Classic Poem

1.

Two little boys going to school,
 Two little boys they be;
Two little boys going to school
 To learn their A B C.

2.

“O, will you toss a ball with me,
 Or will you throw a stone?
Or will you wrestle along with me
 On the road as we go home?”

3.

“I will not toss a ball with you,
 Nor will I throw a stone,
But I will wrestle along with you,
 On the road as we go home.”

4.

They wrestled up, they wrestled down,
 They wrestled around and around,
And a little penknife run through John's pocket,
 And he received a deadly wound.

5.

“Take off, take off my fine cotton shirt,
 And tear it from gore to gore,
And bind it around that bloody bloody wound,
 That it may bleed no more.”

6.

So I took off his fine cotton shirt,
 And tore it from gore to gore,
And bound it around that bloody bloody wound,
 So it would bleed no more.

7.

“O what shall I tell your mother, John,
 If she inquires for you?”
“O, tell her I've gone to the royal school
 My books to bring home.”

8.

“O what shall I tell your sister, John,
 If she inquires for you?”
“O, tell her I've gone down to the city,
 Some friends for to see.”

9.

“O, what shall I tell your true love, John,
 If she inquires for you?”
“O, tell her I'm dead and lying in my grave,
 Way out in Idaho.”