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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Child Songs of Cheer, by Evaleen Stein
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Child Songs of Cheer
+
+Author: Evaleen Stein
+
+Illustrator: Antoinette Inglis
+
+Release Date: September 27, 2006 [EBook #19389]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILD SONGS OF CHEER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sankar Viswanathan, and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                      [Illustration: DANDELIONS]
+
+           Dandelions, dandelions, shining through the dew,
+           Let the Kings have Cloth of Gold, but let _us_ have _you_!
+
+
+
+
+                         CHILD SONGS OF CHEER
+
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                            EVALEEN STEIN
+
+
+
+                           ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+
+                          ANTOINETTE INGLIS
+
+
+
+
+                                BOSTON
+
+                      LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
+
+                       Published, August, 1918
+
+
+
+                           COPYRIGHT, 1918,
+                    BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+    _Dear Children, all the little words
+      These printed pages through,
+    They are a flock of little birds
+      I bring to sing to you.
+
+    Sometimes they sing of foolish things,
+      And other times they try
+    To tell their gladness when their wings
+      Soar up to seek the sky.
+
+    So, Sweethearts, do but kindly hark!
+      If but a sparrow throng,
+    Or if among them there's a lark,
+      To you their songs belong!_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+Up, Little Ones!
+
+Dandelions
+
+Our Puppies
+
+The Lost Balloon
+
+The Circus Procession
+
+May-Baskets
+
+The Picture-Book Giant
+
+Did You Ever?
+
+Decoration Day
+
+Chu-Chu Cars
+
+Fairy Rings
+
+The Firefly
+
+A Rain Song
+
+Fairies
+
+The Little Fir-Trees
+
+The Wren-House
+
+The Baby's Ride
+
+An Indian Raid
+
+The First Sleigh-Ride
+
+Sleepy Time
+
+When Bettie and Anne Went Walking
+
+The Bluebird
+
+The Organ-Grinder
+
+The New Moon
+
+Showery Time
+
+Easter Day
+
+The Sandman
+
+Dandelion Curls
+
+Pop-Corn
+
+The Rash Little Sparrow
+
+What If?
+
+Easter Eggs
+
+The Birds' Bath
+
+November Morning
+
+The Runaway
+
+Lost!
+
+The Queen's Page
+
+Our Tree-Toad
+
+In the Water-World
+
+Who Was It?
+
+Visiting Day
+
+A Valentine to Catherine
+
+Fireflies
+
+The Rainy Day
+
+The First Red-Bird
+
+The Weather-Vane
+
+The Swan
+
+Baby's Baking
+
+A Sure Sign
+
+Another Sure Sign
+
+The Robin's Bath
+
+The Frosted Pane
+
+The First Snow
+
+Grandfather Knows
+
+Sleigh-Bells
+
+The Red-Bird
+
+Wild Beasts
+
+Wherefore Wings?
+
+Basking
+
+With a May-Basket for Baby Agnes
+
+The Little Nest
+
+Christmas Candles
+
+A Song of the Christmas-Tree
+
+Our Kittens
+
+In July
+
+A Valentine to a Little Child
+
+Zip!
+
+A Little Carol
+
+Song
+
+The Three Candles
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Illustrations
+
+
+DANDELIONS
+
+Dandelions, dandelions, shining through the dew,
+Let the kings have Cloth of Gold, but let _us_
+have _you_!                                   _Frontispiece_
+
+FAIRY RINGS
+
+See them dancing, dancing,
+While the silver moon
+Tips their swiftly glancing
+Little silver shoon!
+
+THE BIRDS' BATH
+
+When the sun shines warm and high
+Robins cluster round its brink
+
+CHRISTMAS CANDLES
+
+We can tell Him of our love
+If we set a light for Him
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Child Songs of Cheer
+
+UP, LITTLE ONES!
+
+
+    A robin redbreast, fluting there
+      Upon the apple-bough,
+    Is telling all the world how fair
+      Are apple-blossoms now;
+    The honey-dew its sweetness spills
+      From cuckoo-cups, and all
+    The crocuses and daffodils
+      Are drest for festival!
