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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Songs for Parents + +By John Farrar + + + + +Dedication + + + + +Here's a rhyme for Barbara, + Laughing white and pink, +Here's a rhyme for smiling Ted, + And one for Wink. + +Now Dick's not much at reading rhymes, + He'd rather sit and fish. +Well here's a couple of verses, Dick, + Read them if you wish! + + + + + +Contents + + + +Dedication + + +SONGS OF DESIRE + +Summer Explorer +Spring Wish +Ambition +Dreams +Water-Lily +Humor +Independence + + +SONGS FOR OUT OF DOORS + +A Comparison +Speculation +Parade +Flower Preferences +Parental Advice +Song for a Child Watching Clouds +Problem +Garden Musings +My Garden +Tracks +Chanticleer +Rainbow +Windmill +Cat-Fish +Visiting +Castles +Parenthood + + +SONGS OF CIRCUMSTANCE + +Moral Song +Serious Omission +Choice +Natural Fireworks +Conspiracy +Cuckoo Clock +The Sentinel +Royalty +Crackers +The Drum +Theatricals +Sally + + +SONGS FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE + +Bundles +The Candy Santa Claus +The Tinsel Star +The Ambitious Mouse +Prayer + + + + +SONGS OF DESIRE + + + + +Summer Explorer + + +I'd like to be a gypsy +With gold rings in my ears, +Along the road to sit and sing, +And not do another thing +For years and years; + +A road to dream upon by day, +A fire for dreams at night, +Free to wander far away, +Free to shout and free to play, +Quite impolite. + +I'd pitch my tent beside a wall, +All apple trees within, +And if the apples didn't fall, +I wouldn't hesitate at all. +I'd climb--and sin! + +But if the weather wasn't fine, +If all the world were rain, +If there weren't anywhere to dine +And goose-flesh quivered up my spine-- +I _might_ come home again! + + + +Spring Wish + + +A frog's a very happy thing, +Cool and green in early spring, +Quick and silver through the pool, +With no thought of books or school. + +Oh, I want to be a frog, +Sunning, stretching on a log, +Blinking there in splendid ease, +Swimming naked when I please, +Nosing into magic nooks, +Quiet marshes, noisy brooks. + +Free! And fit for anything! +Oh, to be a frog in spring! + + + +Ambition + + +If I were a rocket +Shot high across the night, +I'd rather burst in silver stars +Than green or purple light; + +For then, perhaps, I'd fool the moon, +Although she's very wise, +And thinking me a baby star +She'd keep me in the skies. + + + +Dreams + + +I'd like to dream my own dreams, +Instead of dreaming those +The silly sandman brings along +Like moving picture shows. + +I'd like to dream of palaces, +Of magic meadowlands, +Of silver gates and golden thrones +And chanting fairy bands; + +Of seas of spraying jewels, +Of dancing crystal ships, +Of the queen of all the elves herself-- +Two rubies for her lips; + +But, alas! I never dream such things, +And when I jump and wake +As an oozy ogre clutches me-- +It's just a stomach ache! + + + +Water-Lily + + +I'd like to be a water-lily sleeping on the river, +Where solemn rushes whisper, and funny ripples quiver. +All day I'd watch the blue sky--all night I'd watch the black, +Floating in the soft waves, dreaming on my back, +And when I'd tired of dreaming, I'd call a passing fish, +"I want to find the sea!" I'd shout, "Come! You can grant my wish!" + +He'd bite me from my moorings, and softly I would slip +To the center of the river like an ocean-going ship. +The waves would laugh upon me. The wind would blow me fast, +And oh, what shores and wonders would greet me as I passed! +Yes, if I were a water-lily, I'd sail to sea in state-- +A green frog for my captain--and a dragon-fly for mate! + + + +Humor + + +Have you ever watched the clowns at play, +White, red and black on circus day? +They're always very, very gay. +I wonder how they stay that way! + +I'd like to be a clown, +Playing tricks around the town, +Turning somersaults and springs, +As if they were easy things, +Laughing morning, noon and night, +Being such a funny sight! + +Do you think, then, I'd grow tired of fun, +Laughing so from sun to sun? +Or, when performances are done, +Do clown-folk cry like anyone? + + + +Independence + + +I like to go out in the night +When there's neither a sound nor a light, +With my hands and feet bare, +And the wind in my hair, +Not a nurse nor a parent in sight; + +But only the night, moon and me +As I dance in the dew joyfully, +Quite daring and bold +For there's no one to scold, +Because there is no one to see. + + + + + +SONGS FOR OUT OF DOORS + + + + +A Comparison + + +Apple blossoms look like snow, +They're different, though. +Snow falls softly, but it brings +Noisy things: +Sleighs and bells, forts and fights, +Cosy nights. + +But apple blossoms when they go, +White and slow, +Quiet all the orchard space, +Till the place +Hushed with falling sweetness seems +Filled with dreams. + + + +Speculation + + +I wonder if God sits alone +Upon the highest mountain stone +To stir the clouds and drop the rain, +And then to pick it up again. + +I wonder if he sends the brooks +Foaming from their distant nooks, +And, sitting there in robes of gray, +Turns rivers on at break of day. + + + +Parade + + +The scarlet trumpet