. 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!
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' '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 parunts, an' yer teachurs 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!
Notes
First Publication Date: Indianapolis Journal (Nov. 15, 1885), originally published as The Elf Child.
The period of the first line, is placed there, so that the first line can coincide with the rest of the piece.
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Comments
1 - 14 of 14
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I have read this poem with pleasure on many occasions. There always seems to be something new to think about as I read it through.
This time I emjoyed the matter-of-fact opening to the poem as it lists all the jobs of the new girl. Especially with the ending
" 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! "
I would think "pore" Annie could use some help.
Jim -
Hmm, I think most are missing the point here. Riley wrote hundreds of poems; I know, my grandmother had his book and it was quite thick. Most of the poems I grew up with were written like this, as from a child's point of view. And, be careful not to compare today's grammar with what was popular back then. As stated, education was not a top priority. And, if you want an excellent example of how bad grammar can by, just check out the speech patterns of inner-city kids. Some of it is just incomprehensible.
As for the writer's education, his father was a lawyer and his mother wrote poetry. He also became a lawyer, but did not like it, so he did other things with his time. This was not an uneducated man.
The best one can do is to read the works in the spirit intended: light-hearted and full of the venacular of the times. Do not look at it through modern eyes, but rather through eyes of the past. After all, would you expect a medieval knight to speak today's language? -
As with most vernacular poems the author is using the written word to imitate the sound of the normal speech of the place or area as he heard it at the time. As such spelling is idiosyncratic. Especially since schooling was not as common in the 1880's as it is now.
Most words are recognisable if pronounced as the reader would expect rather than trying to get their tongues around the original pronounciation.
With practice though they can be read as they would have been in the accents of the time before the smoothing out effect of schooling, radio and television reduced the wide variety in speech patterns.
Jim S -
I believe this poem to be Riley expressing the reality of the time. He is capturing the dialect of what he had actually heard rather creating something for this poem. He was raised on a farm in Indiana and he used incidents from his own life in his writings . . . in biographical writings about him it is indicated that an orphan did come to work on the family farm. I can envision this "orphan" telling stories to the employer's children since storytelling was the entertainment of the time.
An inquiry into the oral tradition will reveal that many uneducated workers referred to themselves in the third person when telling stories. So it could be that these are the actual words (or a close approximation, given poetic license)of "Little Orphant Annie." -
I think the diction was very effective in getting across the point of the poem. It seemed like a bedtime story being told to a young child by an older child. Sort of like Santa Claus--he's passed down.
The dialect was very similar to that of the Deep South (I live in Texas). I have a feeling whoever was telling the story didn't have much of an education, either.
If it had been written in standard diction I think it would have lost the around-the-campfire feeling. It probably would have been boring. -
My sense (or lack of it) found this piece started easily, gradually increased the slang, the vowel changes, the regional references that one might only understand through context. In this way, I think we were carefully led to accept and comprehend more than we would have otherwise.
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As I read through this write I got the thought of perhaps an older caretaker of the kids, a midwife, or wondering gypsie may have recounted this tale to a group of kids. I think that writer was at least educated enough to know about reading and writing and understand its effectiveness. I agree with AndrewHide in the fact that they person writing this probably came from a group of individuals that were not as educated as most today. Or perhaps they were and just related the tale as it was told to them, one may never know.
I really enjoyed the tale as I read through it. Seeing how everyone gathered around the harth would have probably been glued to the speaker until the whole tale was told. I can just imagine that this was probably one of the kids most favorite times as there wasnt a whole lot to do back in the era this write came from. Anyway, anyhow, anywho......whomever wrote this did a great job I thought. -
I did not understand most of the words in this poem. They got me confused.
Amy
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I know you weren't criticising the poem, I get that, I do. But, I feel you were criticising the poet, as if he was being offensive to children, maybe even yours, by writing this piece.
I agree with AndrewHide.
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Looking at this poem and then at the comments, it got me concidering what age group this was written for. The diction gives me the impression of, perhapse not so much a child, but rather someone from an uneducated society being the speaker. (There seemed to many incorrect pronounciations to me, even a child would rarely use this many unless the society they lived in also spoke this way as norm.) As it is a warning if things arn't done. (Maybe an older child to one younger.)
If J.W.R. intended this for children, (which I believe he did), it was intended to be read to a child by an adult, like a nursery rhyme. I've been trying to teach my children (of various ages) to read poetry, and I think the unusual spelling of words would disrupt a childs flow too much, until they could resight it with out reading.
A good piece, I loved the old world lesson in this, may try it on the kids later.
Andrew
Edited on May 28, 5:05 because ''. -
I wasn't criticizing the poem. The author meant it to be that way and it is effective.
Jennifer -
I disagree, I read it over, and I feel, that even a 3 year old, mis-pronounced words a lot, for they are still learning them, and I believe from 2-7 this would apply. All children are un-educated, that's why they go through school, mainly starting at 4 years up.
So, I disagree. But, I do notice the way a lot of the words are spelled, that a lot of the vernacular used by teens, that the vocabulary of this piece, would apply to their work.
It's a good piece, and I feel its main aim is at children and not adults thinking for children.
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I in part agree with Jenny – although I think it more a parody of a child sine the very low level of diction is at odds with the understanding of the writer/character.
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Jen was here and concluded the diction of this poem was indicative of a child's voice, an uneducated child at that. This is worse than my 3 year old's speech.
Jennifer
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