diff --git a/lib/jaraco/text/__init__.py b/lib/jaraco/text/__init__.py
index 95e20b40..5f75519a 100644
--- a/lib/jaraco/text/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/jaraco/text/__init__.py
@@ -4,11 +4,12 @@ import textwrap
 import functools
 
 try:
-    from importlib import resources  # type: ignore
+    from importlib.resources import files  # type: ignore
 except ImportError:  # pragma: nocover
-    import importlib_resources as resources  # type: ignore
+    from importlib_resources import files  # type: ignore
 
 from jaraco.functools import compose, method_cache
+from jaraco.context import ExceptionTrap
 
 
 def substitution(old, new):
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ class FoldedCase(str):
         return hash(self.lower())
 
     def __contains__(self, other):
-        return super(FoldedCase, self).lower().__contains__(other.lower())
+        return super().lower().__contains__(other.lower())
 
     def in_(self, other):
         "Does self appear in other?"
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ class FoldedCase(str):
     # cache lower since it's likely to be called frequently.
     @method_cache
     def lower(self):
-        return super(FoldedCase, self).lower()
+        return super().lower()
 
     def index(self, sub):
         return self.lower().index(sub.lower())
@@ -128,6 +129,11 @@ class FoldedCase(str):
         return pattern.split(self, maxsplit)
 
 
+# Python 3.8 compatibility
+_unicode_trap = ExceptionTrap(UnicodeDecodeError)
+
+
+@_unicode_trap.passes
 def is_decodable(value):
     r"""
     Return True if the supplied value is decodable (using the default
@@ -138,14 +144,7 @@ def is_decodable(value):
     >>> is_decodable(b'\x32')
     True
     """
-    # TODO: This code could be expressed more consisely and directly
-    # with a jaraco.context.ExceptionTrap, but that adds an unfortunate
-    # long dependency tree, so for now, use boolean literals.
-    try:
-        value.decode()
-    except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        return False
-    return True
+    value.decode()
 
 
 def is_binary(value):
@@ -225,7 +224,7 @@ def unwrap(s):
     return '\n'.join(cleaned)
 
 
-lorem_ipsum = resources.read_text(__name__, 'Lorem ipsum.txt')  # type: ignore
+lorem_ipsum: str = files(__name__).joinpath('Lorem ipsum.txt').read_text()
 
 
 class Splitter(object):
@@ -370,10 +369,6 @@ class WordSet(tuple):
             result = WordSet(result)
         return result
 
-    # for compatibility with Python 2
-    def __getslice__(self, i, j):  # pragma: nocover
-        return self.__getitem__(slice(i, j))
-
     @classmethod
     def parse(cls, identifier):
         matches = cls._pattern.finditer(identifier)
@@ -527,3 +522,79 @@ def normalize_newlines(text):
     newlines = ['\r\n', '\r', '\n', '\u0085', '\u2028', '\u2029']
     pattern = '|'.join(newlines)
     return re.sub(pattern, '\n', text)
+
+
+def _nonblank(str):
+    return str and not str.startswith('#')
+
+
+@functools.singledispatch
+def yield_lines(iterable):
+    r"""
+    Yield valid lines of a string or iterable.
+
+    >>> list(yield_lines(''))
+    []
+    >>> list(yield_lines(['foo', 'bar']))
+    ['foo', 'bar']
+    >>> list(yield_lines('foo\nbar'))
+    ['foo', 'bar']
+    >>> list(yield_lines('\nfoo\n#bar\nbaz #comment'))
+    ['foo', 'baz #comment']
+    >>> list(yield_lines(['foo\nbar', 'baz', 'bing\n\n\n']))
+    ['foo', 'bar', 'baz', 'bing']
+    """
+    return itertools.chain.from_iterable(map(yield_lines, iterable))
+
+
+@yield_lines.register(str)
+def _(text):
+    return filter(_nonblank, map(str.strip, text.splitlines()))
+
+
+def drop_comment(line):
+    """
+    Drop comments.
+
+    >>> drop_comment('foo # bar')
+    'foo'
+
+    A hash without a space may be in a URL.
+
+    >>> drop_comment('http://example.com/foo#bar')
+    'http://example.com/foo#bar'
+    """
+    return line.partition(' #')[0]
+
+
+def join_continuation(lines):
+    r"""
+    Join lines continued by a trailing backslash.
+
+    >>> list(join_continuation(['foo \\', 'bar', 'baz']))
+    ['foobar', 'baz']
+    >>> list(join_continuation(['foo \\', 'bar', 'baz']))
+    ['foobar', 'baz']
+    >>> list(join_continuation(['foo \\', 'bar \\', 'baz']))
+    ['foobarbaz']
+
+    Not sure why, but...
+    The character preceeding the backslash is also elided.
+
+    >>> list(join_continuation(['goo\\', 'dly']))
+    ['godly']
+
+    A terrible idea, but...
+    If no line is available to continue, suppress the lines.
+
+    >>> list(join_continuation(['foo', 'bar\\', 'baz\\']))
+    ['foo']
+    """
+    lines = iter(lines)
+    for item in lines:
+        while item.endswith('\\'):
+            try:
+                item = item[:-2].strip() + next(lines)
+            except StopIteration:
+                return
+        yield item