Classic Poem

I GOTTER overcoat, I have! A real one, an' brand new,
My ma, she buyed it at a store; it's color is dark blue,
An' it's got buttons made of gold, 'at shine jest like th' sun
'N I can wear it every day. O, gee! But I have fun!
Ma got it all fer me — and it
Ain't brother Bob's " cut down to fit. "

I gotter overcoat, I have. It 's warm as any toast,
I wear it when I go to school, and when I skate or coast;
'N all the other boys, they say, " O, lookee, here comes Jim —
He 's gotter overcoat that fits — it must feel strange to him! "
For it's the first one, do n't you see,
Bought 'specially an' jest for me.

I gotter overcoat, I have! When ma sends me to bed
I take it, too, an' lay it on th' piller by my head,
So when I wake I can reach out an' touch it with my hand,
An' know it was n't jest a dream — that makes a boy feel grand!
The boys at school can't say THIS coat
Is old enough to walk or vote!

I gotter overcoat, I have; an' when I get t' be
A man and marry Bessie Jones, my children — you will see —
Won't hafter wear each other's clothes. Most ev'ry week I 'll say
" Go buy yourselves jest what you want — throw those ol' things away! "
I bet they'll think I 'm awful good —
If pa said that to me, I would!