THE OKLAHOMA ROSE

All round de moon clouds are hangin' high an' hazy,
On da lagoon moonbeams are lyin' lazy,
Dat's when dis coon's 'gwine to meet ma Maisie,
An' I'm singin' de same old song.
It's not about ma Dinah 'way down in Carolina,
Ma latest love is finer dan any flow'r dat blows.
In fact, she don't remind me of gals I've left behind me,
For true love chains dey bind me to Oklahoma's rose.

Chorus
She can trip like moonbeams on de water,
Ev'ry step dis colour'd coon he taught her,
Just one clip around her waist I caught her,
When de band played "Mumbling Rose",
She's ma rose, ma lily an' ma daisy,
Whar she goes, de colour'd coons go crazy,
All I knows in ma Aminta [sic] Maisie                                     Am de Oklahoma Rose.

All through de day she keeps lookin' down demurely,
Much as to say – I can't be a woman surely"!
I can still play with ma doll securely,
For dis ain't de time to spoon".
But when de sun am sinkin' her eyes begin a winkin',
An' den I know she's thinkin' of dis yer colour'd coon,
Oh! ain't I glad I found her. In love chains I have bound her.
Her face is rather rounder – it's rounder dan de moon.

Chorus
She hears me call an' she comes a-creepin', creepin',
Over de wall she see me leapin', leapin',
Big folks an' small quietly are sleepin'
When I meet ma lily belle.
Up an' down de ladder I'm slippin' like a shadder,
No one could be gladder dan me, I don't suppose,
I'm coaxin' her an' teasin', I'm kissin' her an' squeezin',
It seems to me it's pleasin' to Oklahoma's Rose.

Source: "Percy French and His Songs" by James N. Healy. Mercier Press, 1966.

"After some appearances in Canada, the entertainers [Percy French and Houston Collisson] opened in the Mendelssohn Hall, New York on the 4th of November [1910], to a splendid reception and thereafter gave their "Unique Recitals, Humours of Art and Music" [Percy French was a talented painter] in other American centres before completing the tour with engagements at Bermuda, the West Indies and Panama en route to England.
There are a couple of souvenirs in the way of songs resulting from their American tour - one of then "The Oklahoma Rose", which French originally incorporated in a humorous sketch; and "That Why We're Burying Him".
The second shows the American influence, for the lyric has a distinct music-hall echo, when compared with many of the vintage songs". (From page 93 of above book).