De Innah Part Poem by Raymond Garfield Dandridge

I 'fess Ise ugly, big, an' ruff,
Mah voice is husky, mannah's gruff;
But, mah gal sed, 'Neb mine yore hide,
I jedge you by yore inside side;'
An' sed, dat she hab alwuz foun'
De gole beneaf de surfuss groun'.

She claims dat often rail ruff hides
Am boun' erroun' hi' grade insides;
W'ile sum dat 'pear 'sharp ez a tack'
Kinceals a heart dat's hard an' black;
An', to prove her way ob thinkin',
Gibs fo' zample Abeham Linkin.

Ole 'Hones' Abe,' so lank an' tall,
Worn't no parlah posin' doll:
Yet he stood out miles erbove
Uddah men, in truf an' love.
An' in han'lin' 'fairs of state,
Proved de greates' ob de great.

In makin' great men, Nature mus'
Fo'got erbout de beauty dus',
An' fashun dem frum nachel clay,
De gritty kine, dat doan decay.
But, mos' her time she spent, I know,
Erpon de parts dat duzen show.