+
+    Such pretty things are to be seen,
+      Such pleasant things to do,
+    The April earth it is so green,
+      The April sky so blue,
+    The path from dawn to even-song
+      So joyous is to-day,
+    Up, little ones! and dance along
+      The lilac-scented way!
+
+
+
+
+DANDELIONS
+
+
+    Hey-a-day-a-day, my dear! Dandelion time!
+    Come, and let us make for them a pretty little rhyme!
+
+    See the meadows twinkling now, beautiful and bright
+    As the sky when through the blue shine the stars at night!
+
+    Once upon a time, folks say, mighty kings of old
+    Met upon a splendid field called "The Cloth of Gold."
+
+    But, we wonder, could it be there was ever seen
+    Brighter gold than glitters now in our meadows green?
+
+    Dandelions, dandelions, shining through the dew,
+    Let the kings have Cloth of Gold, but let _us_ have _you_!
+
+
+
+
+OUR PUPPIES
+
+
+    Little ears as soft as silk,
+    Little teeth as white as milk,
+    Little noses cool and pink,
+    Little eyes that blink and blink,
+    Little bodies round and fat,
+    Little hearts that pit-a-pat,
+    Surely prettier puppies never
+    Were before nor can be ever!
+
+
+
+
+THE LOST BALLOON
+
+
+    O dear! my purple toy balloon
+    Has flown away! and very soon
+    It will be high up as the moon!
+
+    And don't you think the man up there
+    Will wonder what it is, and stare?
+    Perhaps hell say, "_Well, I declare!_"
+
+    Or, maybe if it chance there are
+    Some little boys in yonder star,
+    And if it floats away so far,
+
+    Perhaps they'll jump up very high
+    And catch the cord as it goes by!
+    At any rate I hope they'll try!
+
+
+
+
+THE CIRCUS PROCESSION
+
+
+    _Oh, hurry! hurry!_ here they come,
+    The band in front with the big bass drum
+    And blaring bugles,--there they are,
+    On golden thrones in a golden car,
+    Tooting and fluting, oh, how grand!
+                Hi diddle, diddle!
+                The fife and the fiddle!
+    _Hurrah, hurrah_ for the circus band!
+
+    And the red-plumed horses, oh, see them prance
+    And daintily lift their hoofs and dance,
+    While beautiful ladies with golden curls
+    Are jingling their bridles of gold and pearls,
+                And close behind
+                Come every kind
+    Of animal cages great and small,
+    O how I wonder what's in them all!
+
+    Here's one that's open and glaring there
+    Is the shaggiest snow-white polar bear!
+    _Woof!_ but I wonder what we'd do
+    If his bars broke loose right now, don't you?
+                And O dear me!
+                Just look and see
+    That pink-cheeked lady in skirts of gauze
+    And the great big lion with folded paws!
+                O me! O my!
+                I'm glad that I
+    Am not in that lion's cage, because
+    _Suppose he'd open his horrible jaws!_
+    --But look! the clown is coming! Of course
+    Facing the tail of a spotted horse
+    And shouting out things to make folks laugh,
+    And grinning up at the tall giraffe
+    That placidly paces along and looks
+    Just like giraffes in the picture-books!
+
+    And there are the elephants, two and two,
+    Lumbering on as they always do!
+    The men who lead them look so small
+    I wonder the elephants mind at all
+                As they wag their queer
+                Long trunks, and peer
+    Through their beady eyes,--folks say they know
+    No end of things, and I'm sure it's so!
+    And you never must do a thing that's bad
+    Or that possibly might make an elephant mad,
+    For he'll never forgive you, it appears,
+    And will punish you sure, if it takes him _years!_
+                So do not stare
+                But take good care
+    To mind your manners, and always try
+    To smile politely as they go by!
+
+    But the camels don't care if you laugh at them
+    With their bumpy humps like a capital M,
+                They lurch and sway
+                And seem to say,
+    As they wrinkle their noses, long and gray,
+    "This swaggering stride is quite the plan,
+    It's the way we walked in the caravan!"
