THE 'POSSUM HUNT by EFFIE WALLER SMITH

Did I ever 'possum hunt?
Yes, not very long ago;
And did I catch a 'possum?
Just wait and you shall know!

Six little boys gathered
In a group at school one day,
Were talking very earnestly,
And I overheard them say:

"Now wouldn't it be funny,
And it wouldn't be impolite,
If we could get our teacher
To 'possum hunt to-night?"

I'd never 'possum hunted,
But I thought 'twould be real delight,
So with them I agreed to go
A-hunting, that very night.

Pawpaws then were ripe and good,
And plentiful as well;
And I'd always heard that 'possums
Liked them exceeding well.

And knowing this we hit upon,
As we thought, a splendid plan
To take some pawpaws, which we thought
Would be lots better than

Any dog; and so we did.
It was a lovely night;
Everything was calm and still
The moon shone clear and bright.

We went about twelve miles -- or more --
I'm fully satisfied;
Over hills, down rocky creeks,
And by the river-side.

But long before we reached our homes
The sky was overspread
With dark and threatening rain-clouds:
And faster home we sped.

And then, to make the darkness worse,
Our very feeble light
Went out, yet we (though tired and scared)
Kept on with all our might.

We had thrown away the pawpaws
Of which we had a stock;
And we reached our homes in the morning,
At half past three o'clock,

Hungry, tired and sleepy,
With bedrabbled shoes and dress;
But did we catch a 'possum?
I will leave you that to guess!

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

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