Just a few of our family favorites- to get you in the mood for Hallowe'en! Dedicated to my wonderful mother and father- who read these to us, around a lighted candle when Hallowe'en approached.
Little Orphant Annie
by
James Whitcomb Riley
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups and saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, and dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep.
An' all us other children, 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 upstairs,
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' cubbyhole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess!
But all they ever found was hist 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' lightnin' bugs in dew is all squenched away,-
You better mind yer parents, and 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!
Seeing Things
by
Eugene Field
I ain't afeard uv snakes, or toads or bugs, or worms, or mice,
An' things 'at girls are skeered uv, I think are awful nice!
I'm pretty brave, I guess;
an' yet I hate to go to bed
For, when I'm tucked up warm an' snug an' when my prayers are said,
Mother tells me "Happy dreams," and takes away the light
An' leaves me lyin' all alone an' seein' things at night!
Sometimes they're in the corner, sometimes they're by the door,
Sometimes they're all a-standin' in the middle uv the floor;
Sometimes they are a-sittin' down,
sometimes, they're walkin' round
So softly an' so creepylike they never make a sound!
Sometimes they are as black as ink,
an' other times they're white-
but the color ain't no difference when you see things at night!
Once, when I licked a feller 'at had just moved on our street,
An' father sent me up to bed without a bite to eat,
I woke up in the dark an' saw things standin' in a row,
A-lookin' at me cross-eyed an' p'intin' at me- so!
Oh, my! I wuz so skeered that time I never slep' a mite-
it's almost alluz when I'm bad I see things at night!
Lucky thing I ain't a girl, or I'd be skeered to death!
Bein' I'm a boy, I duck my head an' hold my breath!
An' I am, oh! so sorry I'm a naughty boy, an' then
I promise to be better an' I say my prayers again!
Gran'ma tells me that's the only way to make it right
when a feller has been wicked an' sees things at night!
An' so, when other naughty boys would coax me into sin,
I try to skwush the Tempter's voice at urges me within;
An' when they's pie for supper, or cakes 'at's big an' nice,
I want to.... but I do not pass my plate f'r them things twice!
No, ruther let starvation wipe me slowly out o' sight
than I should keep a-livin' on an' seein' things at night!
