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120
POEMS BY CLARA A. MERRILL
A MYSTERY EXPLAINED



Hi Sambo—don' yo' talk dat way—
Aint yo' a silly coon!
A talkin' 'bout de mystery
Ob de man date in de moon!
I tell yo' 'taint no mystery
'Bout de moon, or how it acts,
I reckon ef yo'd like to know
I kin tell yo' all de facts.

'Tis dis:—Yo ' see when de world was new
De moon was roun' an' clear;
An' kep' a shinin' ebery night
Jus' so, year arter year.—
'Till dis man he done some drefful t'ing—
He ran, but dey cotched him soon
An' widout no odds dey banished him
An' sent him to de moon.

Dey see'd him lookin' down to earth
Whar dey wouldn't let him stay;
Den solemn like, an' bery slow
He turn he face away.—