Iry an' Billy an' Jo!-- <br />Iry an' Billy's _the boys_, <br />An' _Jo's_ their _dog_, you know,-- <br />Their pictures took all in a row. <br />Bet they kin kick up a noise-- <br />Iry and Billy, the boys, <br />And that-air little dog Jo! <br /> <br />_Iry's_ the one 'at stands <br />Up there a-lookin' so mild <br />An' meek--with his hat in his hands, <br />Like such a 'bediant child-- <br />(_Sakes-alive_!)--An' _Billy_ he sets <br />In the cheer an' holds onto Jo an' _sweats_ <br />Hisse'f, a-lookin' so good! Ho-ho! <br />Iry an' Billy an' Jo! <br /> <br />Yit the way them boys, you know, <br />Usen to jes turn in <br />An' fight over that dog Jo <br />Wuz a burnin'-shame-an'-a-sin !-- <br />Iry _he'd_ argy 'at, by gee-whizz! <br />That-air little Jo-dog wuz _his_!-- <br />An' Billy _he'd_ claim it wuzn't so-- <br />'Cause the dog wuz _his'n_!--An' at it they'd go, <br />Nip-an'-tugg, tooth-an'-toenail, you know-- <br />Iry an' Billy an' Jo! <br /> <br />But their Pa--(He wuz the marshal then) <br />He 'tended-like 'at he _jerked 'em up_; <br />An' got a jury o' Brickyard men <br />An' helt a _trial_ about the pup: <br />An' _he_ says _he_ jes like to a-died <br />When the rest o' us town-boys _testified_-- <br />Regardin', you know, <br />Iry an' Billy an' Jo.-- <br /> <br />'Cause we all knowed, when _the Gypsies_ they <br />Camped down here by the crick last Fall, <br />They brung Jo with 'em, an' give him away <br />To Iry an' Billy fer nothin' at all!-- <br />So the jury fetched in the _verdick_ so <br />Jo he ain't _neether_ o' theirn fer _shore_-- <br />He's _both_ their dog, an' jes no more! <br />An' so <br />They've quit quarrelin' long ago, <br />Iry an' Billy an' Jo.<br /><br />James Whitcomb Riley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/iry-and-billy-jo/
