississip.
She were built like any steamer craft,
Not fur safety but to hire,
Heaped up with the cotton fore and aft,
As if fashioned fur a fire;
And her crew were stout but keerless men.
Whom I'm not agoing to blame,
Though they had a hero good as ten,
And Jim Givens were his name.
Not fur safety but to hire,
Heaped up with the cotton fore and aft,
As if fashioned fur a fire;
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Whom I'm not agoing to blame,
Though they had a hero good as ten,
And Jim Givens were his name.
Now he weren't a pious chap, weren't Jim,
And he did not often pray,
But in danger ye could lean on him,
Fur ye knowed that child would stay;
Though he might not talk religion much,
And with oaths his speech would leaven,
Yet he lived religion, and of such
Aint the Kingdom, mates, of Heaven?
And he did not often pray,
But in danger ye could lean on him,
Fur ye knowed that child would stay;
Though he might not talk religion much,
And with oaths his speech would leaven,
Yet he lived religion, and of such
Aint the Kingdom, mates, of Heaven?
And he weren't no scholar, I've heerd tell,
In book larning and the like,
But he seen his dooty and did it well,
And he on'y fair would strike;
Aye, he looked you squarely in the face,
And fur any oped his puss,
While he arned and kep his proper place,
As an upright downright cuss.
In book larning and the like,
But he seen his dooty and did it well,
And he on'y fair would strike;
Aye, he looked you squarely in the face,
And fur any oped his puss,
While he arned and kep his proper place,
As an upright downright cuss.
They was fast asleep, when the fire bust out,
And it flew from starn to stem,
And there were a yelling and a shout,
When the hot wind walloped them;
Fur the flames with lightning fury spread,
As no mortal might could drown,
And upon the dying and the dead,
The soft white snow come down.
And it flew from starn to stem,
And there were a yelling and a shout,
When the hot wind walloped them;
Fur the flames with lightning fury spread,
As no mortal might could drown,
And upon the dying and the dead,
The soft white snow come down.
In the blinding smoke and scalding steam,
In the blazing cotton stuck,
They went shrieking down the hissing stream,
Till the slippery bank were struck;
But they bounded off, though the Cap'ain cleared,
When his voice were needed most,
And the pilot too as oughter steered—
But Jim Givens kep his post.
In the blazing cotton stuck,
They went shrieking down the hissing stream,
Till the slippery bank were struck;
But they bounded off, though the Cap'ain cleared,
When his voice were needed most,
And the pilot too as oughter steered—
But Jim Givens kep his post.
Fur he seen, as the life of every soul
Jest hung on the boat going back,
And her helm swong round with no controul,
And the fire were on its track;
But he weren't the boy to skulk and squirm,
And he had a heart to feel,
And there, with his pulses fit and firm,
Jim Givens were at the wheel.
Jest hung on the boat going back,
And her helm swong round with no controul,
And the fire were on its track;
But he weren't the boy to skulk and squirm,
And he had a heart to feel,
And there, with his pulses fit and firm,
Jim Givens were at the wheel.
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So he brought her to, and fetched her nose
With a will agin the bank,
Though the hungry flames rushed on to close,
And their blasting breath he drank;
Aye, he lashed the wheel as it could not turn,
And he did it clean and well,
While his coat and hair began to burn,
In that raging howling hell.
With a will agin the bank,
Though the hungry flames rushed on to close,
And their blasting breath he drank;
Aye, he lashed the wheel as it could not turn,
And he did it clean and well,
While his coat and hair began to burn,
In that raging howling hell.
Ah, he fought the fire, but it weren't no good,
Fur his checks was handed in,
If he grimly strove and gamely stood,
Though he weren't this bout to win;
But like 'lijah he weren't cradled soft,
And his grit ye could not tire,
And like him his sperrit went aloft,
In a charriot of fire.
Fur his checks was handed in,
If he grimly strove and gamely stood,
Though he weren't this bout to win;
But like 'lijah he weren't cradled soft,
And his grit ye could not tire,
And like him his sperrit went aloft,
In a charriot of fire.
Yes, that were the last of spunky Jim,
In his brothers' sarvice spent,
And I'd rather stood the side of him,
Than been 'lected President;
And he weren't as steady, mates, as some,
Excep in the hour of stress,
But if Jim aint up in “Kingdom Come,”
Then it won't be Heaven, I guess.
In his brothers' sarvice spent,
And I'd rather stood the side of him,
Than been 'lected President;
And he weren't as steady, mates, as some,
Excep in the hour of stress,
But if Jim aint up in “Kingdom Come,”
Then it won't be Heaven, I guess.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |