WILLIAM F. KIRK
Reading edition
William F. Kirk is no longer a resident of Milwaukee, he having been called to a larger sphere of work on New York papers. But for a period of some eight or ten years he endeared himself to the readers of the Milwaukee Sentinel by his daily column. In it he had many quips which reminded one of Eugene Field in his "Sharps and Flats." But perhaps the most popular type of his work appeared in his "Norsk Nightingale" sketches, of which one is here given.
A PSALM OF LIFE
From the "NORSK NIGHTINGALE, BEING THE LYRICS OF A 'LUMBER YACK'," by William F. Kirk. Copyright, 1905, by Small, Maynard & Co. (Inc.).
Tal me not, yu knocking fallers, Life ban only empty dream; Dar ban planty fun, ay tal yu, Ef yu try Yohn Yohnson's scheme. Yohn ban yust a section foreman, Vorking hard vay up on Soo; He ban yust so glad in morning As ven all his vork ban tru. "Vork," says Yohn, "ban vat yu mak it, Ef yu tenk das vork ban hard, Yu skol having planty headaches,— Yes, yu bet yure life, old pard; But ay alvays yerk my coat off, Grab my shovel and my pick, And dis yob ant seem lak hard von Ef ay du it purty qvick." Yohn ban foreman over fallers. He ant have to vork, yu see; But, yu bet, he ant no loafer, And he yust digs in, by yee! "Listen, Olaf," he skol tal me, "Making living ant no trick, And the hardest yob ban easy Ef you only du it qvick!" Let us den be op and yumping, Always glad to plow tru drift; Ven our vork ban done, den let us Give some oder faller lift. Den, ay bet yu, old Saint Peter, He skol tenk ve're purty slick; Ve can go tru gates, ay bet yu, Ef ve only du it qvick!