OLD JOHNNY JONES

OLD Johnny Jones was a colored man,
Wrinkled, decrepit and old.
He had an acre of arable land,
But never a dollar in gold.
And Johnny had dwelt in the Southerners’ land,
And been coffled, and bought, and sold.

His heart was leal as the day was long,
And he was merry and kind.
He lightened his labor with dance and song
Until he grew lame and blind.
Then crept away from the heartless throng
And prayed with a fervent mind.

Old Johnny has gone to his final rest,
He has learned a loftier tune.
He passed the gates of the golden west
On a glorious eve in June;
And his banjo^* twangs in the halls of the blest
To a grand old Hebraic rune.

^*Johnny did not understand harps.