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Lyrics of Love and Laughter

There was a time when, jocund as the day,
The toiler hoed his row and sung his lay,
Found something gleeful in the very air,
And solace for his toiling everywhere.

Now all is changed, within the rude stockade, 
A bondsman whom the greed of men has made
Almost too brutish to deplore his plight,
Toils hopeless on from joyless morn till night.

For him no more the cabin's quiet rest,
The homely hoys that gave to labor zest;
No more for him the merry banjo's sound,
Nor trip of lightsome dances footing round. 

For him no more the lamp shall glow at eve,
Nor chubby children pluck him by the sleeve;
No more for him the master's eyes be bright,-
He has nor freedom's nor a slave's delight. 

What, was it all for naught, those awful years
That drenched a groaning land with blood and tears? 
Was it to leave this sly convenient hell,
That brother fighting his own brother fell?

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