+
+    And now more cages come rumbling by
+    With glittering people throned on high;
+    So many spangles and precious things,
+    They surely must all be queens and kings!
+                They look so proud
+                Above the crowd,
+    O my, how fine it must feel to ride
+    On golden wagons that hide inside
+    Strange animals caught in cannibal isles
+    And brought in ships for a million miles!
+                But hark! it's near
+                The end, for hear
+    That sudden screeching in piercing key!
+    The steaming, screaming _cal-li-o-pe_!
+    Just plain pianos sound terribly tame
+    Beside this one with the wonderful name,
+    And wouldn't you love some day to sit
+    In a circus wagon and play on it?
+
+
+
+
+MAY-BASKETS
+
+
+    Let us take our baskets early
+      To the meadows green,
+    While the wild-flowers still are pearly
+      With the dewdrops' sheen.
+
+    Fill them full of blossoms rosy,
+      Violets and gay
+    Cowslips, every pretty posy
+      Welcoming the May.
+
+    Then our lovely loads we'll carry
+      Down the village street,
+    On each door, with laughter merry,
+      Hang a basket sweet.
+
+    Hey-a-day-day! It is spring now,
+      Lazy folks, awake!
+    See the pretty things we bring now
+      For the May-day's sake!
+
+
+
+
+THE PICTURE-BOOK GIANT
+
+
+    Once there was a fierce, defiant,
+    Greedy, grumpy, grizzly giant
+      In the pages of a picture-book, and he
+    Sometimes screamed, in sudden rages,
+    "I must jump out from these pages,
+      For this life's a much too humdrum one for me!
+                  Fiddle-dee!
+      Yes, this life's a quite too quiet one for me!"
+
+    So one rainy day he did it,
+    Took the picture-book and hid it,
+      Stamped his foot, and shouting loudly,
+          "Now I'm free!"
+    Boldly started out, forgetting
+    That he could not stand a wetting!
+    He was just a paper giant, don't you see?
+              Dearie me!
+    Just a gaudy, picture giant, don't you see?
+
+
+
+
+DID YOU EVER?
+
+
+    Did you ever see a fairy in a rose-leaf coat and cap
+    Swinging in a cobweb hammock as he napped his noonday nap?
+
+    Did you ever see one waken very thirsty and drink up
+    All the honey-dew that glimmered in a golden buttercup?
+
+    Did you ever see one fly away on rainbow-twinkling wings?
+    If you did not, why, how comes it that you never see such things?
+
+
+
+
+DECORATION DAY
+
+
+    See the soldiers, little ones!
+      Hark the drummers' beat!
+    See them with their flags and guns
+      Marching down the street!
+
+    Tattered flags from out the wars,
+      Let us follow these
+    To the little stripes and stars
+      Twinkling through the trees.
+
+    Watch them waving through the grass
+      Where the heroes sleep!
+    Thither gently let us pass
+      On this day we keep.
+
+    Let us bring our blossoms, too,
+      All our gardens grow;
+    Lilacs honey-sweet with dew,
+      And the lilies' snow.
+
+    Every posy of the May,
+      Every bloomy stem,
+    Every bud that breaks to-day
+      Gather now for them.
+
+    Lay the lilies o'er them thus,
+      Lovingly, for so
+    Down they laid their lives for us,
+      Long and long ago.
+
+    Heap above them bud and bough;
+      Softly, ere we cease,
+    God, we pray Thee, gently now
+      Fold them in Thy peace!
+
+
+
+
+CHU-CHU CARS
+
+
+    Turn the chairs down in a row
+    Each behind the other, so;
+    _Chu-chu! Chu-chu!_ there they are,
+    Passenger and baggage-car,
+    _Chu-chu-chu!_ the Morris chair
+    Is the engine puffing there,
+    _Chu-chu! Chu-chu! Ting-a-ling!_
+    Don't you hear its big bell ring?
