Classic Poem

My name it is Joe Bowers, I have a brother Ike,
I came from old Missouri, yes, all the way from Pike;
I'll tell you why I left there and how I came to roam,
And leave my dear old mother so far away from home.

I used to court a gal there, her name was Sally Black,
I axed her if she'd marry me, she said it was a whack!
But she says to me, "Joe Bowers, before we hitch for life,
You ought to have a little home to take you little wife."

"Oh, Sally, dear Sally, oh, Sally, for your sake,
I'll go to Californy and try to raise a stake."
Says she to me, "Joe Bowers, you are the man to win,
Here's a kiss to bind the bargain," and she hoved a dozen in.
(Vance Randolph is recording Charles Ingenthron, who hesitates, and there is a brief conversation.)

ingenthron: "Could you stop it, or . . ."

randolph: "I've already stopped it . . ."

i.: "Well, that's what I . . ."

r.: "Just take your time . . ."

i.: "Them songs, you know, that I . . . that I'm not used to singing, I hang up on 'em. That's the trouble. I've spoilt two."

r.: "Just take your time, Charley."

When I got in that country, I hadn't nary red,
I had such wolfish feelings I wished myself most dead,
But the thoughts of my dear Sally soon made those feelings git,
And whispering hopes to Bowers--I wish I had them yet.

At length I went to mining, put in my biggest licks,
Went down upon the boulders just like a thousand bricks;
I worked both late and early, in rain and sleet and snow,
I was working for my Sally, 'twas all the same to Joe.

At length I got a letter from my dear brother Ike,
It came from old Missouri, yes, all the way from Pike;
It brought to me the darndest news that ever you did hear,
My heart was almost busted, so pray excuse this tear.

It said the Sal was false to me, her love for me had fled,
Said she'd got married to a butcher, and the butcher's hair was red;
And more than that the letter read, 'twas enough to make me swear,
Said Sally had a baby, and the baby had red hair.