Poem by Eugene Field

The Bow-Leg Boy

Who should come up the road one day
But the doctor-man in his two-wheel shay!
And he whoaed his horse and he cried "Ahoy!
I have brought you folks a bow-leg boy!
  Such a cute little boy!
    Such a funny little boy!
      Such a dear little bow-leg boy!"

He took out his box and he opened it wide,
And there was the bow-leg boy inside!
And when they saw that cunning little mite,
They cried in a chorus expressive of delight:
  "What a cute little boy!
    What a funny little boy!
      What a dear little bow-leg boy!"

Observing a strict geometrical law,
They cut out his panties with a circular saw;
Which gave such a stress to his oval stride
That the people he met invariably cried:
  "What a cute little boy!
    What a funny little boy!
      What a dear little bow-leg boy!"

They gave him a wheel and away he went
Speeding along to his heart's content;
And he sits so straight and he pedals so strong
That the folks all say as he bowls along:
  "What a cute little boy!
    What a funny little boy!
      What a dear little bow-leg boy!"

With his eyes aflame and his cheeks aglow,
He laughs "aha" and he laughs "oho";
And the world is filled and thrilled with the joy
Of that jolly little human, the bow-leg boy—
  The cute little boy!
    The funny little boy!
      The dear little bow-leg boy!

If ever the doctor-man comes my way
With his wonderful box in his two-wheel shay,
I'll ask for the treasure I'd fain possess—
Now, honest Injun! can't you guess?
  Why, a cute little boy—
    A funny little boy—
      A dear little bow-leg boy!

1. Mary Smith
2. A Piteous Plaint
3. Pan Liveth
4. Jennie
5. After Reading Trollope's History of Florence

Print

1244 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version