From The Rise and Fall of the Mustache, and other “Hawk-eyetems,” by Robert J. Burdette, illustrated by R. W. Wallis; Burlington Publishing Company, Burlington, Iowa; 1877; p. 78.
THE grasshopper creaks in the leafy gloom,
And the bumble-bee bumbleth the live long day;
But the mathering nurks in the bran new broom,
And hushed is the sound of the buzz saw’s play.
Oh, it’s little he thinks of the cold mince pie,
And it’s little he seeks of the raw ice cream;
For the dying old year with its tremulous sigh,
Shall waken the lingering loon from his dream.
Oh, list! For the cricket, now far, now near,
Full shrillfully singeth his roundelay;
While the negligent noodle his noisy cheer
Screeps where the doodle bug eats the hay.
Oh, the buzz saw so buzzily buzzeth the stick
And bumbling the bumble-bee bumbleth his tune;
While the cricket cricks crickingly down at the creek
And the noodle noods noodingly, “Ha! It is noon !”
The dog fennel sighs, “She is here ! she is here !”
And the smart weed says dreamily, “Give us a rest !”
The hop vine breathes tenderly, “Give us a beer !”
While the jimson weed hollers, “Oh, pull down your vest !”
Oh, Anna Maria, why don’t you come home?
For the clock in the steeple strikes seven or eight;
Way down in the murky mazourka the gloam
Is gloaming its gloamingest gloam on the gate.
[According to my favorite Jill of All Trades, Greta Fields, smart weed is the only weed that will grow on heavily traveled paths, or in barnyards. It can be walked on without being killed by heavy animal or foot traffic. It is also called pepper weed. That is her theory why it was used in this context in the poem. Jimson weed is also called loco weed because it causes bizarre behavior changes. — Elf.Ed.]