flowers are gay +And yet they never seem to play, +They never trumpet up the dawn +Nor blow retreat across the lawn. + +But oh, to-day I heard a strain, +A happy, martial, quick refrain, +As down across the garden grass +I saw the marching flowers pass: + +Gaudy phlox and flaunting rose, +Stiff and straight and on their toes, +And, blaring from the garden wall, +The trumpet flower led them all. + + + +Flower Preferences + + +If I were a tiny fairy + With nothing else to do +But to wriggle into flowers + All the long day through, + +I'd dance among the roses, + I'd take a stately walk, +Balancing precisely + On an Easter-lily stalk. + +For play I'd choose the jonquils, + For swimming, poppy cups, +For jokes and tricks and tiny naps, + The Johnny-jump-ups! + +But on some quiet evening, + I'd leave my fairy band, +And on a star-flower through the sky + I'd sail to fairyland. + + + +Parental Advice + + +Who laid the egg that hatched the moon? +Was it the earth, I wonder, +Was it the sun, the clouds, or rain, +Was it night or thunder? + +If I were mother to the moon +I'd spank her every day +Until she learned to stay at home +And _never_ run away! + + + +Song for a Child Watching Clouds + + +I've watched the clouds by day and night, +Great fleecy ones all filled with light, +Gray beasts that steal across the sky, +And little fellows slipping by. + +Sometimes they seem like sheep at play, +Sometimes when they are dull and gray +The pale sun seems a ship to me, +Sailing through a rolling sea; + +And I've seen faces in them too, +Funny white men on the blue, +They look so many different ways, +And not one single cloudlet stays; + +But on across the heavens they blow, +I often wonder where they go, +Now sometime, maybe when I die, +I, too, will wander through the sky. + + + +Problem + + +If I were a violet I'd think it a shame +To be always so simple and modest and tame, +To be hidden away like a hermit or nun +While the hare-brained pink roses can dance in the sun! +But consider the naughty wild ways of the rose-- +There _must_ be _respectable_ flowers, I suppose! + + + +Garden Musings + + +Why is the lily so stately and still? +Why doesn't she dance like the gay daffodil? +Why doesn't she blush like the rose or the pink, +Or, like mischievous pansy, indulge in a wink? +Do you think it's because she is holier than they, +Or did God just decide he would make her that way? + + + +My Garden + + +My garden was silly and stubborn; + I worked, but the weeds worked, too; +I dug and scraped and scrambled-- + They hustled themselves and grew; + +Now Ted's garden's fine and cleanly, + He has lettuce and roses and peas-- +Oh, most probably plants are like children-- + They only behave when they please! + + + +Tracks + + +I wonder where the rabbits go +Who leave their tracks across the snow; +For when I follow to their den +The tracks always start out again. + + + +Chanticleer + + +High and proud on the barnyard fence +Walks rooster in the morning. +He shakes his comb, he shakes his tail +And gives his daily warning. + +"Get up, you lazy boys and girls, +It's time you should be dressing!" +I wonder if he keeps a clock, +Or if he's only guessing. + + + +Rainbow + + +The rainbow comes across the hill, +It shines upon the sky, until +It frightens all the tears from rain, +And then it hides itself again. + +Now when I'm very tired of play +I'll cross that rainbow bridge some day; +And while dear nurse and father scold, +I'll reach the end--and find the gold! + + + +Windmill + + +The windmill stands up like a flower on the hill +With its petals a-whirling--they seldom stay still-- +And its funny old voice creaking all the long day +As it scolds little breezes for running away. + + + +Cat-Fish + + +The cat-fish with whiskers that lives in the brook, +Is an ugly old beast with the wickedest look. +I suppose there were mouse-fish one time in brook town +Till that ugly old cat-fish gulped all of them down. + + + +Visiting + + +You and I shall travel far, +We'll pass the old earth by, +We'll ride the moon and drive a star +Across the evening sky. + +We'll flash upon the milky way +To pay Dame Night a call-- +But should we happen on old Day-- +We'd fall and fall and fall. + + + +Castles + + +I used to build me castles of moisty sand and shells, +And dream they were for princesses who wove me magic spells; +But yesterday along the beach my fairy princess came-- +And she's too big for castles--now isn't that a shame! + + + +Parenthood + + +The birches that dance on the top of the hill +Are so slender and young that they cannot keep still, +They bend and they nod at each whiff of a breeze, +For you see they are still just the children of trees. + +But the birches below in the valley are older, +They are calmer and straighter and taller and colder. +Perhaps when we've grown up as solemn and grave, +We, too, will have children who do not behave! + + + + + +SONGS OF CIRCUMSTANCE + + + + +Moral Song + + +Oh, so cool +In his deep green pool +Was a frog on a log one day! +He would blink his eyes +As he snapped at flies, + For his mother was away, + _For his mother was away!