Page:The complete poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar.pdf/91



that though the clouds be dark, That though the waves dash o'er the bark, Yet after while the light will come, And in calm waters safe at home
 * The bark will anchor.

Weep not, my sad-eyed, gray-robed maid, Because your fairest blossoms fade, That sorrow still o'erruns your cup, And even though you root them up,
 * The weeds grow ranker,

For after while your tears shall cease, And sorrow shall give way to peace; The flowers shall bloom, the weeds shall die, And in that faith seen, by and by
 * Thy woes shall perish.

Smile at old Fortune's adverse tide, Smile when the scoffers sneer and chide. Oh, not for you the gems that pale, And not for you the flowers that fail;
 * Let this thought cherish:

That after while the clouds will part, And then with joy the waiting heart Shall feel the light come stealing in, That drives away the cloud of sin
 * And breaks its power.

And you shall burst your chrysalis, And wing away to realms of bliss, Untrammelled, pure, divinely free, Above all earth's anxiety
 * From that same hour.

kin talk about yer anthems
 * An' yer arias an' sich,

An' yer modern choir-singin'
 * That you think so awful rich;

But you orter heerd us youngsters
 * In the times now far away,

A-singin' o' the ol' tunes
 * In the ol'-fashioned way.

There was some of us sung treble
 * An' a few of us growled bass,

An' the tide o' song flowed smoothly
 * With its 'comp'niment o' grace;

There was spirit in that music,
 * An' a kind o' solemn sway,

A-singin' o' the ol' tunes
 * In the ol'-fashioned way.