The Norsk Nightingale

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Norsk Nightingale, by William F. Kirk
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Title: The Norsk Nightingale
Being the Lyrics of a "Lumberyack"
Author: William F. Kirk
Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8953]?[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]?[This file was first posted on August 29, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
? START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NORSK NIGHTINGALE ***
Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Distributed Proofreaders
THE NORSK NIGHTINGALE
Being the Lyrics of a "Lumberyack"
By
WILLIAM F. KIRK
1905
PREFACE
It is with a certain amount of misgiving that the author sends out this little volume of Scandinavian dialect verses. To the residents of Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, where the "lumberyack" lives and thrives, the dialect will seem familiar enough; but to other readers such terms as "skol" (shall or will), "ban" (been), "panga" (money), "sum" (than or as), may convey little or no meaning.
But, if the Scandinavian dialect verses are not widely popular, they are at least comparatively fresh and original; and to those readers who can readily grasp the patois, as well as to those who are compelled to struggle painfully through its labyrinths, this volume is respectfully dedicated.
CONTENTS
HIS LYRICS
"Yim"
Tillie Olson
The "Lumberyack"
Little Steena Yohnson
Olaf
"Yennie Dear"
"Peek-a-Boo"
Sonnet on Stewed Prunes
A Good Fellow
"It's Up to You"
HIS HISTORICAL TALES
Horatius at the Bridge
William Tell
The Courtship of Miles Standish
Robinson Crusoe
George Washington
Paul Revere
Waterloo
Barbara Frietchie
Sheridan's Ride
HIS POETICAL TRANSLATIONS
Speak Gently
The Barefoot Boy
Father William
Abou Swen Anson
Maud Muller
Lucy Gray
Stealing a Ride
"Curfew shall not Ring To-night"
A Psalm of Life
Annie Laurie
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Excelsior
Mortality
The Day is Done
HIS LYRICS
"YIM"
Dar ban a little faller,?Ay tenk his name ban Yim,?And nearly every morning?Ay used to seeing him.?He used to stand in gatevay,?And call me Svede, and ay?Ant lak to hear dis nickname:?Ay ban a Norsk, yu say.
But he ban little faller,?Ay tenk 'bout sax years old,?And so ay used to lak him--?He ban too small to scold.?Ay used to say, "Val, Yimmie,?Ay ant ban Svede, but yu?Can call me Svede,--ay lak yu?And ant care vat yu du."
By Yeorge! Ay'm glad, ay tal yu,?Dat ay ban gude to him,?Because one venter morning?Ay ant see little Yim.?And next day funeral vagon?Com driving op to door,?And Yim, poor little faller,?Can't call me Svede no more!
TILLIE OLSON
Little Tillie Olson?Ban my little pearl;?God ant never making?Any nicer girl.?Dis har Qveen of Sheba,?She ban nice to see;?But little Tillie Olson?Ban gude enuff for me.
Ay ban yust a svamper?Vorking op in voods;?Ay ant ever having?Much of dis vorld's goods.?Ay know lots of ladies?Var ay used to be,?But little Tillie Olson?Ban gude enuff for me.
Over in Chicago?'Bout sax veeks ago,?Torger Yohnson tak me?Out to see nice show.?Chorus girls ban dancing?Purty fine, by yee;?But little Tillie Olson?Ban gude enuff for me.
Ven ve sit by fireplace?Op at Tillie's house,?She ban cuddling near me,?Yust lak little mouse.?After ve ban married,?Happy ve skol be.?Yas, little Tillie Olson?Ban gude enuff for me.
THE "LUMBERYACK"
"Roll out!" yell cookee?"It ban morning," say he,?"It ban daylight in svamps, all yu guys!"?So out of varm bunk?Ve skol falling kerplunk,?And rubbing lak blazes our eyes.?Breakfast, den hustle; dinner, den yump!?Lumberyack faller ban yolly big chump.
"Eat qvick!" say the cook.?"Oder fallers skol look?For chance to get grub yust lak yu!"?So under our yeans?Ve pack planty beans,?And Yim dandy buckvheat cakes, tu.?Den out on the skidvay, vorking lak mule.?Lumberyack faller ban yolly big fule.
"Vatch out!" foreman say.?Den tree fall yure vay,?And missing yure head 'bout an inch.?Ef timber ban green,?Ve skol rub kerosene?On places var coss cut skol pinch.?Sawing and chopping, freeze and den sveat.?Lumberyack faller ban yackass, yu bet.
Ven long com the spring,?Ve drenk and we sing;?And calling town faller gude frend,?He help us to blow?Our whole venter's dough,?But ant got no panga to lend.?Drenk and headache, headache and drenk.?Lumberyack faller ban sucker, ay tenk.
LITTLE STEENA YOHNSON
Ay ban tenking lots of yu,?Little Steena Yohnson,?Ay ban sure yu love me true,?Little Steena Yohnson.?Oder geezers lak to play?In yure yard, but yu skol say,?"Ay don't lak yu fallers, nay!"?Little Steena Yohnson.
Some day yu skol be my vife,?Little Steena Yohnson:?Ay ban glad, yu bet yure life,?Little Steena Yohnson.?Ay ban vork lak nigger, tu,?Yumping 'round