Yesterday upon the stair

"Yesterday upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today, Oh how I wish he'd go away." This verse, titled "Antigonish" was written by William Hughes Mearns in 1899. William Hughes Mearns, better known as Hughes Mearns (1875-1965) was an American Educator and Poet. He wrote two books which are credited for fueling the educational trend of creative writing. A longer version of this poem, found on en.wikiquote.org starts and ends with the verse you cited but has this verse in between: "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!)"