James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922.

Sprin’ Fevah

DAR’S a lazy, sortah hazy

Feelin’ grips me, thoo an’ thoo;

An’ I feels lak doin’ less dan enythin’;

Dough de saw is sharp an’ greasy,

Dough de task et han’ is easy,

An’ de day am fair an’ breezy,

Dar’s a thief dat steals embition in de win’.

Kaint defy it, kaint deny it,

Kaze it jes won’t be denied;

Its a mos’ pursistin’ stubbern sortah thin’;

Anti Tox’ doan neutrolize it;

Doctahs fail to analyze it;

So I yiel’s (dough I despise it)

To dat res’less, wretchit fevah evah Sprin’.