Popping Corn

Image from Heirlooms by Ashton House

POPPING CORN.

We were popping corn,
Sweet Kitty and I;
It danced about,
And it danced up high.
The embers were hot,
In their fiery light;
And it went up brown,
And it came down white.
White and beautiful,
Crimped and curled,
The prettiest fairy dance in the world!
The embers were hot,
In their fiery light,
And it went up brown,
and it came down white.
Ah! many a time are the embers hot,
And the human spirit can brook it not,
Yet radiant, forth from the fiery light,
Cometh transform’d and enrobed in white.

The Berkshire County Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) Jan 26, 1860

POPPING CORN.

And there they sat a-popping corn,
John Stiles and Susan Cutter;
John Stiles as stout as any ox,
And Susan fat as butter.

And there they sat and shelled the corn,
And poked and stirred the fire,
And talked of different kinds of ears,
And hitched their chairs up nigher.

Then Susan she the popper shook,
Then John he shook the popper,
Till both their faces grew as red
As sauce pans made of copper.

And there they shelled, and popped and ate
All kinds of fun a-poking,
And he haw-hawed at her remarks
And she laughed at his joking.

And still they popped, and still they ate,
(John’s mouth was like a hopper,)
And stirred the fire, and sprinkled salt,
And shook, and shook the popper.

The clock struck nine, the clock struck ten,
And still the corn kept popping;
It struck eleven and then struck twelve,
And still no signs of stopping.

And John he ate; and Sue she thought —
The corn did pop and patter,
Till John cried out, “The corn’s afire!
Why, Susan what’s the matter?”

She said, “John Stiles, it’s one o’clock!
You’ll die of indigestion;
I’m sick of all this popping corn —
Why don’t you pop the question?”

The Berkshire County Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) Feb 26, 1863