Okay, I did obsess a little. But seriously, David Bowie, folks.
Even so, the delicious combination of Froud design and Bowie voice is not the original spawn of my goblin attraction. My first taste of that came from a book my mother kept by her bedside. It was a tiny, hard bound book with white and orange designs on it titled, The Child's Book of Poems.
We had her read to us from it, and though the book has many great literary works inside, this is the one we always, always wanted to hear.
It was written in 1885 by James Whitcomb Riley
- Little Orphant Annie
- Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
- An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
- An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
- An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
- An' all us other children, when the supper-things is done,
- We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
- A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
- An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
- Ef you
- Don't
- Watch
- Out!
- Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
- An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
- His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
- An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
- An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
- An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
- But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:--
- An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
- Ef you
- Don't
- Watch
- Out!
- An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
- An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
- An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
- She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
- An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
- They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
- An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
- An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
- Ef you
- Don't
- Watch
- Out!
- An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
- An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
- An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
- An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
- You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
- An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
- An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
- Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
- Ef you
- Don't
- Watch
- Out!
Nice, huh? This was a book for children mind you. It's no wonder I'm a little "off."
Anyway, you're probably wondering, "What's she going on about goblins for?" I don't blame you one bit, but Kingdoms Gone book two is coming out this week, (April 10) and it is loaded with the little monsters. Or not so little and not so monstrous, but still.
I have them on the brain either way.
The Gobble-uns 'll get me
Ef I don't
Watch
Out!
The poem, is awesome sauce.
I just found a few different readings of it on Youtube that are worth a listen.
But I wanted to share it for certain.
:)
Happy Gobelin week! (I just made that up)
~ Frances