Far, far away, I know dey say, dere is a lovely Land,
An' if de name is Egypt, den a I can understand;
Why ev'ry one is happy dere, fo' all I beg an' pray,
Is just to be where I can see ma Egypt ev'ry day;
Most ev'ry colored lady's got a man dat she likes best,
But it ain't so, with one I know, she's diff'rent from de rest;
Her lovely name it's just de same, as Egypt, an' I say,
I sometime thinks she's like the Sphinx an' jus' as far away.
I'm a going' to tell her
CHORUS:
Egypt! my Cleopatra! I ain't no flatt'rer, but this is true,
I'm a goin' to tell her Egypt! if you don't want me,
Why you will haunt me, De way you do?
At night I dream, an' den I seem in dat far distant Land,
An' oh! it's fair, with Egypt there, we wander hand in hand;
An' when de day has died away, beneath some Pyramid,
We stop to rest an' on my breast, her lovely face is hid;
I feel jus' like Mark Antony, with Egypt all ma own,
An' she is kind an' doesn't mind out being there alone;
Ma' heart it breaks, fo' den I wakes an' find that all de while,
I'm on the Mississippi, tho' I'm dreamin' of de Nile.
I'm a dreamin' of her
If Egypt knew, what would she do? I often long to say,
"Why do you be so sweet to me, in dreams dear, anyway?
Las' night we kiss, den tell me dis, whu don't we kiss today?
But dat surprise in Egypt's eyes might drive ma dream away;
An' so I wait to know ma fate, befo' I claim ma own,
Dat lovely land or desert sand, where I must walk alone;
But dis I know, wher'e'er I go, dat we can never part,
Fo' like a flame, ma Egypt's name is burning in ma heart.
I'm a longin' for her