_ + +Now that naughty frog +Left his own home log +And started out to play. +He flipped and he flopped +And he never stopped + Till he reached the great blue bay, + _Till he reached the great blue bay!_ + +Alas, with a swish +Came a mighty fish, +And swallowed him where he lay. +Now it's things like this +That never miss + Little frogs who don't obey, + _Little frogs who don't obey!_ + + + +Serious Omission + + +I know that there are dragons, +St. George's, Jason's, too, +And many modern dragons +With scales of green and blue; + +But though I've been there many times +And carefully looked through, +I can't find a dragon +In the cages at the zoo! + + + +Choice + + +If I had just one penny + On the Fourth of July, +Oh, what a problem it would be + To think what I should buy! + +With lollypops and fire-works, + With cakes and whiz-bangs, too, +With tops and candy cigarettes, + Whatever should I do? + +Torpedoes have a splendid noise, + But noise is quickly past, +And the sweetness of a lollypop + Is something that will last. + + + +Natural Fireworks + + +The fireflies in the valley +Are having their display +Among the river willows +Like little bits of day! + +Come, light your silver sparkler +And wave it in the air. +Go dance among the willows +And sprinkle sparkles there. + +Then, oh, the world will wonder +To see the willows shine, +And even the fireflies will not know +Their tiny sparks from mine. + + + +Conspiracy + + +The sun has a face that is laughing and red +When nurse pulls me out in the morning from bed; +But he's not half so sly as the silly old moon, +Who winks when I'm sent to my bedroom too soon. + + + +Cuckoo Clock + + +The cuckoo in the clock by day +Is usually very gay; +And that's because, with people near, +There's not a thing for him to fear; + +But when the sitting room is dim +And no one's there to welcome him-- +How tremblingly he must come out +To flap his wings and look about. + +Why! Only just the other night +The cuckoo stopped the clock from fright! + + + +The Sentinel + + +I'm only a little toy dough-boy, +And I have neither sorrows nor fears; +But I patiently wait, +With my gun pointed straight +And my helmet pulled down on my ears. + +The ugly wood lions and tigers +May show their white teeth if they please, +If the whole Noah's ark +Should threaten and bark +It wouldn't unstiffen my knees. + +And some day when you are a soldier +With your helmet pulled down on your ears +I'll still be as straight +As I wonder and wait, +Standing my watch through the years. + + + +Royalty + + +If I should meet a king or queen +Upon the street some day, +Do you think that I'd be frightened? +Why, I'd know just what to say. + +"Your reverend majesties," I'd say, +And humbly bow the knee, +"I am your very humble swain, +And will you honor me?" + +The king would strike my shoulder +With a sword of passing might, +He'd lift me grandly to my feet, +He'd say, "Arise, O Knight!" + +Oh, I would not be frightened, +For I've seen kings galore, +Don't you think it's just to learn of them +That playing cards are for? + + + +Crackers + + +Oh, there are very many kinds +Of crackers, great and small, +Saltines and ginger-snaps and such, +I'd like to eat them all; + +But there's a kind of cracker +That I _need much worse,_ +A bright red giant cracker +To set off under nurse! + + + +The Drum + + +The drum's a very quiet fellow +When he's left alone; +But oh, how he does roar and bellow, +Rattle, snap and groan, +Clatter, spatter, dash and patter, +Rumble, shriek and moan +Whene'er I take my sticks in hand +And beat him soundly for the band. + + + +Theatricals + + +Now I'll play at being queen, + Hold my head quite stiff and haughty, + Always proud and never naughty, +Sweeping grandly down the green. + +Or I'll be a moonlight fairy, + Bobbing lightly on the river, + Dancing where the shadows quiver, +Winged and shining, swift and wary. + +If the doctor thinks I'm sick, + He's just silly. _I am not!_ + I'm just tired and very hot, +Hating drink that's sweet and thick. + +Flowers dance across the walls, + Mother's face seems far away, + She's the audience, I'm the play, +She will clap for curtain calls. + +No!--I do not want to play! + Seven thrones around my bed, + Circling gold about my head-- +Angels always fly away! + + + +Sally + + +If I were a stately sailboat, +I'd sail to Zanzibar, +I'd sail the seven secret seas, +Where the secret cities are, +And some day I'd be sailing with the wind before my prow, +And all the mermaids of the sea would clamber up the bow. +They'd beckon me with laughter, +They'd beckon me with smiles, +They'd show me cakes and candies +In half a dozen styles, +They'd promise me a life of ease +Eating sweets beneath the seas, +They'd promise me a life of play-- +A never ending holiday; +But I would say quite plainly, +And, oh, how stern I'd look! +Do you think that you can tempt me +While Sally is our cook? + +If I were a little fire balloon +I'd float aloft to Mars, +I'd pay a call on Venus +And chatter with the stars, +And just as I'd be fluttering across the yellow moon, +The angels would come singing a solemn Sunday tune. +They'd beckon to me gravely, +They'd tell me I could stay, +They'd show me all the jewels +That pave the milky