Explore "Hesitation" by Ring Lardner on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
I've orders to waken you from your nap, / And orders are orders, my little chap.
But I hate to do it, because it seems / A shame to break in on your blissful dreams.
I've sat and watched you a long, long while, / And not since I came have you ceased to smile.
So it strikes me as wrong to arouse you, boy, / From sleep that's so plainly a sleep of joy.
'Twill make a big diff'rence tonight, of course, / But p'rhaps you are riding a real live horse; / In dreams, it's a pleasant and harmless sport, / So why should I cruelly cut it short?
Maybe you have for your very own / A piece of pie or an ice cream cone; / If that's your amusement, why end it quick?
Dream-food can't possibly make you sick.
Orders are orders and I'm afraid / It's trouble for me if they're disobeyed.
But I'll bet if the boss could see you, son, / She'd put off the duty, as I have done.