From the folk song Oh! Susanna by Stephen Foster (presumably written in slave dialect):
De bullgine bust, de hoss ran off, I really thought I’d die;
I shut my eyes to hold my bref—Susanna, dont you cry.
Sheet music from Duke University on Wikimedia Commons
Emphasis mine. What does this phrase mean? All searches of that phrase and its variations turn up lyrics to Oh! Susanna, which makes me wonder if this phrase is unique.
Best Answer
It doesn't mean anything. The lyrics are deliberate nonsense, full of contradictions.
Consider :
The weather is both rainy AND dry. A contradiction. The sun was hot, but the singer froze. Another contradiction.
How is it possible to travel on a telegraph? It isn't possible, it's nonsense.
There is no connection between shutting eyes and holding breath. It's a non-sequitur. Another piece of nonsense. It doesn't mean anything, and that's the joke.