Page:Lyrics of Lowly Life Dunbar (1896).djvu/45



I would tie my swing an' dangle

In contentment to an' fro,

Idly dreamin' childish fancies,

Buildin' castles in the air,

Makin' o' myself a hero

Of romances rich an' rare.

I kin shet my eyes an' see it

Jest as plain as plain kin be,

That same old swing a-danglin'

To the old apple-tree.

There 's a rustic seat beneath it

That I never kin forget.

It 's the place where me an' Hallie—

Little sweetheart—used to set,

When we 'd wander to the orchard

So 's no listenin' ones could hear

As I whispered sugared nonsense

Into her little willin' ear.

Now my gray old wife is Hallie,

An' I 'm grayer still than she,

But I 'll not forget our courtin'

'Neath the old apple-tree.