Unblessed be she, whose aukward hand
Before me laid the mouldy pone;[A]
May she still miss the joyous kiss,
Condemned to fret and sleep alone.
[A] A composition of Indian meal and water, baked hastily before the fire on a board or hoe.—Freneau's note.
The horse that bore me on my way
Around me cast a wishful eye,
He looked, and saw no manger near,
And hung his head, and seemed to sigh.
At stump of pine, for want of stall,
All night, beneath a dripping tree,
Not fed with oats, but filled with wind,
And buckwheat straw, alone stood he.
Discouraged at so vile a treat,
Yet pleased to see the approaching dawn,
In haste, we left this dreary place,
Nor staid to drink their dear Yoppon.[B]
[B] A shrub leaf very commonly used in the Carolinas, as a substitute for tea.—Freneau's note.
May travellers dread to wander here,
Unless on penance they be bound—
O may they never venture near,
Such fleas and filthiness abound.
But should ye come—be short your stay,
For Lent is here forever kept—
Depart, ye wretches, haste away,
Nor stop to sleep—where I have slept.
[22] Daily Advertiser, February 19, 1790, entitled "Lines Descriptive of a Tavern at Log-Town, a small Place in the Pine Barrens of North-Carolina." The poem appeared originally in the North Carolina Gazette.