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The Raggedy Man

An' nen-ef our hired girl says he can-
He milks the cow fer 'Lizabuth Ann.-
Ain't he a' awful good Raggedy Man?
Raggedy! Raggedy! Raggedy Man!

W'y, the Raggedy Man- he's ist so good
He splits the kindlin' an' chops the wood;
An' nen he spades in our garden, too,
An' does most things 'at boys can't do.—
He clumbed clean up in our big tree
An' shooked a' apple down fer me-
An' nother'n', too, fer 'Lizabuth Ann-
An' nother'n', too, fer the Raggedy Man.—
Ain't he a' awful kind Raggedy Man?
Raggedy! Raggedy! Raggedy Man!

An' the Raggedy Man, he knows most rhymes
An' tells 'em, ef I be good, sometimes:
Knows 'bout Giunts, an' Griffuns, an' Elves,
An' the Squidgicum-Squees 'at swallers therselves!
An', wite by the pump in our pasture-lot,

He showed me the hole 'at the Wunks is got,
'At lives 'way deep in the ground, an' can
Turn into me, er 'Lizabuth Ann!

Ain't he a funny old Raggedy Man?

Raggedy! Raggedy! Raggedy Man!

The Raggedy Man-one time when he
Was makin' a little bow-n'-orry for me,
Says, "When you're big like your Pa is,
Air you go to keep a fine store like his-
An' be a rich merchunt-an' wear fine clothes?-
Er what air you go' to be, goodness knows?"
An' nen he laughed at 'Lizabuth Ann,

An' I says

"'M go' to be a Raggedy Man!I'm ist go' to be a nice Raggedy Man!" Raggedy! Raggedy! Raggedy Man!

James Whitcomb Riley [1852

159

THE MAN IN THE MOON

SAID the Raggedy Man, on a hot afternoon, "My!

Sakes!

What a lot o' mistakes

Some little folks makes on The Man in the Moon!
But people that's b'en up to see him, like me,
And calls on him frequent and intimutly,

Might drop a few facts that would interest you
Clean!

Through!

If you wanted 'em to

Some actual facts that might interest you!

"O The Man in the Moon has a crick in his back; Whee!

Whimm!

Ain't you sorry for him?

And a mole on his nose that is purple and black;
And his eyes are so weak that they water and run
If he dares to dream even he looks at the sun,-
So he jes' dreams of stars, as the doctors advise---
My!
Eyes!

But isn't he wise

To jes' dream of stars, as the doctors advise?

"And The Man in the Moon has a boil on his ear,

Whee!

Whing!

What a singular thing!

I know! but these facts are authentic, my dear,-
There's a boil on his ear; and a corn on his chin,--
He calls it a dimple-but dimples stick in—
Yet it might be a dimple turned over, you know!
Whang!
Ho!

Why, certainly so!—

It might be a dimple turned over, you know!

Little Orphant Annie

"And The Man in the Moon has a rheumatic knee,—

Gee!

Whizz!

What a pity that is!

161

And his toes have worked round where his heels ought to be.

So whenever he wants to go North he goes South,

And comes back with porridge crumbs all round his mouth,

And he brushes them off with a Japanese fan.

Whing!
Whann!

What a marvelous man!

What a very remarkably marvelous man!

"And The Man in the Moon," sighed the Raggedy Man,

"Gits!
So!

Sullonesome, you know,

Up there by hisse'f sence creation began!—

That when I call on him and then come away,
He grabs me and holds me and begs me to stay,—
Till-Well! if it wasn't fer Jimmy-cum-Jim,

Dadd!

Limb!

I'd go pardners with him

Jes' jump my job here and be pardners with him!"

James Whitcomb Riley [1852

LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE

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 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

An' when he went to bed at night, away up stairs,
His Mammy heered him holler, an' his Daddy heered 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' cubby-hole,

an' press,

An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess; But all they ever found was 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' 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!

The Night Bird

An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
Án'
you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,-
You better mind yer parents, an' yer teachers fond and
dear,

163

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!

James Whitcomb Riley [1852

THE NIGHT BIRD

A MYTH

A FLOATING, a floating

Across the sleeping sea,

All night I heard a singing bird
Upon the topmost tree.

"Oh came you off the isles of Greece
Or off the banks of Seine;

Or off some tree in forests free

Which fringe the western main?”

"I came not off the old world,
Nor yet from off the new;

But I am one of the birds of God

Which sing the whole night through."

"Oh sing, and wake the dawning!

Oh whistle for the wind!

The night is long, the current strong,
My boat it lags behind."

"The current sweeps the old world,
The current sweeps the new;

The wind will blow, the dawn will glow,

Ere thou hast sailed them through."

Charles Kingsley [1819-1875]

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