+    All aboard! Jump on! if you
+    Want to take this train. _Chu-chu!!_
+    Off we start now, rushing fast
+    Through the fields and valleys, past
+    Noisy cities, over bridges,
+    Hills and plains and mountain ridges,
+    _Chu-chu! Chu-chu! Chu-chu-chu!!_
+    At such speed it must be true
+    Since we started we have come
+    Most a million miles from home!
+    Jump off, some one! Quick! and go
+    To the pantry, for, you know,
+    We must have the cookie-jar
+    For our Pullman dining-car!
+
+
+
+
+FAIRY RINGS
+
+
+    Softly in the gloaming
+      Flitting through the vale,
+    Fairy folk are roaming
+      Over hill and dale.
+
+    Pixies in the hollow,
+      Elves upon the height,
+    Let us follow, follow
+      Through the paling light.
+
+    Follow, all unbidden,
+      To the grassy glade
+    Wrapped around and hidden
+      In the forest shade.
+
+    Hark the elfin tinkle
+      Of their little lutes!
+    Mark the golden twinkle
+      Of their fairy flutes!
+
+[Illustration: FAIRY RINGS]
+
+    See them dancing, dancing,
+      While the silver moon
+    Tips their swiftly glancing
+      Little silver shoon!
+
+    Tripping, tripping lightly,
+      Where their footprints fall,
+    Look! the grass is brightly
+      Growing green and tall!
+
+    Springing close, unbroken,
+      In a fairy ring,
+    For to-morrow's token
+      Of their frolicking!
+
+
+
+
+THE FIREFLY
+
+
+    Flash and flicker and fly away,
+      Trailing light as you flutter far,
+    Are you a lamp for the fairies, say?
+      Or a flake of fire from a falling star?
+
+
+
+
+A RAIN SONG
+
+
+              Tinkle, tinkle,
+                Lightly fall
+      On the peach buds, pink and small;
+    Tip the tiny grass, and twinkle
+      On the clover, green and tall.
+
+              Tinkle, tinkle,--
+                Faster now,
+      Little rain-drops, smite and sprinkle
+    Cherry-bloom and apple-bough!
+    Pelt the elms, and show them how
+              You can dash!
+                And splash! splash! splash!
+    While the thunder rolls and mutters,
+      And the lightnings flash and flash!
+              Then eddy into curls
+              Of a million misty swirls,
+    And thread the air with silver, and embroider it with pearls!
+
+    And patter, patter, patter
+    To a quicker time, and clatter
+      On the streaming window-pane;
+              Rain, rain,
+                On the leaves,
+                  And the eaves,
+      And the turning weather-vane!
+
+    Rush in torrents from the tip
+    Of the gable-peak, and drip
+      In the garden-bed, and fill
+        All the cuckoo-cups, and pour
+              More and more
+      In the tulip-bowls, and still
+                Overspill
+      In a crystal tide until
+      Every yellow daffodil
+    Is flooded to its golden rim, and brimming o'er and o'er!
+
+    Then as gently as the low
+      Muffled whir of robin wings,
+      Or a sweep of silver strings,
+                Even so,
+        Take your airy April flight
+        Through the merry April light,
+    And melt into a mist of rainy music as you go!
+
+
+
+
+FAIRIES
+
+
+    Grandfather says that sometimes,
+      When stars are twinkling and
+    A new moon shines, there come times
+      When folks see fairy-land!
+
+    So when there's next a new moon,
+      I mean to watch all night!
+    Grandfather says a blue moon
+      Is best for fairy light,
+
+    And in a peach-bloom, maybe,
+      If I look I shall see
+    A little fairy baby
+      No bigger than a bee!
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE FIR-TREES
+
+
+    Hey! little evergreens,
+      Sturdy and strong!
+    Summer and autumn time
+      Hasten along;
+    Harvest the sunbeams, then,
+      Bind them in sheaves,
+    Range them, and change them
+      To tufts of green leaves.
+    Delve in the mellow mold,
+      Far, far below,
+            And so,
+      Little evergreens, grow!
+            Grow, grow!
+    Grow, little evergreens, grow!
