If I could only wander back
  To boyhood jest one day,
So'st' I could have my chice agin
  Of games we used to play,
I'd let the kites an' marbles go,
  An' say, "Come on, boys! let's
All go out a-huntin' fer
  The yaller jackets' nest."

Jest to lay up in the shadder
  Of the fence once agin
Of the old vacant lot
  'At the cows pastured in,
Where the dandelions were bloomin',
  'N there take a rest,
While you listen to the music
  'Round the yaller jackets' nest.

There was one 'at allers went along
  An' romped with us 'n raced,
With her sun-bonnet a-hangin' back
  'N curls down to 'er waist,
In the checkered little frock she wore
  Of gingham,--what a pest
She was to us when huntin' fer
  The yaller jackets' nest.

It's the prime of the blossms
  'At's a-hangin' from the trees
An' the music of the buzzin'
  'At brings lonesome memories,
Fer it seems as if I heerd her say
  "You better look out, lest
They all swarm out and sting yeh
  From the yaller jackets' nest."

Sometimes I think I hear 'er voice
  An' see 'er eyes of blue,
That borried all their color from
  The sky 'at peeks at you
Between the clouds in summer
  After rain has fell an' blessed
The flowers an' openin' blossoms
  'Round the yaller jackets' nest.