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Paul Laurence Dunbar - My Sort O` ManPaul Laurence Dunbar - My Sort O` Man
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I don`t believe in `ristercrats       An` never did, you see;   The plain ol` homelike sorter folks       Is good enough fur me.   O` course, I don`t desire a man       To be too tarnal rough,   But then, I think all folks should know       When they air nice enough.   Now there is folks in this here world,       From peasant up to king,   Who want to be so awful nice       They overdo the thing.   That`s jest the thing that makes me sick,       An` quicker `n a wink   I set it down that them same folks       Ain`t half so good `s you think.   I like to see a man dress nice,       In clothes becomin` too;   I like to see a woman fix       As women orter to do;   An` boys an` gals I like to see       Look fresh an` young an` spry.--   We all must have our vanity       An` pride before we die.   But I jedge no man by his clothes,--       Nor gentleman nor tramp;   The man that wears the finest suit       May be the biggest scamp,   An` he whose limbs air clad in rags       That make a mournful sight,   In life`s great battle may have proved       A hero in the fight.   I don`t believe in `ristercrats;       I like the honest tan   That lies upon the healthful cheek       An` speaks the honest man;   I like to grasp the brawny hand       That labor`s lips have kissed,   For he who has not labored here       Life`s greatest pride has missed:   The pride to feel that yore own strength       Has cleaved fur you the way   To heights to which you were not born,       But struggled day by day.   What though the thousands sneer an` scoff,       An` scorn yore humble birth?   Kings are but puppets; you are king       By right o` royal worth.   The man who simply sits an` waits       Fur good to come along,   Ain`t worth the breath that one would take       To tell him he is wrong.   Fur good ain`t flowin` round this world       Fur every fool to sup;   You `ve got to put yore see-ers on,       An` go an` hunt it up.   Good goes with honesty, I say,       To honour an` to bless;   To rich an` poor alike it brings       A wealth o` happiness.   The `ristercrats ain`t got it all,       Fur much to their su`prise,   That`s one of earth`s most blessed things       They can`t monopolize.
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