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!
(James Whitcomb Riley, at PoetryArchive)

The perennial favorite by James Whitcomb Riley will be popping up in classrooms all around the U.S. any time now. It was always a mark of autumn chills and shivers when the English teacher stood up at the front of the room and intoned, “And the gobble-uns “ll git you ef you don”t… watch… out!” – a sign that Halloween was creeping nearer, with the spooky, delightful thrills of a night of haunts and howls.

The beginning of October is a wonderfully appropriate time for Indiana University-Purdue University to announce that the collected letters, photos and papers of poet James Whitcomb Riley will soon be available to net surfers. The Hancock County Public Library in Riley”s hometown of Greenfield, Indiana, received an $8,700 grant to digitize the collected works and archives from their collection of Riley artifacts. The library, with the aid of Indiana University-Purdue University, plans to scan 100 letters to and from the poet, as well as posters and handbills advertising his appearances, 200 photographs, handwritten poems and newspaper accounts. Riley, who died in 1916, would have appreciated the digitizing, says a Riley biographer. He would have found a way to publicize his poetry, says Elizabeth Van Allen. He was good at that.

He was indeed – and had, apparently, a rather wonderful sense of humor as shown in this story from the James Whitcomb Riley web site maintained by author Thomas E. Q. Williams. It details how Riley pulled off one of the most famous poetry hoaxes of the century.