By A Gasper
O sextant of the meetinouse, which sweeps
And dusts, or is supposed too! and makes fiers,
And lites the gas and sometimes leaves a screw loose,
in which case it smells orful — worse than lampile;
And wrings the Bel and toles it when men dyes
to the grief of survivin pardners, and sweeps pathes;
And for the servases gits $100 per annum,
Which them that thinks deer, let em try it;
Getting up be foar star-lite in all weathers and
Kindlin-fires when the wether it is cold
As zero, and like as not green wood for kindlers;
I wouldn't be hired to do it for no some —
But o sextant! there are i kermoddity
Which's more than gold, wich doant cost nothin,
Worth more than anything exsep the Sole of Man.
i mean pewer Are, sextent, i mean pewer are!
O it is plenty out o dores, so plenty it doant no
What on airth to dew with itself, but flys about
Scaterin levs and bloin of men's hatts;
in short, jest 'fre as are" out dores.
But o sextant, in our church its scarce as piety,
scarce as bank bills wen agints beg for mischuns,
Wich some say purty often (taint nothin to me,
Wat I give aint nothin to nobody), but o sextant,
u shut 500 mens wimmen and children,
Speshally the latter, up in a tite place,
Some has bad breths, none aint 2 swete,
some is fevery, some is scrofilus, some has bad teeth.
And some haint none, and some aint over clean;
But every i on em breethes in and out and out and in,
Say 50 times a minit, or I million and a half breths an our,
Now how long will a church ful of are last at that rate,
I ask you, say 15 minutes, and then wats to be did r
Why then they must brethe it all over agin.
And then agin, and so on, till each has took it down.
At least ten times, and let it up again, and wats more
The same individible don't have the privilege
of brethen his own are, and no one's else;
Each one mus take whatever comes to him.
O sextant, don't you know our lungs is bellusses,
To bio the fier of life, and keep it from
goin out; and how can bellusses blow without wind,
And aint wind are ? i put it to your conscens.
Are is the same to us as milk to babes,
Or water to fish, or pendlums to clox —
Or roots and airbs unto an injun Doctor,
Or little pils to an omepath,
Or boys to gurls. Are is for us to brethe,
Wat signifies who preeches if i cant brethe ?
Wats Pol ? Wats Pollus ? to sinners who are ded ?
Ded for want of breth ? why sextant, when we die
Its only coz we cant brethe no more — that's all.
And now, O sextant, let me beg of you
2 let a little are into our church.
(Fewer are is sertin proper for the pews)
And do it weak days and Sundays tew —
It aint much trouble — only make a hole
And the are will come in itself;
(It luvs to come in whare it can git warm:)
And o how it will rouse the people up
And sperrit up the preacher, and stop garbs,
And yawns and figgits as effectooal
As wind on the dry Boans the Profit tells of.
– Published in the Stark County News, Toulon, Illinois, Thursday, June 18, 1863
O sextant of the meetinouse, which sweeps
And dusts, or is supposed too! and makes fiers,
And lites the gas and sometimes leaves a screw loose,
in which case it smells orful — worse than lampile;
And wrings the Bel and toles it when men dyes
to the grief of survivin pardners, and sweeps pathes;
And for the servases gits $100 per annum,
Which them that thinks deer, let em try it;
Getting up be foar star-lite in all weathers and
Kindlin-fires when the wether it is cold
As zero, and like as not green wood for kindlers;
I wouldn't be hired to do it for no some —
But o sextant! there are i kermoddity
Which's more than gold, wich doant cost nothin,
Worth more than anything exsep the Sole of Man.
i mean pewer Are, sextent, i mean pewer are!
O it is plenty out o dores, so plenty it doant no
What on airth to dew with itself, but flys about
Scaterin levs and bloin of men's hatts;
in short, jest 'fre as are" out dores.
But o sextant, in our church its scarce as piety,
scarce as bank bills wen agints beg for mischuns,
Wich some say purty often (taint nothin to me,
Wat I give aint nothin to nobody), but o sextant,
u shut 500 mens wimmen and children,
Speshally the latter, up in a tite place,
Some has bad breths, none aint 2 swete,
some is fevery, some is scrofilus, some has bad teeth.
And some haint none, and some aint over clean;
But every i on em breethes in and out and out and in,
Say 50 times a minit, or I million and a half breths an our,
Now how long will a church ful of are last at that rate,
I ask you, say 15 minutes, and then wats to be did r
Why then they must brethe it all over agin.
And then agin, and so on, till each has took it down.
At least ten times, and let it up again, and wats more
The same individible don't have the privilege
of brethen his own are, and no one's else;
Each one mus take whatever comes to him.
O sextant, don't you know our lungs is bellusses,
To bio the fier of life, and keep it from
goin out; and how can bellusses blow without wind,
And aint wind are ? i put it to your conscens.
Are is the same to us as milk to babes,
Or water to fish, or pendlums to clox —
Or roots and airbs unto an injun Doctor,
Or little pils to an omepath,
Or boys to gurls. Are is for us to brethe,
Wat signifies who preeches if i cant brethe ?
Wats Pol ? Wats Pollus ? to sinners who are ded ?
Ded for want of breth ? why sextant, when we die
Its only coz we cant brethe no more — that's all.
And now, O sextant, let me beg of you
2 let a little are into our church.
(Fewer are is sertin proper for the pews)
And do it weak days and Sundays tew —
It aint much trouble — only make a hole
And the are will come in itself;
(It luvs to come in whare it can git warm:)
And o how it will rouse the people up
And sperrit up the preacher, and stop garbs,
And yawns and figgits as effectooal
As wind on the dry Boans the Profit tells of.
– Published in the Stark County News, Toulon, Illinois, Thursday, June 18, 1863
