Little Willie was constantly involved in disasters so very gory that verses written about them seem funny instead of horrible. "Sick" verses like the two below are called Little Willies even when Little Willie does not appear in them.
Willie built a guillotine,
Tried it out on sister Jean.
Said mother as she got the mop,
"These messy games have got to stop!"
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Father heard his children scream,
So he threw them in the stream,
Saying, as he drowned the third,
"Children should be seen, not heard!"
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Willie poisoned his father's tea;
Father died in agony.
Mother came, and looked quite vexed;
"Really, Will," she said, "what next?"
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Making toast at the fireside
Nurse fell in the grate and died.
But what makes it ten times worse,
All the toast was burnt with Nurse.