way. +They'd promise me a golden crown +And silver robes like eider-down, +They'd give me harps with shiny strings +And wonderfully fluffy wings; +BUT--I would tell them plainly +I didn't want to die-- +Till all the angel cooks had learned +How Sally makes mince pie! + + + + + +SONGS FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE + + + + +Bundles + + +A bundle is a funny thing, +It always sets me wondering; +For whether it is thin or wide +You never know just what's inside. + +Especially on Christmas week, +Temptation is so great to peek! +Now wouldn't it be much more fun +If shoppers carried things undone? + + + +The Candy Santa Claus + + +I'm very fond of candles +With their quaint coquettish way, +But alas! I wooed too often, +And now my life's to pay. + +They knew I was important +When they decked the Christmas tree, +Yes, they hung me on the tip-top +For all the world to see. + +But, alas! A lady candle +Has come with me to the top, +And I'm melting with affection, +I'm dying drop by drop. + + + +The Tinsel Star + + +I'm just a shiny tinsel star, +Boxed all the time as such things are, +And only used just once a year, +Oh, life is very dull and drear! + +A real star has far fields to roam, +A tinsel star must stay at home. +It is a terrible vexation +To be a silly imitation! + + + +The Ambitious Mouse + + +If all the world were candy +And the sky were frosted cake, +Oh, it would be a splendid job +For a mouse to undertake! + +To eat a path of sweetmeats +Through candy forest aisles-- +Explore the land of Pepper-mint +Stretched out for miles and miles. + +To gobble up a cloudlet, +A little cup-cake star, +To swim a lake of liquid sweet +With shores of chocolate bar. + +But, best of all the eating, +Would be the toothsome fat, +Triumphant hour of mouse-desire, +To eat a candy cat! + + + +Prayer + + +Last night I crept across the snow, +Where only tracking rabbits go, +And then I waited quite alone +Until the Christmas radiance shone! + +At midnight twenty angels came, +Each white and shining like a flame. +At midnight twenty angels sang, +The stars swung out like bells and rang. + +They lifted me across the hill, +They bore me in their arms until +A greater glory greeted them. +It was the town of Bethlehem. + +And gently, then, they set me down, +All worshipping that holy town, +And gently, then, they bade me raise +My head to worship and to praise. + +And gently, then, the Christ smiled down. +Ah, there was glory in that town! +It was as if the world were free +And glistening with purity. + +And in that vault of crystal blue, +It was as if the world were new, +And myriad angels, file on file, +Glorified in the Christ-child's smile. + +It was so beautiful to see +Such glory, for a child like me, +So beautiful, it does not seem +It could have been a Christmas dream. + + + + + +About the author: + + +John Chipman Farrar (1896-1974), late of the longtime New York +publishing firm of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, attended Yale University, +where his poem "Portraits" won the Yale University Prize Poem in 1916. +In 1919 his "Forgotten Shrines" won critical acclaim and was to be +reprinted half a century later. + +After graduation, John turned to publishing and literary criticism, +editing George H. Doran Company's "The Bookman". In 1922, +Farrar volunteered for the organizing committee of an American +chapter of PEN (originally Poets, Essayists and Novelist) founded in +England the year before by Sappho (Amy Dawson Scott) to foster support +of visiting foreign writers. PEN grew quickly to an international advocacy +for freedom of expression and continues its activism to this day. +(See http://www.pen.org) + +After the Second World War, the American chapter foundered for lack +of direction and John Farrar, principal of the newly formed publishing +house of Farrar, Straus & Company, stepped in to refocus its energies +and recruit dozens of new members. He served as president twice, +once from 1951-1953 and again from 1963-1965. + +Farrar's roles as both and editor and a publisher have had a lasting +impact on literature through the years. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc. +has numbered several Nobel Laureates and dozens of distinguished poets +and authors among its offerings. It is my privilege to reprint this +etext of some of his work for posterity. + + +- Stewart A. Levin + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of Songs for Parents, by John Farrar + diff --git a/old/sfpar10.zip b/old/sfpar10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6bc0bb5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/sfpar10.zip diff --git a/old/sfpar11.txt b/old/sfpar11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..50c9091 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/sfpar11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1241 @@ +*Project Gutenberg's Etext of Songs for Parents, by John Farrar* + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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Levin of Englewood CO with +additional biographical information provided by Curtis Farrar of +Washington, D.C. + + + + + +Songs for