Little Orphant Annie | |
---|---|
by James Whitcomb Riley | |
Original title | "The Elf Child" |
First published in | Indianapolis Journal |
Country | United States |
Publication date | November 15, 1885 |
Media type | Newspaper |
"Little Orphant Annie" is an 1885 poem written by James Whitcomb Riley and published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company. First titled "The Elf Child", the name was changed by Riley to "Little Orphant Allie" at its third printing; however, a typesetting error during printing renamed the poem to its current form. Known as the "Hoosier poet", Riley wrote the rhymes in 19th-century Hoosier dialect. As one of his most well known poems, it served as the inspiration for the comic strip Little Orphan Annie, which itself inspired a Broadway musical, several films, and many radio and television programs.
The subject was inspired by Mary Alice "Allie" Smith, an orphan living in the Riley home during her childhood. The poem contains four stanzas; the first introduces Annie and the second and third are stories she is telling to young children. Each story tells of a bad child who is snatched away by goblins as a result of his or her misbehavior. The underlying moral and warning is announced in the final stanza, telling children that they should obey their parents and be kind to the unfortunate, lest they suffer the same fate.
James Whitcomb Riley was a poet who achieved national fame in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th century. "Little Orphant Annie" is one of Whitcomb's most well known poems. [1] Originally published in the Indianapolis Journal on November 15, 1885, under the title "The Elf Child", the poem was inspired by a girl named Mary Alice "Allie" Smith.
Mary Alice Smith was born near Liberty, Union County, Indiana, 25 September 1850. She lived on a small farm with her parents until (as one story goes) both parents died when she was about nine years old. Some stories say that Mary's mother died when she was very young and her father, Peter Smith, died when she was ten. Other evidence points to her father's being incarcerated at the time. Whatever the cause, she was considered an orphan. Mary's uncle, a John Rittenhouse, came to Union County and took the young orphan to his home in Greenfield where he "dressed her in black" and "bound her out to earn her board and keep". Mary Alice was taken in by Captain Reuben Riley as a "bound" servant to help his wife Elizabeth Riley with the housework and her four children: John, James, Elva May and Alex. As was customary at that time, she worked alongside the family to earn her board. [2] In the evening hours, she often told stories to the younger children, including Riley. The family called her a "Guest" not a servant and treated her like she was part of their family. Smith did not learn she was the inspiration for the character until the 1910s when she visited with Riley. [3]
Riley had previously presented a fictionalized version of Mary Alice Smith in his short story "Where Is Mary Alice Smith?", published in The Indianapolis Journal of 30 September 1882. In it, Mary Alice arrives at her benefactor family's home and wastes no time before telling the children a grisly story of murder by decapitation and then later introduces them to her soldier friend Dave who is soon killed upon going off to war. The plot of this short story was heavily incorporated into the 1918 movie adaptation as well as Johnny Gruelle's 1921 storybook. [4]
Both "The Elf Child" and "Where Is Mary Alice Smith?" were printed in book form for the first time in 1885 in The Boss Girl. [5]
"The Elf Child" kept its original title in its first two printings, but Riley decided to change its title to "Little Orphant Allie" in an 1889 printing. The printing house incorrectly cast the typeset during the printing, unintentionally renaming the poem to "Little Orphant Annie". Riley at first contacted the printing house to have the error corrected, but decided to keep the misprint because of the poem's growing popularity. [3] [6]
When reprinted in The Orphant Annie Book in 1908, the poem was given an additional, introductory verse ("Little Orphant Annie she knows riddles, rhymes and things! ..."). [7]
During the 1910s and 1920s, the title became the inspiration for the names of Little Orphan Annie, created by Howard Gray, and the Raggedy Ann doll, created by fellow Indiana native Johnny Gruelle. [8] [9] The rhyme's popularity led its to being reprinted many times. It was later compiled with a number of other children's poems in an illustrated book and sold. [10]
