O Mahsr! let dis gath’rin fin’ a blessin’ in yo’ sight!
Don’t jedge us hard fur what we does—yo’ know it’s Chrismus-night;
An’ all de balunce ob de yeah we does as right’s we kin.
Ef dancin’s wrong, O Mahsr! let de time excuse de sin!
We labors in de vin’ya’d, wukin’ hard an’ wukin’ true;
Now, shorely yo’ won’t notus, ef we eats a grape or two,
An’ takes a leetle holiday,—a leetle restin’-spell,—
Bekase, nex’ week, we’ll start in fresh, an’ labor twicet as well.
Remember, Mahsr,—min’ dis now,—de sinfullness ob sin
Is ’pendin’ ’pon de sperrit what we goes an’ does it in;