Dey's mightily in de grass."

And de ole crow croak: "Don' work, no, no;"
But de fiel'-lark say, "Yaas, yaas,
An' I spec' you mighty glad, you debblish crow,
Dat de Baptissis's in de grass, grass,
Dat de Baptissis's in de grass!"

Lord, thunder us up to de plowin'-match, [31]
Lord, peerten de hoein' fas',
Yea, Lord, hab mussy on de Baptis' patch,
Dey's mightily in de grass, grass,
Dey's mightily in de grass.

____
1876.



Notes: Uncle Jim's Baptist Revival Hymn


I think that the following note, prefixed by the authors to their poem,
sufficiently explains what is to me one of their best humorous pieces:

"Not long ago a certain Georgia cotton-planter, driven to desperation
by awaking each morning to find that the grass had quite outgrown
the cotton overnight, and was likely to choke it, in defiance of
his lazy freedmen's hoes and ploughs, set the whole State in a laugh
by exclaiming to a group of fellow-sufferers: `It's all stuff