Hoosier Lyrics

by Eugene Field

GETTIN' ON.

When I wuz somewhat younger, I wuz reckoned purty gay— I had my fling at everything In a rollickin', coltish way, But times have strangely altered Since sixty years ago— This age of steam an' things don't seem Like the age I used to know, Your modern innovations Don't suit me, I confess, As did the ways of the good ol' days— But I'm gettin' on, I guess. I set on the piazza An' hitch around with the sun— Sometimes, mayhap, I take a nap, Waitin' till school is done, An' then I tell the children The things I done in youth, An' near as I can (as a venerable man) I stick to the honest truth! But the looks of them 'at listen Seems sometimes to express The remote idee that I'm gone—you see! An' I am gettin' on, I guess. I get up in the mornin', An' nothin' else to do, Before the rest are up and dressed I read the papers through; I hang 'round with the women All day an' hear 'em talk, An' while they sew or knit I show The baby how to walk; An' somehow, I feel sorry When they put away his dress An' cut his curls ('cause they're like a girl's)— I'm gettin' on, I guess! Sometimes, with twilight round me, I see (or seem to see) A distant shore where friends of yore Linger and watch for me; Sometimes I've heered 'em callin' So tenderlike 'nd low That it almost seemed like a dream I dreamed, Or an echo of long ago; An' sometimes on my forehead There falls a soft caress, Or the touch of a hand—you understand— I'm gettin' on, I guess.

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MINNIE LEE.

Writing from an Indiana town a young woman asks: "Is the enclosed poem worth anything?"

We find that the poem is as follows:

She has left us, our own darling— And we never more shall see Here on earth our dearly loved one— God has taken Minnie Lee. Her heart was full of goodness And her face was fair to see And her life was full of beauty— How we miss our Minnie Lee! But her work on earth is over And her spirit now is free She has gone to live in heaven— Shall we weep for Minnie Lee? Would we call our angel darling Back again across the sea? No! but sometime up in heaven We will meet loved Minnie Lee.

To the question as to whether this poem is worth anything we chose to answer in verse as follows:

Sweet poetess, your poetry Is bad as bad can be, And yet we heartily deplore The death of Minnie Lee. It would have pleased us better If, in His wisdom, He Had taken you, sweet poetess, Instead of Minnie Lee. Your turn will come, however, And swift and sure 'twill be If you continue sending Your rhymes on Minnie Lee. From this we hope you will gather A dim surmise that we Don't take much stock in poems Concerning Minnie Lee.