Another version in one of the old songs says: "Some go to church to laugh and talk, but dey knows nuthin' 'bout de Christian's walk". "De Ole Ark a-moverin'" was the title of a plantation song which gave the story of Noah and the flood. Noah and his sons "went to work upon dry lan'", and everything went according to the original "plan". Jes' wait a little while, I'm gwine tell you 'bout de ole ark, De Lord told Noah for to build him an ole ark, Den Noah and his sons went to work upon dry lan', Dey built dat ark jes' accordin' to comman', Noah an' his sons went to work upon de timber, De proud begin to laugh the silly to point de finger, When de ark was finished jes' accordin' to plan, Massa Noah took his family both animal an' man, When de rain begin to fall and de ark begin to rise, De wicked hung round wid der groans and der cries, Fohty days and fohty nights de rain it kep' a fallin', De wicked clumb de trees an' for help dey kep' callin', Dat awful rain she stopped at las', de waters dey subsided, An' dat ole ark wid all aboard on Ararat rided. This is the picture which the plantation and slave negro has made for his satisfaction. The present-day song that apparently originated in the above song is less elaborate, having only portions of the old song, and not being much in demand. It, too, is called "Didn't it rain?" God told Noah 'bout de rainbow sign-- _Lawd, didn't it rain?_ No more water but fier nex' time-- _O didn't it rain? Halleluyer._ _O didn't it rain, O didn't it rain? Halleluyer, didn't it rain? Some fohty days an' nights._ Well it rain fohty days an' nights widout stoppin', _Lawd, didn't it rain?_ The sinner got mad 'cause the rain kept a droppin', _O didn't it rain? Halleluyer._ Among the most interesting of all the negro spirituals are those which have been composed in recent years. These are significant in their bearing upon the temperament and religion of the present-day negro. These songs are efforts at poetry, while at the same time they unite biblical story with song. How they are often begun and for what purposes they are composed was mentioned in the previous discussion concerning the origin of negro songs. Further analysis of the form may be made in the study of the negro's mental imagery. The following song, which gets its name from the chorus, is entitled "My Trouble is Hard", and was composed by "Sister Bowers". It was printed on a single sheet for distribution; each person who contributed to the collection was entitled to a copy, or a copy could be had for a nickel. She sung her new song to the crowds wherever she went, and then was given a _pro-rata_ of the collections. With the chorus repeated after each stanza, as the negroes always do, it becomes a song of unusual length: