Ballad of The Summer Days in Gungy

                                                       by Joe Cone

                         I.

O, summer days in Gungy they are days chock full uv bliss,

A sort uv dream-existunce ‘at I shouldn’t wanter miss;

A sort uv tired feelin’ which is follered by sweet rest,

A feelin’ ‘at comes only to the pilgrims uv the blest.

The haze is soft an’ meller o’er the fields uv wavin’ grass,

The breeze is clover-scented – you kin hardly let it pass –

The trees are broad and shady, jest invitin’ you to stay!

O, summer days in Gungy, they are full uv joy today.

                                    II.

The days awake in glory in the meller eastern skies.

A purple streak of grandeur on the aige uv paradise;

O bird-song breaks the stillness, which for all its note uv mirth,

Jest seems to come from heaven ‘stead uv some place on earth.

The wakin’ world is fragrant with the dew uv early morn

The mornin’ breeze is wakin’ up the leaves uv sleepy corn;

The golden sun is shinin’ on the things that need his glow;

O, summer morns in Gungy jest beat anything I know!

                                    III.

You hear the cheery orders to the hungry waiting stock,

The big impatient hosses as they chafe at chain and lock;

The lowin’ uv the cattle as they wait impatiently

To pass the bars an’ revel in ol’ “Lizzard” handy by.

An’ when the bars are lowered how they plunge across the lot

To where the “crick” is waitin’, huntin’ for a shady spot

Where the overhangin’ willers make an arch across the stream –

O, summer days in Gungy they are jest a drowsy dream!

                                    IV.

Then comes the meller music, an’ the rattle an’ the click,

Uv mowin’ machines advancin’ on the grasses tall an’ thick;

They fall like rows uv soldiers from the bullets uv their foes,

An’ lie upon the stubble in their long an’ even rows.

The startled lark arises to the blueness of the skies

Its mornin’ song mutated into wild an’ wonderin’ cries;

The whet uv scythe is mingled with the chorus’s rise and fall –

O, summer days in Gungy they are sweetest uv ‘em all!

                                   V.

Then when the sun is highest, at the noon-hour uv the day,

When ev’rybuddy’s wishin’ ‘at the sun would go away,

We stretch beneath the maples where the shade is dense and deep,

An’ listen to a story or jest git a nip of sleep.

A breeze comes up the valley from the seashore miles away,

With jest a tinge uv saltiness ‘at is sure to save the day;

An’ with the good well water that is pure an’ cool an’ sweet –

O, summer days in Gungy, jest believe me, can’t be beat!

                                   VI.

Then when the shadders lengthen, when the chores are out the way,

When romance fills the twilight, an’ young cupid rules the day,

We stroll together shyly, hand in hand as lovers will,

Down to the banks uv Lizzard where the world is cool and still.

O, ‘tis the ancient story, but it’s ever sweet an’ new,

An’ maidens love to hear it here in Gungy, yes they do!

An’ so the seasons enter, an’ jest so they pass away;

But summer days in Gungy would they evermore could stay!

July 12, ‘10