<h3><SPAN name="Little_Orphant_Annie" id="Little_Orphant_Annie"></SPAN>Little Orphant Annie.</h3>
<div class="pre_poem"><p>"Little Orphant Annie" certainly earns her "board and keep" when she
has "washed the dishes," "swept up the crumbs," "driven the chickens
from the porch," and done all the other odds and ends of work on a
farm. The poet, James Whitcomb Riley (1853-), has shown how truly a
little child may be overtaxed and yet preserve a brave spirit and keen
imagination. Children invariably love to learn this poem.</p>
</div>
<table class="poem" summary="poem"><tr><td><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' wash the cups and saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' all us other children, when the supper things is done,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun<br/></span>
<span class="i0">A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you<br/></span>
<span class="i12">Ef you<br/></span>
<span class="i16">Don't<br/></span>
<span class="i20">Watch<br/></span>
<span class="i24">Out!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Onc't they was a little boy wouldn't say his pray'rs—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">His mammy heerd him holler, an' his daddy heerd him bawl,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wasn't there at all!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby hole, an' press,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' seeked him up the chimbly flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' the Gobble-uns'll git you<br/></span>
<span class="i12">Ef you<br/></span>
<span class="i16">Don't<br/></span>
<span class="i20">Watch<br/></span>
<span class="i24">Out!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' onc't when they was "company," an' ole folks was there,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">They was two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' the Gobble-uns'll git you<br/></span>
<span class="i12">Ef you<br/></span>
<span class="i16">Don't<br/></span>
<span class="i20">Watch<br/></span>
<span class="i24">Out!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' the lampwick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">You better mind yer parents, an' yer teachers fond an' dear,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Er the Gobble-uns'll git you<br/></span>
<span class="i12">Ef you<br/></span>
<span class="i16">Don't<br/></span>
<span class="i20">Watch<br/></span>
<span class="i24">Out!<br/></span></div>
</td></tr></table>
<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">James Whitcomb Riley.</span></p>
<h3><SPAN name="O_Captain_My_Captain" id="O_Captain_My_Captain"></SPAN>O Captain! My Captain!</h3>
<div class="pre_poem"><p>"O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman (1819-92), is placed here out
of compliment to a little boy aged ten who wanted to recite it once a
week for a year. This song and Edwin Markham's poem on Lincoln are two
of the greatest tributes ever paid to that hero.</p>
</div>
<table class="poem" summary="poem"><tr><td><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But O heart! heart! heart!<br/></span>
<span class="i4">O the bleeding drops of red,<br/></span>
<span class="i6">Where on the deck my Captain lies,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Fallen cold and dead.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Here Captain! dear father!<br/></span>
<span class="i4">This arm beneath your head!<br/></span>
<span class="i6">It is some dream that on the deck<br/></span>
<span class="i8">You've fallen cold and dead.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Exult O shores, and ring O bells!<br/></span>
<span class="i4">But I, with mournful tread,<br/></span>
<span class="i6">Walk the deck my Captain lies,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Fallen cold and dead.<br/></span></div>
</td></tr></table>
<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">Walt Whitman.</span></p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />