An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh and 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 know'd 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 lampwick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is grey,
An' the lightnin' bugs in dew is all squelched away,
You better mind yer parents, an' yer teachers fond an' dear,
An' cherish them 't loves you, and dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at cluster all about,
Er the gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
James Whitcomb Riley.
ALONZO THE BRAVE AND THE FAIR IMOGENE.
A warrior so bold and a virgin so bright,
Conversed as they sat on the green;
They gazed on each other with tender delight;
Alonzo the Brave was the name of the knight,—
The maiden's the Fair Imogene.
"And oh!" said the youth, "since to-morrow I go
To fight in a far distant land,
Your tears for my absence soon ceasing to flow,
Some other will court you, and you will bestow
On a wealthier suitor your hand!"
"Oh cease these suspicions," Fair Imogene said.
"Offensive to love and to me;
For if you be living, or if you be dead,
I swear by the Virgin that none in your stead,
Shall husband of Imogene be.
"If e'er by lust or by wealth led astray I forget my Alonzo the Brave,
God grant that to punish my falsehood and pride
Your ghost at the marriage may sit by my side,
May tax me with perjury, claim me as bride,
And bear me away to the grave."
To Palestine hastened the hero so bold,
His love she lamented him sore;
But scarce had a twelve-month elapsed, when behold!
A Baron, all covered with jewels and gold,
Arrived at Fair Imogene's door.