The verses of the poem detail the scary stories told by Annie when her housework was done, repeating the phrase "An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you ef you don't watch out!"[ sic ] It was popular among children, and many of the letters Whitcomb received from children commented on the poem. It remains a favorite among children in Indiana and is often associated with Halloween celebrations. [11]
Riley recorded readings of several of his poems for the phonograph during the early twentieth century. Only four of the readings were ever released to the public; one was "Little Orphant Annie". Written in nineteenth century Hoosier dialect, the words can be difficult to read in modern times; however, its style helped feed its popularity at the time of its composition. [12] Riley achieved fame not just for writing poetry, but also from his readings. Like most of his poetry, "Little Orphant Annie" was written to achieve the best effect when read aloud. [1]
The poem consists of four stanzas, each with twelve lines. Riley dedicated his poem "to all the little ones," which served as an introduction to draw the attention of his audience when read aloud. The alliteration, parallels, phonetic intensifiers and onomatopoeia add effects to the rhymes that become more detectable when read aloud. The exclamatory refrain ending each stanza is spoken with more emphasis. [13] The poem is written in the first person and in a regular iambic meter. It begins by introducing Annie, and then sets a mood of excitement by describing the children eagerly gathering to hear her stories. The next two stanzas are each a story which Annie tells the children. Each story tells of a bad child who is snatched away by goblins and has an underlying moral which is announced in the final stanza, encouraging children to obey their parents and teachers, help their loved ones, and care for the poor and disadvantaged. [11] [13]
- 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!
Little Orphant Annie was made into a silent film in 1918, featuring Colleen Moore as Annie. She had previously been in A Hoosier Romance, also based on Riley's work. [14] Riley also appeared in the film as the silent narrator.
A short animated film based on the poem was released by Soyuztelefilm studio in Russia in 1992, directed by Yulian Kalisher. The poem was translated into Russian by Oleg Yegorov. [15]
In 1911, American composer Margaret Hoberg Turrell published an arrangement of Little Orphant Annie for choir. [16]
In The Orphant Annie Story Book (1921), author Johnny Gruelle augments the character's background story and goes to great lengths to soften her image, portraying her as telling pleasant tales of fairies, gnomes and anthropomorphic animals rather than her characteristic horror stories. [17]
In the TV series Getting On , the character of Birdy Lamb recites part of the poem at the end of Episode 3 of Season 3. The last stanza is also recited by two girls and the character Little Ann Sliger while jumping rope in the movie Texas Killing Fields (2011).
In the documentary, Cracking Up: The Darrell Hammond Story , comedian Darrell Hammond relates that his mother would stand in his doorway at night and recite the poem when he was a child.
On September 21, 1972, on the popular new CBS television series "The Waltons" Season 1, Episode 2: "The Carnival", John Boy Walton reads from the Little Orphant Annie to Jim Bob, and Elizabeth, for a scary bed time story, where afterward Elizabeth finds a monkey at her bedroom window, and thinks it's a Gobble-un.
Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on August 5, 1924, in the New York Daily News.
Marguerite Vivian Young was an American novelist and academic. She is best known for her novel Miss MacIntosh, My Darling. In her later years, she was known for teaching creative writing and as a mentor to young authors. "She was a respected literary figure as well as a cherished Greenwich Village eccentric." During her lifetime, Young wrote two books of poetry, two historical studies, one collection of short stories, one novel, and one collection of essays.
James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His poems tend to be humorous or sentimental. Of the approximately 1,000 poems Riley wrote, the majority are in dialect. His famous works include "Little Orphant Annie" and "The Raggedy Man".
Raggedy Ann is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and a triangle nose. The character was created in 1915, as a doll, and was introduced to the public in the 1918 book Raggedy Ann Stories. When a doll was marketed with the book, the concept had great success. A sequel, Raggedy Andy Stories (1920), introduced the character of her brother, Raggedy Andy. Further characters such as Beloved Belindy, a black mammy doll, were featured as dolls and characters in books.
