OUR HIRED GIRL

by: James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916)

      UR hired girl, she's 'Lizabuth Ann;
      An' she can cook best things to eat!
      She ist puts dough in our pie-pan,
      An' pours in somepin' 'at's good an' sweet;
      An' nen she salts it all on top
      With cinnamon; an' nen she'll stop
      An' stoop an' slide it, ist as slow,
      In th' old cook-stove, so's 'twon't slop
      An' git all spilled; nen bakes it, so
      It's custard-pie, first thing you know!
      An' nen she'll say,
      "Clear out o' my way!
      They's time fer work, an' time fer play!
      Take yer dough, an' run, child, run!
      Er I cain't git no cookin' done!"
       
      When our hired girl 'tends like she's mad,
      An' says folks got to walk the chalk
      When she's around, er wisht they had!
      I play out on our porch an' talk
      To Th' Raggedy Man 'at mows our lawn;
      An' he says, "Whew!" an' nen leans on
      His old crook-scythe, and blinks his eyes,
      An' sniffs all 'round an' says, "I swawn!
      Ef my old nose don't tell me lies,
      It 'pears like I smell custard-pies!"
      An' nen he'll say,
      "Clear out o' my way!
      They's time fer work, an' time fer play!
      Take yer dough, an' run, child, run!
      Er she cain't git no cookin' done!"
       
      Wunst our hired girl, when she
      Got the supper, an' we all et,
      An' it wuz night, an' Ma an' me
      An' Pa went wher' the "Social" met,--
      An' nen when we come home, an' see
      A light in the kitchen door, an' we
      Heerd a maccordeun, Pa says, "Lan'--
      O'-Gracious! who can her beau be?"
      An' I marched in, an' 'Lizabuth Ann
      Wuz parchin' corn fer The Raggedy Man!
      Better say,
      "Clear out o' the way!
      They's time fer work, an' time fer play!
      Take the hint, an' run, child, run!
      Er we cain't git no courtin' done!"

"Our Hired Girl" is reprinted from Complete Works. James Whitcomb Riley. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1916.

MORE POEMS BY JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

RELATED LINKS

BROWSE THE POETRY ARCHIVE:

[ A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z ]

Home · Poetry Store · Links · Email · © 2002 Poetry-Archive.com