Parents + +By John Farrar + + + + +Dedication + + + + +Here's a rhyme for Barbara, + Laughing white and pink, +Here's a rhyme for smiling Ted, + And one for Wink. + +Now Dick's not much at reading rhymes, + He'd rather sit and fish. +Well here's a couple of verses, Dick, + Read them if you wish! + + + + + +Contents + + + +Dedication + + +SONGS OF DESIRE + +Summer Explorer +Spring Wish +Ambition +Dreams +Water-Lily +Humor +Independence + + +SONGS FOR OUT OF DOORS + +A Comparison +Speculation +Parade +Flower Preferences +Parental Advice +Song for a Child Watching Clouds +Problem +Garden Musings +My Garden +Tracks +Chanticleer +Rainbow +Windmill +Cat-Fish +Visiting +Castles +Parenthood + + +SONGS OF CIRCUMSTANCE + +Moral Song +Serious Omission +Choice +Natural Fireworks +Conspiracy +Cuckoo Clock +The Sentinel +Royalty +Crackers +The Drum +Theatricals +Sally + + +SONGS FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE + +Bundles +The Candy Santa Claus +The Tinsel Star +The Ambitious Mouse +Prayer + + + + +SONGS OF DESIRE + + + + +Summer Explorer + + +I'd like to be a gypsy +With gold rings in my ears, +Along the road to sit and sing, +And not do another thing +For years and years; + +A road to dream upon by day, +A fire for dreams at night, +Free to wander far away, +Free to shout and free to play, +Quite impolite. + +I'd pitch my tent beside a wall, +All apple trees within, +And if the apples didn't fall, +I wouldn't hesitate at all. +I'd climb--and sin! + +But if the weather wasn't fine, +If all the world were rain, +If there weren't anywhere to dine +And goose-flesh quivered up my spine-- +I _might_ come home again! + + + +Spring Wish + + +A frog's a very happy thing, +Cool and green in early spring, +Quick and silver through the pool, +With no thought of books or school. + +Oh, I want to be a frog, +Sunning, stretching on a log, +Blinking there in splendid ease, +Swimming naked when I please, +Nosing into magic nooks, +Quiet marshes, noisy brooks. + +Free! And fit for anything! +Oh, to be a frog in spring! + + + +Ambition + + +If I were a rocket +Shot high across the night, +I'd rather burst in silver stars +Than green or purple light; + +For then, perhaps, I'd fool the moon, +Although she's very wise, +And thinking me a baby star +She'd keep me in the skies. + + + +Dreams + + +I'd like to dream my own dreams, +Instead of dreaming those +The silly sandman brings along +Like moving picture shows. + +I'd like to dream of palaces, +Of magic meadowlands, +Of silver gates and golden thrones +And chanting fairy bands; + +Of seas of spraying jewels, +Of dancing crystal ships, +Of the queen of all the elves herself-- +Two rubies for her lips; + +But, alas! I never dream such things, +And when I jump and wake +As an oozy ogre clutches me-- +It's just a stomach ache! + + + +Water-Lily + + +I'd like to be a water-lily sleeping on the river, +Where solemn rushes whisper, and funny ripples quiver. +All day I'd watch the blue sky--all night I'd watch the black, +Floating in the soft waves, dreaming on my back, +And when I'd tired of dreaming, I'd call a passing fish, +"I want to find the sea!" I'd shout, "Come! You can grant my wish!" + +He'd bite me from my moorings, and softly I would slip +To the center of the river like an ocean-going ship. +The waves would laugh upon me. The wind would blow me fast, +And oh, what shores and wonders would greet me as I passed! +Yes, if I were a water-lily, I'd sail to sea in state-- +A green frog for my captain--and a dragon-fly for mate! + + + +Humor + + +Have you ever watched the clowns at play, +White, red and black on circus day? +They're always very, very gay. +I wonder how they stay that way! + +I'd like to be a clown, +Playing tricks around the town, +Turning somersaults and springs, +As if they were easy things, +Laughing morning, noon and night, +Being such a funny sight! + +Do you think, then, I'd grow tired of fun, +Laughing so from sun to sun? +Or, when performances are done, +Do clown-folk cry like anyone? + + + +Independence + + +I like to go out in the night +When there's neither a sound nor a light, +With my hands and feet bare, +And the wind in my hair, +Not a nurse nor a parent in sight; + +But only the night, moon and me +As I dance in the dew joyfully, +Quite daring and bold +For there's no one to scold, +Because there is no one to see. + + + + + +SONGS FOR OUT OF DOORS + + + + +A Comparison + + +Apple blossoms look like snow, +They're different, though. +Snow falls softly, but it brings +Noisy things: +Sleighs and bells, forts and fights, +Cosy nights. + +But apple blossoms when they go, +White and slow, +Quiet all the orchard space, +Till the place +Hushed with falling sweetness seems +Filled with dreams. + + + +Speculation + + +I wonder if God sits alone +Upon the highest mountain stone +To stir the clouds and drop the rain, +And then to pick it up again. + +I wonder if he sends the brooks +Foaming from their distant nooks, +And, sitting there in robes of gray, +Turns rivers on at break of day. + + + +Parade + + +The scarlet trumpet flowers are gay +And yet they never seem to play, +They never trumpet up the dawn +Nor blow retreat across the lawn. + +But