Matthew D. Bennett, "Bell Boy in the Clock" (1906)
An' bags, deys comin' in,
Wid bell boys rushin' right an' lef',
'Midst de mawnin's busy din,
An' you wuz out de night befo',
A callin' on yo ' gal,
An' met by chance some friends ob yourn,
Maybe some ol '-time pal,
An' you discussed bellhoppin'
F'om Manhattan to Palm Beach,
W'en some game beli boy did sugges'
A gin-mill dat's in reach,
Whar you kin call a waiter
An' ordah up rite swell,
An' be served de same drinks
You served gues's at de hotel
Den you is feelin' drowsy,
Reaches home all broken down
F'om de rev'lry o' de night befo'
An' yo' ramblin' thru de town,
An' you cain't see yo' keyhole
Fo' feelin ' fo ' de lock
Den dis am what dem bell boys call
" Gittin ' in de clock."
You reaches home 'bout five bells,
W'en you'se due to wuk at six,
An ' all de fancy stuff you drinked
Hab fo'med an ' orful mix.
Li'l Sallie come to call you,
De ol' man and mammy knock,
But not er soun ' comes f'om de room,
Ez you is "in de clock."
Mandy! heah dat boy a sno'in '?
'Larm clock hit's done run away
Lawdy! Telumphone de Cap'n
Eph cain't do no wuk to-day."
"Oh, fo' some li'l cosy conah,"
Said "Sleepy Bull" to "Funny Jones,"
"I feels so orful, orful tiahed
I'd lak to res' mah wairy bones."
"'Hongry,' doan fo'git to call me,
An' w'en you call me, b'shuah an' knock-
I b'lieves I'll tek a li'l nap,
Cause I'se almos' 'in de clock,'
"An' you kin tell de' Pure'n H'art,'
Ef he wakes up befo'I do,
Please sah, take a li'l ice water
Up to room fo' two.
"Den tell de Watuh Boy fo' me,
W'en he gits thru ca'in dat pail,
To ax de Cap'n, please sah,
To sign him to ca'y mah mail."
"Gib mah riga'ds to 'Short Hose,'
Who's a bell boy so nicknamed
On account ob his small stature,
An' one dat's evah famed
"Fo' tellin' dreams, an' mekin' time,
An' writin' verse an' song,
But who could railly go to sleep
An' still walk right uhlong
"So dis funny li'l espreshun,
What you heah dem bell boys say
W'en dey's been out de night befo',
An' feels sleepy all naix day.
"An' dey keeps on gittin' drowsy,
An' dere heads dey bump an' knock,
Den dis hyar am what dem bell boys call
'Gittin' in de clock.'"
Published in Colored American Magazine, April 1906