Happy Halloween! I remember my daddy telling me this when I was little and I would giggle; I didn't know it was from a poem, but I found it recently! It's a little long, but certainly fun to read on Halloween! It's written by James Whitcomb Riley, and he writes just the way he heard the words....so it's sort of in an old down-home dialect; for example, the word "kivvers" translates to "covers"...you'll see what I mean! Enjoy!
LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE
by: James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916)
- INSCRIBED WITH ALL FAITH AND AFFECTION
- To all the little children: -- The happy ones; and sad ones;
The sober and the silent ones; the boisterous and glad ones;
The good ones -- Yes, the good ones, too; and all the lovely bad ones. 
ITTLE Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,- An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
- An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
- An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
- An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
- We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
- A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
- An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
- Ef you
- Don't
- Watch
- Out!
- Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
- An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
- His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
- An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
- An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
- An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
- But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:--
- An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
- Ef you
- Don't
- Watch
- Out!
- An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
- An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
- An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
- She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
- An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
- They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
- An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
- An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
- Ef you
- Don't
- Watch
- Out!
- An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
- An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
- An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
- An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
- You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
- An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
- An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
- Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
- Ef you
- Don't
- Watch
- Out!
- Happy Halloween to all!
7 comments:
i think i knew the refrain from this one but never heard the whole thing. thanks for posting. happy halloween!
That was cute and I never had heard the poem. At first I thought you made the card front :-)
FabBOOlous!
=]
Cuteness, LeAnne!
This sound just like something my grandmother used to read to us. I love the "old-time" language, too. Very sweet.
My great grandmother would recite that to me and my 3 cousins when we were small and spent the night at her house. When I was a senior in high school, we had memorize and recite a poem for English class. I did this one and got an A+ on it. One reason was because my teacher said her grandmother used to tell it to her. That was 50 years ago when I was in high school and a million years ago when I was small and staying with my "Mamaw." Thanks for taking me down memory lane with this post.
I bet you didn't know that Jame Whitcomb Riley is from my hometown, Greenfield, Indiana! LOL! He is the only famous person from there. Every year they have the Riley parade and the Riley Days. In Fourth grade the big field trip was to his home! Love that you shared this. I don't think it is well known. XX
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