Cuddle down, ma honey, in yo' bed, <br />Go to sleep an' res' yo' little head, <br />Been a-kind o' ailin' all de day? <br />Didn't have no sperit fu' to play? <br />Never min'; to-morrer, w'en you wek, <br />Daddy's gwine to ride you on his bek, <br />'Roun' an' roun' de cabin flo' so fas'— <br />Der! He's closed his little eyes at las'. <br /> <br />De little pickaninny's gone to sleep, <br />Cuddled in his trundle bed so tiny, <br />De little pickaninny's gone to sleep, <br />Closed his little eyes so bright an' shiny. <br />Hush! an' w'en you walk across de flo' <br />Step across it very sof' an' slow. <br />De shadders all aroun' begin to creep, <br />De little pickaninny's gone to sleep. <br /> <br />Mandy, w'at's de matter wid dat chile? <br />Keeps a-sighin' ev'y little w'ile; <br />Seems to me I heayhd him sorter groan, <br />Lord! his little han's am col' as stone! <br />W'at's dat far-off light dat's in his eyes? <br />Dat's a light dey's borrow'd f'om de skies; <br />Fol' his little han's across his breas', <br />Let de little pickaninny res'.<br /><br />James Weldon Johnson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/de-little-pickaninny-s-gone-to-sleep/
