The Doodle-Bug's Charm
This poem is about trying to get a doodlebug to come out of his hole. It's in an old dialect from Indiana and in the voice of a child. It was written by James Whitcomb Riley.
The Doodle-Bug's Charm
Poem
When Uncle Sidney he comes here-
An' Fred an' me an' Min,-
My Ma she says she bet you yet
The roof'll tumble in!
Fer Uncle he ist romps with us:
An' wunst, out in our shed,
He telled us 'bout the Doodle-Bugs,
An' what they'll do, he said,
Ef you'll ist holler "Doodle-Bugs!"-
Out by our garden-bed-
"Doodle-Bugs! Doodle-Bugs!
Come up an' git some bread!"
Ain't Uncle Sidney funny man?-
"He's childish 'most as me"-
My Ma sometimes she tells him that-
"He ac's so foolishly!"
W'y, wunst, out in our garden-path,
Wite by the pie-plant bed,
He all sprawled out there in the dirt
An' ist scrooched down his head,
An' "Doodle! Doodle! Doodle-Bugs!"
My Uncle Sidney said,-
"Doodle-Bugs! Doodle-Bugs!
Come up an' git some bread!"
An' nen he showed us little holes
All bored there in the ground,
An' little weenty heaps o' dust
'At's piled there all around:
An' Uncle said, when he's like us,
Er purt' nigh big as Fred,
That wuz the Doodle-Bugs's Charm-
To call 'em up, he said:-
"Doodle! Doodle! Doodle-Bugs!"
An' they'd poke out their head-
"Doodle-Bugs! Doodle-Bugs!
Come up an' git some bread!"
Notes
James Whitcomb Riley (1849 - 1916) was born and died in Indiana.
Comments
You can find some Doodlebug Rhymes & Charms here (they really are used to lure out doodlebugs from their holes.)