+
+    Up, up so airily
+      To the blue sky,
+    Lift up your leafy tips
+      Stately and high;
+    Clasp tight your tiny cones,
+      Tawny and brown;
+    By and by, buffeting
+      Rains will pelt down;
+    By and by, bitterly
+      Chill winds will blow;
+            And so,
+      Little evergreens, grow!
+            Grow, grow!
+    Grow, little evergreens, grow!
+
+    Gather all uttermost
+      Beauty, because,--
+    Hark, till I tell it now!
+      How Santa Claus,
+    Out of the northern land,
+      Over the seas,
+    Soon shall come seeking you,
+      Evergreen trees!
+    Seek you with reindeer soon,
+      Over the snow;
+            And so,
+      Little evergreens, grow!
+            Grow, grow!
+    Grow, little evergreens, grow!
+
+    What if the maples flare
+      Flaunting and red,
+    You shall wear waxen white
+      Tapers instead!
+    What if now, otherwhere,
+      Birds are beguiled,
+    You shall yet nestle
+      The little Christ-child!
+    Ah! the strange splendor
+      The fir-trees shall know!
+            And so,
+      Little evergreens, grow!
+            Grow, grow!
+    Grow, little evergreens, grow!
+
+
+
+
+THE WREN-HOUSE
+
+
+    Yesterday I took my saw
+      And some bits of wood,
+    And I made a little house
+      Nicely as I could.
+
+    I put on a mossy-green
+      Little pointed roof,
+    And I cut a tiny door
+      That is pussy-proof.
+
+    For I hope some little wrens
+      To our yard will come
+    And will choose my little house
+      For their little home.
+
+    I shall hang it in the boughs
+      Of the apple-tree,
+    And I'm sure as rent for it
+      They will sing to me!
+
+
+
+
+THE BABY'S RIDE
+
+
+    Chee! Chee! Chickadee!
+      Sing-time and sun!
+    Aye, aye, baby-bye,
+      Springtime has begun!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    In the little willow cart,
+      On a downy bed,
+    Pretty parasol of silk
+      Swinging overhead,
+
+    Let us go along the lane
+      Where a baby sees
+    Mighty tufts of grass, and weeds
+      Tall as forest trees!
+
+    Bluebird on the apple-bough,
+      Sing and sing and sing!
+    Sing your very sweetest now
+      For babyhood and spring!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    "Bah! Bah!" from the pasture,
+      And "Caw! Caw!" from the crow,
+    And bleating from the little calf
+      That has not learned to low.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Apple-buds, apple-buds breaking apart,
+      The baby looks upward with love-laden gaze;
+    Oh, shower some petals down here in his cart,
+      One honey-sweet cluster of pretty pink sprays!
+
+    Apple-buds, apple-buds, scornful and too
+      Vain of your loveliness, stay where you are!
+    The cheeks of the baby are pinker than you,
+      And finer and softer and sweeter by far!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    See the pretty little lambs,
+      How they frisk and play!
+    See their silky fleeces shine
+      White as buds in May!
+
+    White as are the fleecy clouds
+      Softly blowing by--
+    What if they were little lambs
+      Playing in the sky?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Robin on the peach-bough,
+      Swinging overhead,
+    Sing a little song and say
+      Why is your breast so red?
+
+    Why is your voice so sweet, and
+      Your song so merry, say?
+    And wherefore do you spread your wings
+      And quickly fly away?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Ho, ho! see the queer little prints there
+      That cover the road, baby, look!
+    At the web-footed tangle that hints where
+      The ducks have gone down to the brook!
+
+    The Muscovy mammas that waddled
+      Zigzag, you can trace in their tracks,
+    And the dear little ducklings that toddled
+      And tumbled sometimes on their backs!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Buttercup, buttercup, buttercup gold,
+    O give us a handful of riches to hold!
+
+    Ho, ho! laughs the baby, and grasps in his glee
+    His wealth, but soon shows what a spend-thrift is he!
+    --Nay, nay, he is king, though he never was crowned,
+    And royally scatters his gold on the ground!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Bough of the willow-tree
+      Over the brook,
+    Down darts a kingfisher,
+      Look, baby, look!
