A Sonnet In/On Dialect

Behold in dialect a sonnet rare;

Yew never seen one like it done afore;

Go s’arch the works uv all the marsters b’en

An’ yew will never find one anywhere,

A dialectic sonnet, writ with care.

Mos’ graceful form uv all the graceful verse

I take yew fur this classic lay uv mine,

Becu indeed be yew the tree divine

Thet’s clumb by all the poets good an’ worse.

O sonnet sonnettee or somethun,

Gem uv the ages past an’ them tew come,

I take my hard earn’t bunnit off tew yew

Ez Shakespeare, Homer, Shelly uster dew,

And call it quit at fourteen lines, by gum!

c. June 3, 1899 (’97?)