oh, to-day I heard a strain, +A happy, martial, quick refrain, +As down across the garden grass +I saw the marching flowers pass: + +Gaudy phlox and flaunting rose, +Stiff and straight and on their toes, +And, blaring from the garden wall, +The trumpet flower led them all. + + + +Flower Preferences + + +If I were a tiny fairy + With nothing else to do +But to wriggle into flowers + All the long day through, + +I'd dance among the roses, + I'd take a stately walk, +Balancing precisely + On an Easter-lily stalk. + +For play I'd choose the jonquils, + For swimming, poppy cups, +For jokes and tricks and tiny naps, + The Johnny-jump-ups! + +But on some quiet evening, + I'd leave my fairy band, +And on a star-flower through the sky + I'd sail to fairyland. + + + +Parental Advice + + +Who laid the egg that hatched the moon? +Was it the earth, I wonder, +Was it the sun, the clouds, or rain, +Was it night or thunder? + +If I were mother to the moon +I'd spank her every day +Until she learned to stay at home +And _never_ run away! + + + +Song for a Child Watching Clouds + + +I've watched the clouds by day and night, +Great fleecy ones all filled with light, +Gray beasts that steal across the sky, +And little fellows slipping by. + +Sometimes they seem like sheep at play, +Sometimes when they are dull and gray +The pale sun seems a ship to me, +Sailing through a rolling sea; + +And I've seen faces in them too, +Funny white men on the blue, +They look so many different ways, +And not one single cloudlet stays; + +But on across the heavens they blow, +I often wonder where they go, +Now sometime, maybe when I die, +I, too, will wander through the sky. + + + +Problem + + +If I were a violet I'd think it a shame +To be always so simple and modest and tame, +To be hidden away like a hermit or nun +While the hare-brained pink roses can dance in the sun! +But consider the naughty wild ways of the rose-- +There _must_ be _respectable_ flowers, I suppose! + + + +Garden Musings + + +Why is the lily so stately and still? +Why doesn't she dance like the gay daffodil? +Why doesn't she blush like the rose or the pink, +Or, like mischievous pansy, indulge in a wink? +Do you think it's because she is holier than they, +Or did God just decide he would make her that way? + + + +My Garden + + +My garden was silly and stubborn; + I worked, but the weeds worked, too; +I dug and scraped and scrambled-- + They hustled themselves and grew; + +Now Ted's garden's fine and cleanly, + He has lettuce and roses and peas-- +Oh, most probably plants are like children-- + They only behave when they please! + + + +Tracks + + +I wonder where the rabbits go +Who leave their tracks across the snow; +For when I follow to their den +The tracks always start out again. + + + +Chanticleer + + +High and proud on the barnyard fence +Walks rooster in the morning. +He shakes his comb, he shakes his tail +And gives his daily warning. + +"Get up, you lazy boys and girls, +It's time you should be dressing!" +I wonder if he keeps a clock, +Or if he's only guessing. + + + +Rainbow + + +The rainbow comes across the hill, +It shines upon the sky, until +It frightens all the tears from rain, +And then it hides itself again. + +Now when I'm very tired of play +I'll cross that rainbow bridge some day; +And while dear nurse and father scold, +I'll reach the end--and find the gold! + + + +Windmill + + +The windmill stands up like a flower on the hill +With its petals a-whirling--they seldom stay still-- +And its funny old voice creaking all the long day +As it scolds little breezes for running away. + + + +Cat-Fish + + +The cat-fish with whiskers that lives in the brook, +Is an ugly old beast with the wickedest look. +I suppose there were mouse-fish one time in brook town +Till that ugly old cat-fish gulped all of them down. + + + +Visiting + + +You and I shall travel far, +We'll pass the old earth by, +We'll ride the moon and drive a star +Across the evening sky. + +We'll flash upon the milky way +To pay Dame Night a call-- +But should we happen on old Day-- +We'd fall and fall and fall. + + + +Castles + + +I used to build me castles of moisty sand and shells, +And dream they were for princesses who wove me magic spells; +But yesterday along the beach my fairy princess came-- +And she's too big for castles--now isn't that a shame! + + + +Parenthood + + +The birches that dance on the top of the hill +Are so slender and young that they cannot keep still, +They bend and they nod at each whiff of a breeze, +For you see they are still just the children of trees. + +But the birches below in the valley are older, +They are calmer and straighter and taller and colder. +Perhaps when we've grown up as solemn and grave, +We, too, will have children who do not behave! + + + + + +SONGS OF CIRCUMSTANCE + + + + +Moral Song + + +Oh, so cool +In his deep green pool +Was a frog on a log one day! +He would blink his eyes +As he snapped at flies, + For his mother was away, + _For his mother was away!_ + +Now that naughty frog +Left his own home log +And started out to play. +He flipped and he flopped +And he never stopped + Till he reached the great blue bay, + _Till he reached the great blue bay!