Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LISPING IN NUMBERS by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: WE' GOT A' UNCLE WRITES POETRY
Last Line: "IT'S A PURTY GOOD LITTLE POETRY-PIECE!"
Subject(s): NUMBERS; POETRY & POETS; SPEECH DISORDERS; UNCLES; STUTTERING; MUTENESS;
WE' got a' Uncle writes poetryrhymes
Fer me an' Eddie to @3speak,@1 sometimes, --
'Cause @3he's@1 a @3poet@1 -- an' he gits @3paid@1
Fer poetry-writin', -- 'cause that's his @3trade.@1
An' Eddie says he's goin' to try
To be a poet, too, by an' by
When he's a man! -- an' I 'spect he is,
'Cause on his slate wunst he print' this
An' call it

"THE SQUIRL AND THE FUNY LITEL GIRL"
@3"A litel girl
Whose name wuz Perl
Went to the woods to play.
The day wuz brite,
An' her hart wuz lite
As she galy skiped a way.@1

@3"A queer litel chatter,
A soft litel patter,
She herd in the top of a tree:
The surprized litel Perl
Saw a qute litel squirl,
As cuning as cuning cud be.@1

@3"She twisted her curl,
As she looked at the squirl,
An' playfully told it 'good day!'
She calld it 'Bunny' --
Wuzent that funy?
An' it noded an' bounded a way."@1

Ma read it, an' says "she's @3awful proud,"@1 --
An' Pa says "Splen'id!" an' laugh' out loud;
But Uncle says, "You can talk as you please,
It's a purty good little poetry-piece!"



Home: PoetryExplorer.net