Little Orphant Annie

Little Orphant Annie 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, and 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
An-listen to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at git 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 heered 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 his pants an' roundabout:-
An' the Gobble-uns'ii git you
Ef you
Dont
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 Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-un'ii 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 poor an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

Little Orphant Annie
 An illustration by Ethel Franklin Betts
    (1906)
    

"Little Orphant Annie"
James Whitcomb Riley