Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel a tale that’s an old one,

A brother and sister they never had much fun,

They lived in a forest with their family,

And searched for each morsel of food hungrily,

Their father a woodcutter worked all his life,

To feed his twelve children and his hungry wife,

His wife in a tizzy once yelled to her spouse,

“You must take two children right out of this house”.

“Right out of this house, now!” she shouted to him.

“This makes all good sense and it’s hardly a whim,”

“We’ve ten more to feed now, that’s all we can take,”

“Please lose the two youngest, for my goodness sake!”

So now the poor woodcutter covered with grief,

He took Hansel ‘n Gretel right out like a thief,

Right out the forest to leave them right there,

But ever the parent he loved them with care.

He loved these two children he loved them he did,

In secret he told them of secrets quite hid,

So Hansel he gathered before they were led,

He hid in his backpack a hard loaf of bread.

With Gretel in hand now her brother did drop,

A trail of fine bread crumbs along every stop,

To help them now follow the trail back they’d roam,

Next morning to follow the bread crumbs to home.

But birds up above that were flying in air,

Saw Hansel just spreading the crumbs for them there,

They soared down below and the crumbs they did eat,

This doomed all the plans in the poor children’s feat.

Unaware this was happening Hansel quite glad,

Told Gretel his sister, “Now, don’t you be sad,”

“We’ll follow the crumbs back to our family dwelling,”

“And once they all see us their hearts will be swelling.”

The woodcutter father now lost them quite deep,

In the forest he left them, but now he did weep,

He did what his cruel wife had told him to do,

But he went back to get them to hold them so true.

But Hansel and Gretel had walked from the place,
Where their father had left them with hardly a trace,
And under a tree now they slept for the night,
Next morning they’d follow the bread trail in sight.

All morning they searched but the bread crumbs were gone,
They searched all day long, in the night and next dawn,
While searching they saw an unusual sight,
A gingerbread house with a candy cane light.

The house covered everywhere with every candy,

They ran to the house and they thought it quite dandy,

They started to nibble the sweet chocolate door,

And the sweet ginger shingles they ate all the more.

And all of a sudden they looked with surprise,

At the brown sugar window now peered two brown eyes,

At the old woman who was now living within,

The gingerbread house and she had a big grin.

A fine grin she had and she said now with glee,

Oh now children, oh children you come now to me,

For I see that you’re hungry I’ll feed you I will,

You just come in my house and I’ll feed you your fill.

And they walked in the house in a cage she now put them,

She locked the cage tight with a key from her dress hem,

She put the key safely back into her dress,

And said I will fatten you up, I confess.

And when you are fatter I’ll eat you right quick,

I don’t eat the thin ones they make me quite sick,

So here have some cookies and raspberry jelly,

Some chocolate, caramel makes a fat belly.

They ate all the candy for it was quite sweet,

Lemon drops, gumballs, they all were a treat,

And the fine chocolate cake was especially great,

They ate and they ate and they ate and they ate.

The witch would let Gretel now help her with chores,

To dust every knickknack and mop all the floors,

The witch would eat Hansel first when he was fat,

But he kept eating food in the cage where he sat.

The old witch’s eyes could not see very well,

She felt Hansel’s finger in order to tell,

In order to tell if his finger was fat,

Then he would be tender to eat, that was that.

But Hansel would trick the old witch with a trick,

He had in his pocket a small wooden stick,

The witch said to Hansel, “Stick your finger out!”

Then he stuck out the stick and the witch she would shout,

She shouted out loud, “You’re as thin as a rake!”

“You’re not ready to baste; you’re not ready to bake!”

She said, “You should eat more please have some of these”

And gave him a plate of fine French fries with cheese.

The very next the day the old witch said “Enough!”

“I’ll bake him today!” she now said in a huff.

“Put wood in the oven” she said to small Gretel,

“And quickly now quickly now bring me the kettle.”

Now poor frightened Gretel she started the fire,

The flames in the oven went higher and higher,

The witch with her bad eyes she said from her chair,

“Is the oven now ready to bake Hansel there?”

A plan in her head Gretel said “Please come look,”

She said to the witch, “I don’t know how to cook.”

When the witch put head in the oven to see,

Gretel shoved her right in, closed the door; took her key.

The witch now was dead and the children were free,

A magical thing now just happened you see,

The candy and gumdrops now turned into gold,

A wonderful thing for their eyes to behold.

They took all the gold in their packs they would fill,

Walked right out the door and then climbed a big hill,

And once at the top all a sudden they’d see,

Their woodcutter father all smiling with glee.

“Please come back to home, your mother is sad,”

“She’s sorry she sent you away she was bad,”

“She wants your forgiveness for things that she said,”

“They’re lost; it’s my fault, she would cry in her bed.”

But Father, oh Father the two children screamed,

We’ve found all this gold and the shiny gold gleamed,

So hand in hand back to their cottage they’ wend,

And lived happily ever after, THE END

Peter Lowell Paulson

January 16, 2011

(picture used courtesy of download-free-pictures.com)