I
The
tiny Tillie Tatler maid
She lived in Talegeree;
And
people stood in fear of her
For second sight had she.
If
something awful were to fall
Upon their town, perchance,
This
tiny Tillie Tatler maid
Could tell it in advance.
II
She
lived alone beside the way
Where scarce a soul passed by;
Her
yard was bordered by a wall
Full twenty inches high.
Here
in the yard she oft would sit,
As thoughtful as could be,
And
picture out just what would hap
To poor old Talegeree.
III
Then
she would hurry through the town,
And stop at every gate,
And
tell each frightened villager
Just what would be his fate.
And
everybody, everywhere
Would hurry up and down,
With
horses, carts and trunks and bags,
To leave the fated town.
IV
One
day she said a monster ship
Would sail down through the air,
And
anchor high above the town,
And lay in waiting there,
And
if a soul stirred out of doors
They’d drop big fish hooks down,
And
everybody would be caught
And carried from the town.
V
For
days they stayed indoors and dared
Not show their heads outside
For
fear the awful, monster ship
Would give them all a ride.
Then
by and by a toy balloon
Sailed o’er and out of sight,
And
that was all the “ship” they saw,
And they were angry quite.
VI
They
chased poor Tillie Tatler home,
The women, men and boys;
And
cats and dogs joined in the race
All making lots of noise.
But
Tillie was too fleet for them,
Her feet did fairly fly,
She
safely got within her wall
Just twenty inches high.
May
27, 1908
(back of second page)
No comments:
Post a Comment