Expert: Ted Nesbitt - 10/27/2009

Question
my mom use to recite a poem and i would like to remeber the words to the poem  the poem was little orhpan annie

Answer
Dear Sharon:

You haven't given me much to go on, but you are most likely thinking of this poem:

The poet is James Whitcomb Riley, a writer of verse from Indiana.  He spelled "orphan" as "orphant" -- a colloquial way of spelling, which he often used for his "down home" style of writing.  His character of Annie was based on a legendary Hoosier figure, and it became the inspiration for the comic strip and the Broadway musical.

So many of Riley's poems are frequently quoted, often without his name.  He was a prolific writer.  Do you recall "The frost is on the pumpkin"?  That's another one of his poems.

Here is the entire poem, but you may want to visit the site where I found it -- to get the whole story!

Ted Nesbitt

LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE
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.
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-listenin' 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' 'for 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' cherish 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!

The poem is quoted at the very bottom of this story by Thomas Earl Quitman Williams.  I found the story of Annie to be interesting, but the poem is at the end:

<http://www.jameswhitcombriley.com/litorphannie.htm>