Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away…
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door… (slam!)
Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…
Credits
Hughes Mearns was an American educator and poet, best known today almost entirely because of this one deceptively simple verse. Written in 1899 and inspired by reports of a haunted house in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, the poem was later adapted into a popular song and became a touchstone of American folk surrealism.
