Little Orphan Annie's come to our house to stay
To wash the cup and saucers up, and brush the crumb away
To shoo the chickens off the porch
And dust the heart and sweep
And make the fire, and bake the bread, and earn her board and keep
And all us other children when the supper things is done
We sit around the kitchen fire an has the mostest fun
and listenin to the witch tales that annie tells about
And the goblind will getchya if you dont watch out

nice! ...but aven't i read this som'eres before?
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yeap...i thought so!
 
James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916)
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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!
 
Onc't they was a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
So 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 wasn'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 was 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' onc't, when they was "company," an' ole folks was 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 was 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 parents, an' yer teachers 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!
 
 
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Whats your name?
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I got paid fifty cents for memorizing this when I was little. I recite it every Halloween, just to make sure I haven't forgotten it, but I always forget a lot of it!! And its always fun to relearn it. Now I tell it to my neices and nephews on summer nights at the family re-onion.
Other poems of his are just as wonderful, Raggedy-Man, etc.
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I got extra credit in Jr. High English for memorizing this poem. Anyone know who the author is?
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I believe this was actually written by Alfred Lord Tennyson. But I'm not sure.
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I read this over 60 years ago in a Collier's Junior Classics volume of poetry. So delighted to find the whole poem again...it was a favorite then. Wish someone could confirm the author.

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The author is James Whitcomb Riley. I remember loving this poem as a little girl. I memorized it and can still recite most of it.
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My grandfather would tell this poem to us when we were very little....its my fondest memory of him.