Little Bateese Poem by William Henry Drummond

Little Bateese

Rating: 2.4


You bad leetle boy, not moche you care
How busy you 're kipin' your poor gran'pere
Tryin' to stop you ev'ry day
Chasin' de hen aroun' de hay-
W'y don't you geev' dem a chance to lay?
Leetle Bateese!

Off on de fiel' you foller de plough
Den w'en you 're tire you scare the cow
Sickin' de dog till dey jomp the wall
So de milk ain't good for not'ing at all-
An' you 're only five an' a half dis fall,
Leetle Bateese!

Too sleepy for sayin' de prayer to-night?
Never min' I s'pose it 'll be all right
Say dem to-morrow- ah! dere he go!
Fas' asleep in a minute or so-
An' he 'll stay lak dat till de rooster crow,
Leetle Bateese!

Den wake us up right away toute suite
Lookin' for somet'ing more to eat,
Makin' me t'ink of dem long leg crane
Soon as dey swaller, dey start again,
I wonder your stomach don't get no pain,
Leetle Bateese!

But see heem now lyin' dere in bed,
Look at de arm onderneat' hees head;
If he grow lak dat till he 's twenty year
I bet he 'll be stronger dan Louis Cyr
An' beat all de voyageurs leevin' here,
Leetle Bateese!

Jus' feel de muscle along hees back,
Won't geev' heem moche bodder for carry pack
On de long portage, any size canoe,
Dere 's not many t'ing dat boy won't do
For he 's got double-joint on hees body too,
Leetle Bateese!

But leetle Bateese! please don't forget
We rader you 're stayin' de small boy yet,
So chase de chicken an' mak' dem scare
An' do w'at you lak wit' your ole gran'pere
For w'en you 're beeg feller he won't be dere-
Leetle Bateese!

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Susan Williams 14 January 2016

Enjoyed this immensely. That Grandfather fussing at the little boy and every bit of that fussing showed how much he loved his Grandson! ! I wish I had had such Grandfather love surrounding my childhood misbehaviors!

23 0 Reply
Kim Barney 14 January 2016

William Henry Drummond was an Irish-born Canadian poet whose humorous dialect poems made him one of the most popular authors in the English-speaking world, and one of the most widely-read and loved poets in Canada. (This from his biography.) You have to get into the spirit of the contrived dialog to really enjoy this, but it can be done! I enjoyed how he used a few French words in the poem.

5 0 Reply
Edward Kofi Louis 14 January 2016

Wrong Behavior! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

4 0 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 14 January 2016

Amusing poem and perhaps written for children. Thanks for sharing.

2 0 Reply
T Rajan Evol 14 January 2016

Ok fine...................

1 1 Reply
Mike Mallon 02 May 2020

I memorized a poem of this name, but it was different

0 0 Reply
Rita Mary kathryn 24 April 2020

An absolutely awful rendering of one of my childhood classics😡😡

0 0 Reply
Rita Mary kathryn 24 April 2020

An absolutely awful rendering of one of my childhood classics😡😡

0 0 Reply
Jean LaPlante 21 April 2019

70 years ago my mother would recite this poem to us With the right accent We loved it.

0 0 Reply
Mel Brotzel 25 August 2018

My dad used to recite this poem from memory, it was made extra funny because of his German accent. I am 72 and I still can hear him reciting it.

0 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
William Henry Drummond

William Henry Drummond

Mohill, County Leitrim
Close
Error Success