Living
Nebuchadnezzar
From The Home Book of Verse, ed. Burton Egbert Stevenson (1918)
You, Nebuchadnezzah, whoa, sah!
Whar is you tryin' to go, sah?
I'd hab you fur to know, sah,
I's a-holdin' ob de lines.
You better stop dat prancin',
You's paw'ful fond ob dancin',
But I'll bet my yeah's advancin'
Dat I'll cure you ob yo' shines.
Look heah, mule! Better min' out;
Fus' t'ing you know you'll fin' out
How quick I'll w'ar dis line out
On yo' ugly stubbo'n back;
You needn't try to steal up
An' lif' dat precious heel up;
You's got to plough dis fiel' up,
You has, sah, fur a fac'.
Dar, dat's de way to do it!
He's comin' right down to it;
Jes' watch him ploughin' troo it!
Dis nigger ain't no fool.
Some folks dey would 'a' beat him;
Now, dat would only heat him;
I know jes' how to treat him:
You mus' reason wid a mule.
He minds me like a nigger.
If he wuz only bigger
He'd fotch a mighty figger,
He would, I tell you! Yes, sah!
See how he keeps a-clickin'!
He's as gentle as a chicken,
And nebber thinks o' kickin' —
Whoa, dar! Nebuchadnezzah!
Is dis heah me, or not me?
Or is de debbil got me?
Wuz dat a cannon shot me?
Hab I laid heah more'n a week?
Dat mule do kick amazin' —
De beast was sp'iled in raisin'!
By now I 'spect he's grazin'
On de odder side de creek.
Cite this poem
MLA
Russell, Irwin. “Nebuchadnezzar.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/russell/2/.
Chicago
Russell, Irwin. “Nebuchadnezzar.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/russell/2/.
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