+
+    Back on the willow-bough,
+      Fishing is done;
+    Happy and nappy now
+      There in the sun.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Happy and nappy the baby is, too,
+    Softly his eyelids droop over the blue,
+    Golden his curls on the white pillow lie,
+    Sleep, baby, sleep, baby, hush-a-by-bye.
+
+
+
+
+AN INDIAN RAID
+
+
+    Did you see some Indians passing,
+      Just a short while back?
+    Looks as if they must be massing
+      For a fierce attack!
+
+    Buckskin fringes, turkey-feather
+      Huge head-dresses and
+    Bows and arrows, altogether
+      Quite a frightful band!
+
+    From the lilac-bushes springing,
+      See them rushing! Ugh!
+    Awful war-whoops wildly ringing!
+      There'll be scalping, too!
+
+    In their fearful frenzy leaping,
+      It is very plain
+    Soon around us they'll be heaping
+      Mountains of the slain!
+
+    Soon their victims will be falling--
+      But, above the noise,
+    Hark! I hear somebody calling,
+      "Come to dinner, boys!"
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST SLEIGH-RIDE
+
+
+    O happy time of fleecy rime
+      And falling flakes, and O
+    The glad surprise in baby eyes
+      That never saw the snow!
+
+    Down shining ways the flying sleighs
+      Go jingling by, and see!
+    Beside the gate the horses wait
+      And neigh for you and me!
+
+
+
+
+SLEEPY TIME
+
+
+    Hey, baby! Ho, baby! here upon my knee,
+    See the firelight flicker over you and me!
+
+    See the tiny people basking in the glow,
+    Peering through the ruddy little coals, and so
+
+    How they dance and scamper! Merry fairy folk!
+    Little sparks for spangles, little wings of smoke!
+
+    Come baby, come baby, nestle in my arms;
+    Hear the purring flames now sing their sleepy charms.
+
+    All the firelight fairies, all the drowsy elves,
+    In the downy ashes cover up themselves.
+
+    And I fold the little blanket over you;
+    Bye baby, my baby, let us slumber too.
+
+
+
+
+WHEN BETTIE AND ANNE WENT WALKING
+
+
+        When they took their dollies walking,
+        They were both so busy talking,
+    (They had not met for half an hour and so had much to say)
+        That they heedlessly kept going
+        Down the shady streets, not knowing,
+    Till they wanted to come back again, they could not find the way!
+
+        In their fright they felt forlorner
+        Every time they turned a corner,
+    And they wailed to one another, "Oh, whatever shall we do?
+        A big bear might come to bite us,
+        Or a dreadful dog to fight us,
+    Or the wicked gipsies get us! _Oh, boo-hoo! Boo-hoo! Boo-hoo!_"
+
+        But this story, though a sad one,
+        Has an end that's not a bad one,
+    For at last somebody found them as they bade the world good-by;
+        They took their dollies home again,
+        And vowed they'd never roam again,
+    And their mothers hugged and kissed them, saying, "There, my dears,
+            don't cry!"
+
+
+
+
+THE BLUEBIRD
+
+
+    To-day at dawn there twinkled through
+    The pearly mist a flash of blue
+      So dazzling bright I thought the sky
+      Shone through the rifted clouds on high,
+              Till, by and by,
+    A note so honey-sweet I heard,
+    I knew that bright flash was a bird!
+
+
+
+
+THE ORGAN-GRINDER
+
+
+    Hark! I hear the organ-grinder
+      Coming down the street,
+    And the sudden clatter-patter
+      Of the children's feet!
+
+    Come, oh, let us run to meet him!
+      Did you ever hear
+    Tunes so gay as he is playing,
+      Or so sweet and clear?
+
+    See the brown-faced little monkey,
+      Impudent and bold,
+    With his little scarlet jacket
+      Braided all in gold!
+
+    And his tiny cap and tassel
+      Bobbing to and fro,
+    Look, oh, look! he plucks it off now,
+      Bowing very low.
+
+    And he's passing it politely--
+      Can it be for _pay_?