_ + +Alas, with a swish +Came a mighty fish, +And swallowed him where he lay. +Now it's things like this +That never miss + Little frogs who don't obey, + _Little frogs who don't obey!_ + + + +Serious Omission + + +I know that there are dragons, +St. George's, Jason's, too, +And many modern dragons +With scales of green and blue; + +But though I've been there many times +And carefully looked through, +I can't find a dragon +In the cages at the zoo! + + + +Choice + + +If I had just one penny + On the Fourth of July, +Oh, what a problem it would be + To think what I should buy! + +With lollypops and fire-works, + With cakes and whiz-bangs, too, +With tops and candy cigarettes, + Whatever should I do? + +Torpedoes have a splendid noise, + But noise is quickly past, +And the sweetness of a lollypop + Is something that will last. + + + +Natural Fireworks + + +The fireflies in the valley +Are having their display +Among the river willows +Like little bits of day! + +Come, light your silver sparkler +And wave it in the air. +Go dance among the willows +And sprinkle sparkles there. + +Then, oh, the world will wonder +To see the willows shine, +And even the fireflies will not know +Their tiny sparks from mine. + + + +Conspiracy + + +The sun has a face that is laughing and red +When nurse pulls me out in the morning from bed; +But he's not half so sly as the silly old moon, +Who winks when I'm sent to my bedroom too soon. + + + +Cuckoo Clock + + +The cuckoo in the clock by day +Is usually very gay; +And that's because, with people near, +There's not a thing for him to fear; + +But when the sitting room is dim +And no one's there to welcome him-- +How tremblingly he must come out +To flap his wings and look about. + +Why! Only just the other night +The cuckoo stopped the clock from fright! + + + +The Sentinel + + +I'm only a little toy dough-boy, +And I have neither sorrows nor fears; +But I patiently wait, +With my gun pointed straight +And my helmet pulled down on my ears. + +The ugly wood lions and tigers +May show their white teeth if they please, +If the whole Noah's ark +Should threaten and bark +It wouldn't unstiffen my knees. + +And some day when you are a soldier +With your helmet pulled down on your ears +I'll still be as straight +As I wonder and wait, +Standing my watch through the years. + + + +Royalty + + +If I should meet a king or queen +Upon the street some day, +Do you think that I'd be frightened? +Why, I'd know just what to say. + +"Your reverend majesties," I'd say, +And humbly bow the knee, +"I am your very humble swain, +And will you honor me?" + +The king would strike my shoulder +With a sword of passing might, +He'd lift me grandly to my feet, +He'd say, "Arise, O Knight!" + +Oh, I would not be frightened, +For I've seen kings galore, +Don't you think it's just to learn of them +That playing cards are for? + + + +Crackers + + +Oh, there are very many kinds +Of crackers, great and small, +Saltines and ginger-snaps and such, +I'd like to eat them all; + +But there's a kind of cracker +That I _need much worse,_ +A bright red giant cracker +To set off under nurse! + + + +The Drum + + +The drum's a very quiet fellow +When he's left alone; +But oh, how he does roar and bellow, +Rattle, snap and groan, +Clatter, spatter, dash and patter, +Rumble, shriek and moan +Whene'er I take my sticks in hand +And beat him soundly for the band. + + + +Theatricals + + +Now I'll play at being queen, + Hold my head quite stiff and haughty, + Always proud and never naughty, +Sweeping grandly down the green. + +Or I'll be a moonlight fairy, + Bobbing lightly on the river, + Dancing where the shadows quiver, +Winged and shining, swift and wary. + +If the doctor thinks I'm sick, + He's just silly. _I am not!_ + I'm just tired and very hot, +Hating drink that's sweet and thick. + +Flowers dance across the walls, + Mother's face seems far away, + She's the audience, I'm the play, +She will clap for curtain calls. + +No!--I do not want to play! + Seven thrones around my bed, + Circling gold about my head-- +Angels always fly away! + + + +Sally + + +If I were a stately sailboat, +I'd sail to Zanzibar, +I'd sail the seven secret seas, +Where the secret cities are, +And some day I'd be sailing with the wind before my prow, +And all the mermaids of the sea would clamber up the bow. +They'd beckon me with laughter, +They'd beckon me with smiles, +They'd show me cakes and candies +In half a dozen styles, +They'd promise me a life of ease +Eating sweets beneath the seas, +They'd promise me a life of play-- +A never ending holiday; +But I would say quite plainly, +And, oh, how stern I'd look! +Do you think that you can tempt me +While Sally is our cook? + +If I were a little fire balloon +I'd float aloft to Mars, +I'd pay a call on Venus +And chatter with the stars, +And just as I'd be fluttering across the yellow moon, +The angels would come singing a solemn Sunday tune. +They'd beckon to me gravely, +They'd tell me I could stay, +They'd show me all the jewels +That pave the milky way. +They'd promise me a golden crown +And silver robes like eider-down, +They'd give me harps with shiny strings +And