John Barton Gruelle was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book and comics author, illustrator, and storyteller. He is best known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls and as the author/illustrator of dozens of books. He also created the Beloved Belindy doll. Gruelle also contributed cartoons and illustrations to at least ten newspapers, four major news syndicates, and more than a dozen national magazines. He was the son of Hoosier Group painter Richard Gruelle.
The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Sally Emery Hamlin was an American child actor, pianist, and recording artist.
Richard Buckner Gruelle was an American Impressionist painter, illustrator, and author, who is best known as one of the five Hoosier Group artists. Gruelle's masterwork is The Canal—Morning Effect (1894), a painting of the Indianapolis, Indiana skyline, but he is also known for his watercolors and marine landscapes of the Gloucester, Massachusetts, area. In 1891 Indiana poet James Whitcomb Riley commissioned Gruelle to illustrate two of his more notable poems, "When the Frost is on the Punkin'" and "The Old Swimmin' Hole," which were published in Neighborly Poems (1891). Gruelle is also the author of Notes, Critical and Biographical: Collection of W. T. Walters (1895), which provides a detailed description of Baltimore industrialist William Thompson Walters's extensive art collection.
The James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home, one of two homes known as the James Whitcomb Riley House on the National Register of Historic Places, is a historic building in the Lockerbie Square Historic District of Indianapolis, Indiana. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1962 for its association with poet James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916), known as the "Hoosier poet".
The Riley Birthplace and Museum, one of two homes called the James Whitcomb Riley House on the National Register of Historic Places, is located at 250 West Main Street in Greenfield, Indiana, twenty miles (32 km) east of downtown Indianapolis.
"Shortnin' Bread" is an American folk song dating back at least to 1900, when James Whitcomb Riley published it as a poem. While there is speculation that Riley may have based his poem on an earlier African-American plantation song, no definitive evidence of such an origin has yet been uncovered. A "collected" version of the song was published by E. C. Perrow in 1915. It is song number 4209 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
Diane Stanley is an American children's author and illustrator.
"All in the golden afternoon" is the preface poem in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The introductory poem recalls the afternoon that he improvised the story about Alice in Wonderland while on a boat trip from Oxford to Godstow, for the benefit of the three Liddell sisters: Lorina Charlotte, Alice Pleasance, and Edith Mary. Alice gave her name to Carroll's main character.
Ethel Franklin Betts Bains was an American illustrator primarily of children's books during the golden age of American illustration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Golden Age of Indiana Literature is a period from 1880 to 1920 when many nationally and internationally acclaimed literary works were created by natives of the state of Indiana. During this time, many of the United States' most popular authors came from Indiana. Maurice Thompson, George Ade, Booth Tarkington, Theodore Dreiser, Edward Eggleston, Frank McKinney Hubbard, George Barr McCutcheon, Meredith Nicholson, Gene Stratton Porter, Lew Wallace, and James Whitcomb Riley were foremost among the Hoosier authors.
The Indianapolis Journal was a newspaper published in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The paper published daily editions every evening except on Sundays, when it published a morning edition.
Mary Hartwell Catherwood was an American writer of popular historical romances, short stories, and poetry. Early in her career she published under her birth name, Mary Hartwell, and under the pseudonym Lewtrah. She was known for setting her works in the Midwest, for a strong interest in American dialects, and for bringing a high standard of historical accuracy to the period detail of her novels.
Little Orphant Annie is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by Colin Campbell and stars Colleen Moore, in her first leading role, as the title character. The film is based on James Whitcomb Riley's popular 1885 poem of the same title. Riley also appears in the film.
Margaret B. Hoberg Turrell was an American composer and organist who published her music under the name Margaret Hoberg. She was also a philanthropist who co-founded the Turrell Fund with her husband.
Ethel May Kelley was an American writer of novels, stories, and poems, active in the early twentieth century.