"Antigonish" is a poem by the American educator and poet, William Hughes Mearns, written in 1899. It is also known as "The Little Man Who Wasn't There" and was adapted as a hit song under the latter title.

Poem

Inspired by reports of a ghost of a man roaming the stairs of a haunted house, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, the poem was originally part of a play called The Psyco-ed, which Mearns had written for an English class at Harvard University, circa 1899. In 1910, Mearns staged the play with the Plays and Players, an amateur theatrical group, and on March 27, 1922, the newspaper columnist F.P.A. printed the poem in "The Conning Tower", his column in the New York World. Mearns subsequently wrote many parodies of this poem, giving them the general title of Later Antigonishes. 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... 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....

Songs

In 1939 "Antigonish" was adapted as a popular song titled "The Little Man Who Wasn't There", by Harold Adamson with music by Bernie Hanighen, both of whom received the songwriting credits. A 1939 recording of the song by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, with vocals by Tex Beneke, became an 11-week hit on Your Hit Parade and reached #7. Other versions were recorded by Mildred Bailey & Her Orchestra, Larry Clinton & His Orchestra with vocals by Ford Leary and Bob Crosby & His Orchestra with vocals by Teddy Grace Lil Wayne used a variation of the poem in his song "Pick Up Your Heart". In 2016 The Odd Chap released an electro swing version using samples from the Glenn Miller Band recording. In 2018, the experimental industrial group The Reptile Skins released an EP entitled Antigonish with the two lead singers having a different interpretation of the poem. The opening verse is featured on the opening track "Ytterligare ett steg närmare total jävla utfrysning" off the album Halmstad by Swedish band Shining. In 2019, the YouTube channel Estela Naïad released a song adapted from the poem, with the composition of the main theme and the voice of Estela Naïad, the harmonies and choirs of Priscilla Hernández and the musical production of Naliam Cantero.

References to poem