The Poetry Corner

Billy And His Drum

By James Whitcomb Riley

Ho! it's come, kids, come! "With a bim! bam! bum! Here's little Billy bangin' on his big bass drum! He's a-marchin' round the room, With his feather-duster plume A-noddin' an' a-bobbin' with his bim! bom! boom! Looky, little Jane an' Jim! Will you only look at him, A-humpin' an' a-thumpin' with his bam! bom! bim! Has the Day o' Judgment come Er the New Mi-len-nee-um? Er is it only Billy with his bim! bam! bim! I 'm a-comin'; yes, I am - Jim an' Sis, an' Jane an' Sam! We'll all march off with Billy an' his bom! bim! bam! Come hurrawin' as you come, Er they'll think you're deef-an'-dumb Ef you don't hear little Billy an' his big bass drum!