Sometimes w’en I am playin’ with some fellers ‘at I knows,
My ma she comes to call me, ’cause she wants me, I surpose:
An’ then she calls in this way: “Willie! Willie, dear! Willee-e-ee!”
An’ you’d be surprised to notice how dretful deef I be;
An’ the fellers ‘at are playin’ they keeps mos’ orful still,
W’ile they tell me, jus’ in whispers: “Your ma is callin’, Bill.”
But my hearin’ don’t git better, so fur as I can see,
W’ile my ma stan’s there a-callin’: “Willie! Willie, dear! Willee-e-ee!”
An’ soon my ma she gives it up, an’ says: “Well, I’ll allow
It’s mighty cur’us w’ere that boy has got to, anyhow”;
An’ then I keep on playin’ jus’ the way I did before—
I know if she was wantin’ much she’d call to me some more.
An’ purty soon she comes agin an’ says: “Willie! Willee-e-ee!”
But my hearin’s jus’ as hard as w’at it useter be.
If a feller has good judgment, an’ uses it that way,
He can almos’ allers manage to git consid’ble play.
But jus’ w’ile I am playin’, an’ prob’ly I am “it,”
They’s somethin’ diff’rent happens, an’ I have to up, an’ git,
Fer my pa comes to the doorway, an’ he interrup’s our glee;
He jus’ says, “William Henry!” but that’s enough fer me.
You’d be surprised to notice how quickly I can hear
W’en my pa says, “William Henry!” but never “Willie, dear!”
Fer though my hearin’s middlin’ bad to hear the voice of ma,
It’s apt to show improvement w’en the callin’ comes from pa.