wonderfully fluffy wings; +BUT--I would tell them plainly +I didn't want to die-- +Till all the angel cooks had learned +How Sally makes mince pie! + + + + + +SONGS FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE + + + + +Bundles + + +A bundle is a funny thing, +It always sets me wondering; +For whether it is thin or wide +You never know just what's inside. + +Especially on Christmas week, +Temptation is so great to peek! +Now wouldn't it be much more fun +If shoppers carried things undone? + + + +The Candy Santa Claus + + +I'm very fond of candles +With their quaint coquettish way, +But alas! I wooed too often, +And now my life's to pay. + +They knew I was important +When they decked the Christmas tree, +Yes, they hung me on the tip-top +For all the world to see. + +But, alas! A lady candle +Has come with me to the top, +And I'm melting with affection, +I'm dying drop by drop. + + + +The Tinsel Star + + +I'm just a shiny tinsel star, +Boxed all the time as such things are, +And only used just once a year, +Oh, life is very dull and drear! + +A real star has far fields to roam, +A tinsel star must stay at home. +It is a terrible vexation +To be a silly imitation! + + + +The Ambitious Mouse + + +If all the world were candy +And the sky were frosted cake, +Oh, it would be a splendid job +For a mouse to undertake! + +To eat a path of sweetmeats +Through candy forest aisles-- +Explore the land of Pepper-mint +Stretched out for miles and miles. + +To gobble up a cloudlet, +A little cup-cake star, +To swim a lake of liquid sweet +With shores of chocolate bar. + +But, best of all the eating, +Would be the toothsome fat, +Triumphant hour of mouse-desire, +To eat a candy cat! + + + +Prayer + + +Last night I crept across the snow, +Where only tracking rabbits go, +And then I waited quite alone +Until the Christmas radiance shone! + +At midnight twenty angels came, +Each white and shining like a flame. +At midnight twenty angels sang, +The stars swung out like bells and rang. + +They lifted me across the hill, +They bore me in their arms until +A greater glory greeted them. +It was the town of Bethlehem. + +And gently, then, they set me down, +All worshipping that holy town, +And gently, then, they bade me raise +My head to worship and to praise. + +And gently, then, the Christ smiled down. +Ah, there was glory in that town! +It was as if the world were free +And glistening with purity. + +And in that vault of crystal blue, +It was as if the world were new, +And myriad angels, file on file, +Glorified in the Christ-child's smile. + +It was so beautiful to see +Such glory, for a child like me, +So beautiful, it does not seem +It could have been a Christmas dream. + + + + + +About the author: + + +John Chipman Farrar (1896-1974), late of the New York publishing +firm of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, attended Yale University where +his poem "Portraits" was the Yale University Prize Poem in 1916. +After serving during the First World War as an intelligence officer +with the U.S. Air Service, Farrar returned to Yale and graduated in 1919. +His first book "Forgotten Shrines" was published late that same year as +the second volume of the Yale Series of Younger Poets, reprinted in 1971, +over half a century later. + +After graduation, Farrar turned to publishing and literary criticism, +editing George H. Doran Company's periodical "The Bookman". Between +1927 and 1929, Farrar was editor at Doubleday, Doran and Company. +In mid-1929, he and two sons of the famous mystery writer Mary Robert +Rinehart started the publishing firm if Farrar and Rinehart, Inc. +His connection with that firm lasted until 1945, although he was +absent during the war years assisting in U.S. government psychological +war efforts. Farrar and Rinehart was later absorbed by Henry Holt. + +As a young editor in New York, Farrar volunteered in 1922 for the +organizing committee of an American chapter of PEN (originally Poets, +Essayists and Novelists) founded in England the year before by Sappho +(Amy Dawson Scott) to foster support of visiting foreign writers. +PEN grew quickly to become an international advocate for freedom of +expression and continues its activism to this day. (See http://www.pen.org) + +After the Second World War, the American chapter of PEN foundered for +lack of direction. Farrar, co-principal of the newly formed publishing +house of Farrar, Straus and Company, now Farrar, Straus and Giroux, +stepped in to refocus its energies and recruit dozens of new members. +He served as president twice, once from 1951-1953 and again from 1963-1965. + +In his roles as both and editor and a publisher, Farrar had a lasting +impact on literature through the years. Farrar, Straus & Giroux +has published many Nobel Laureates (20 as of 1995) and dozens of +distinguished poets and authors. It is my privilege to reprint +this etext of some of his own work for posterity. + + +- Stewart A. Levin + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of Songs for Parents, by John Farrar + diff --git a/old/sfpar11.zip b/old/sfpar11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0c3eee --- /dev/null +++ b/old/sfpar11.zip |