Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
Poems of Home: III. Fun for Little FolkThe Dreadful Story about Harriet and the Matches
Heinrich Hoffmann (1809–1894)I
What foolish Harriet befel.
Mamma and Nurse went out one day
And left her all alone at play;
Now, on the table close at hand,
A box of matches chanced to stand;
And kind Mamma and Nurse had told her,
That, if she touched them, they should scold her.
But Harriet said: “O, what a pity!
For when they burn it is so pretty;
They crackle so, and spit, and flame;
Mamma, too, often does the same.”
And they began to hiss,
And stretch their claws
And raise their paws;
“Me-ow,” they said, “me-ow, me-o,
You ’ll burn to death, if you do so.”
She lit a match, it was so nice!
It crackled so, it burned so clear,—
Exactly like the picture here.
She jumped for joy and ran about,
And was too pleased to put it out.
And said: “Oh, naughty, naughty Miss!”
And stretched their claws
And raised their paws:
“’T is very, very wrong, you know,
Me-ow, me-o, me-ow, me-o,
You will be burnt, if you do so.”
The fire has caught her apron string;
Her apron burns, her arms, her hair;
She burns all over, everywhere.
What else, poor pussies, could they do?
They screamed for help, ’t was all in vain!
So then they said: “We ’ll scream again;
Make haste, make haste, me-ow, me-o,
She ’ll burn to death, we told her so.”
And arms, and hands, and eyes, and nose;
Till she had nothing more to lose
Except her little scarlet shoes;
And nothing else but these was found
Among her ashes on the ground.
The smoking ashes, how they cried!
“Me-ow, me-oo, me-ow, me-oo,
What will Mamma and Nursy do?”
Their tears ran down their cheeks so fast,
They made a little pond at last.