In one version ("one of the first black-derived versions to reach print"), John Henry foretells his death:
John Henry said to his Cappun: "Boss,
A man hain't nothin' but a man,
An' 'fore I'll be beat in dis sexion gang,
I'll die wid a hammer in my han'."
(Charles K. Wolfe, ed., Thomas Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes, 1990 [originally 1922], p. 89)
~Masato