Happy Halloween! I just love this funny vintage Halloween postcard!!! I have lots of lots of digital images like this, and even some real postcards! And below is a poem by James Whitcomb Riley about a wee orphaned servant girl who liked to scare the children with her cautionary tale---it has some wise words in it! Riley wrote in the vernacular, so sometimes it's hard to figure out what he's saying, but I still love reading this one---my dad and grandmother used to say the last lines to scare us kids too! (And apparently this poem was the inspiration for the Little Orphan Annie character we all know!!)
Little Orphant Annie 1885 James Whitcomb Riley
Little 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!
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!
Wow, what memories this brings back, LeAnne! My grandmother would quote the last lines of each stanza often and I remember that often, but reading the entire poem brings back wonderful memories of her reading the whole poem to us. Thanks for starting my day with warm memories!
ReplyDeleteSuch a wonderful Halloween treat, LeAnne! Can you imagine reading this around a campfire? Yikes! it would be fun!!! Thanks for sharing!
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I seem to remember my grandmother reading this poem, too. I think she had it in a book of children's poetry. Grandma always loved songs and rhymes, and I know that all the women in my family carried it down the generations. Today it's Where the Sidewalk ends, that I read to my children, and they read to theirs.
ReplyDeleteIt also remind me of the old books by Thorton W. Burgess that I read to my children, with all the fun old tales about the animals.
Thanks LeAnne
ReplyDeleteI read your blog daily, but have never thanked you for all the lovelies you post. I enjoy each and everyone. It's been a treat to watch Cassidy grow and all the fun things you post along with the cards.
Sending you hugs and blessings (please don't stop posting)
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