Chapter 39 - Poem Part 2 (2/2)

And they wait for the well-known twist and twiddle,

More time than tune—from the corn-stalk fiddle.

Then brother Jabez takes the bow,

While Ned stands off with Susan Bland,

Then Henry stops by Milly Snow

And John takes Nellie Jones's hand,

While I pair off with Mandy Biddle,

And scr.a.p.e, scr.a.p.e, scr.a.p.e goes the corn-stalk fiddle.

”Salute your partners,” comes the call,

”All join hands and circle round,”

”Grand train back,” and ”Balance all,”

Footsteps lightly spurn the ground,

”Take your lady and balance down the middle”

To the merry strains of the corn-stalk fiddle.

So the night goes on and the dance is o'er,

And the merry girls are homeward gone,

But I see it all in my sleep once more,

And I dream till the very break of dawn

Of an impish dance on a red-hot griddle

To the screech and scr.a.p.e of a corn-stalk fiddle.

By: Paul Laurence Dunba