Lo! dey come, de peoples, much ―
De French, de Anglais, Yankee, Dutch―
Lo! dey come, and here dey view
De vorld of vaters ― not a few.
De peoples come, and den dey tell
De verse dey know not how to spell;
And what is very much absurd,
Dey ignorant of Anglais vord.
Ma foi, indeed I tink my verse
De best — I’m sure ‘t is not the worst.
Source: Table Rock Album and Sketches of the Falls and Scenery Adjacent. Buffalo: Steam Press of Thomas and Lathrops, copyright by Jewett, Thomas & Co.,1856c.1848
This link takes you to the scanned version of the 1855 version of Table Rock Album from the Hathi Trust
See the Table of Contents of the Table Rock Album on this site.