Page 166
By Jack Joseph Smith
Hobo' iN
EAst ANd wEst
is EAsy
hE sAid,
I is thE SouthErEN
Cross ANd thE North
stAr thAt is hArd,
hE sAid
By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
A speaker says east and west are easy but the SouthErEN Cross and North Star are hard.
The direction-and-star contrast does not establish a geographical mistake or a voyage. The reported he said construction leaves the explanation to an unnamed speaker.
Under 'Hobo' iN', reported speech says 'EAst ANd wEst / is EAsy / hE sAid,' and then 'I is thE SouthErEN / Cross ANd thE North / stAr thAt is hArd,'.
The drifter's axis of travel is easy; the fixed stars that orient a life are hard. In the dialect 'I is', the speaker seems to identify with those stars, so the difficulty belongs to the self. The heading and casing remain provisional.