Joseph S. Cotter, Sr. "Answer to Dunbar's 'After a Visit'" (1898)
[The following is an answer to a poem written by Paul L. Dunbar after his visit to Kentucky.]
So, you be'n to ole Kentucky,
An' you want to go ag'in ?
Well, Kentucky 'll doff her kerchief
An' politely ask you in.
An' she 'll loosen from her girdle
What perhaps you didn't see —
Keys that fit the other cupboards
Of her hospitality.
Not that she's inclined to hold back
With the good, and give the worst;
But, you know, in all fair dealin',
What is first must be the first.
So, when she takes key the second
An' gives it a twist er two
(Maybe I ought not to say it)
It'll most nigh startle you.
An' then keys the third and fourth, sir,
(Not to speak of all the rest)
Wouldn't stop at crackin' buttons,
They'd jest smash that Sunday vest.
And your happiness would find, sir,
A momentum then and there
That would carry it a-sweepin'
Through the stronghold of despair.
Now, the grippin' o' the hand, sir,
An' the welcome that you say
Was so firm an' true an' all that
Has a kind o' curious way.
At the first it's sorter slow like,
Till it forms a league with you,
Then it makes a kind o' circuit
That jest thrills you thro' an' thro'.
But it may be I had better
Not discuss this aftermath
Fur it might stir up your feelings
To the righteous point of wrath
As you brood o'er what you lost, sir,
By not stayin' with us longer.
. Ah, well, come to see us often,
Ole Kentucky 'll make you stronger.
So, you be'n to ole Kentucky,
An' you want to go ag'in ?
Well, Kentucky's standin' waitin'
Jest to take you wholly in,
An' she'll loosen her vast girdle
So that you can fully see
All the roots, fruits, leaves, an' branches
Of her hospitality.
Published in Joseph S. Cotter, Links of Friendship, 1898