Читать книгу Required Poems for Reading and Memorizing - Unknown - Страница 3

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 upstairs,

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' help the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,

Er the Gobble-uns'll git you

        Ef you

            Don't

                Watch

                    Out!

  Little brook! Little brook!

  You have such a happy look—

Such a very merry manner, as you swerve and

     curve and crook—

  And your ripples, one and one,

  Reach each other's hands and run

Like laughing little children in the sun!

  Little brook, sing to me:

  Sing about a bumblebee

That tumbled from a lily-bell and grumbled

     mumblingly,

  Because he wet the film

  Of his wings, and had to swim,

While the water-bugs raced round and laughed

     at him!

  Little brook—sing a song

  Of a leaf that sailed along

Down the golden-braided center of your current

     swift and strong,

  And a dragon-fly that lit

  On the tilting rim of it,

And rode away and wasn't scared a bit.

  And sing—how oft in glee

  Came a truant boy like me,

Who loved to lean and listen to your lilting

     melody,

  Till the gurgle and refrain

  Of your music in his brain

Wrought a happiness as keen to him as pain.

  Little brook—laugh and leap!

  Do not let the dreamer weep;

Sing him all the songs of summer till he sink in

     softest sleep;

  And then sing soft and low

  Through his dreams of long ago—

Sing back to him the rest he used to know!

There! little girl! don't cry!

  They have broken your doll, I know;

    And your tea-set blue,

    And your play-house, too,

  Are things of long ago;

But childish troubles will soon pass by,

       There! little girl! don't cry!

There! little girl! don't cry!

  They have broken your slate, I know;

    And the glad wild ways

    Of your school-girl days

  Are things of the long ago;

But life and love will soon come by,

       There! little girl! don't cry!

There! little girl! don't cry!

  They have broken your heart, I know;

    And the rainbow gleams

    Of your youthful dreams

  Are things of the long ago;

But heaven holds all for which you sigh,

       There! little girl! don't cry!