Little Willie rhymes are light verses including an indifferent or cheerfully inappropriate response to a gruesome act of violence in a quatrain form attributed to Harry Graham (1874-1936). The earliest was included among the Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes published in 1898 under Graham's pen name Col. D. Streamer while he was serving in the Coldstream Guards.
<blockquote> Billy, in one of his nice new sashes,<br>Fell in the fire and was burnt to ashes;<br>Now, although the room grows chilly,<br>I havenâÂÂt the heart to poke poor Billy.</blockquote>
The above meter and line length, often with rhyme scheme AABB., was subsequently relaxed with alternative rhyming scheme ABAB as illustrated by the following verse from a 1904 collection of Willie Ballads:
<blockquote> Willie walking on the track,<br>The engine gave the worst of squeals,<br>And then they turned the engine back<br>And scraped off Willie from the wheels.</blockquote>
This genre of poetic black humor remained popular into the 21st century. The Washington Post ran a contest in 2011 encouraging readers to compose examples.