+    O dear me! I have no penny!
+      Let us run away!
+
+
+
+
+THE NEW MOON
+
+
+    Pretty new moon, little new moon,
+      Now, as first I look at you,
+    I must make a wish, for wise folks
+      Say it surely will come true!
+
+    Little new moon, pretty new moon,
+      I wish--but I must not tell!
+    For if any one should hear it,
+      Wise folks say it breaks the spell!
+
+
+
+
+SHOWERY TIME
+
+
+    The April rain-drops tinkle
+      In cuckoo-cups of gold,
+    And warm south winds unwrinkle
+      The buds the peach-boughs hold.
+
+    In countless fluted creases
+      The little elm-leaves show,
+    While white as carded fleeces
+      The dogwood blossoms blow.
+
+    A rosy robe is wrapping
+      The early red-bud trees;
+    But still the haws are napping,
+      Nor heed the honey-bees.
+
+    And still in lazy sleeping
+      The apple-buds are bound,
+    But tulip-tips are peeping
+      From out the garden ground.
+
+    And yonder, gayly swinging
+      Upon the turning vane,
+    A robin redbreast singing
+      Makes merry at the rain!
+
+
+
+
+EASTER DAY
+
+
+    Christ the Lord is risen to-day!
+    Angels rolled the stone away
+    From the tomb wherein He lay!
+
+    Little children, come and sing,
+    "Glory, glory to the King,
+    Christ the Lord of everything!"
+
+
+
+
+THE SANDMAN
+
+
+    The Sandman! hark, I hear him!
+      He's coming up the stair,
+    And everybody near him
+      Is nodding, I declare!
+
+    He's peeping in the door now,
+      And first of all he spies,
+    As he has done before now,
+      The little children's eyes!
+
+    Then quickly does he throw it,
+      His golden sleepy-sand,
+    And all, before they know it,
+      Are off for sleepy-land!
+
+
+
+
+DANDELION CURLS
+
+
+    Ah, ha, ha, now! who comes here
+    Wreathed in flowers of gold and queer
+    Tiny tangled curls of green
+    Gayly bobbing in between?
+
+    Pretty token of the spring!
+    Hark! we hear the bluebirds sing
+    When we thus see little girls
+    Decked in dandelion curls.
+
+
+
+
+POP-CORN
+
+
+             _Pop! Pop!--Poppetty-pop!_
+    Shake and rattle and rattle and shake
+    The golden grains as they bounce and break
+    To fluffy puffiness--_Poppetty-pop!_
+    Bursting and banging the popper's top!
+             _Poppetty-pop!
+                  Pop! Pop!_
+
+    The yellow kernels, oh, see them grow
+    White as cotton or flakes of snow!
+               _Pop! Pop!_
+    O-ho, how they frolic and fly about
+    And turn themselves suddenly inside out!
+    _Pop-pop-poppetty! Pop-pop-pop!_
+    The popper's full and we'll have to stop;
+    Pile the bowl with the tempting treat,
+    Children, come, it is time to eat!
+
+
+
+
+THE RASH LITTLE SPARROW
+
+
+      Rash little sparrow
+        Up in the nest;
+    Feathers not long enough,
+    Wee wings not strong enough!
+        Poor little sparrow!
+        Poor little breast!
+
+
+
+
+WHAT IF?
+
+
+    When I see the new moon lightly
+     Through cloud ripples slip,
+    Then I'm sure that shining brightly
+     It's a fairy ship!
+
+    What if in it we were sailing
+     Far and far away,
+    With a wake of silver trailing,
+     Till the golden day?
+
+    Why, we'd fly back home together
+     Safely from the sky,
+    For the moon's a fairy feather
+     When the sun is high!
+
+
+
+
+EASTER EGGS
+
+
+    Seven little nests of hay
+    We have made, for Easter day
+    Is to-morrow, and you know
+    We must have them ready, so
+    When the Rabbit comes she'll see
+    We expected her, that we
+    Children tried our very best
+    Each to make the nicest nest.
+
+    One is in the lilac-bush,
+    Near the ground--last year a thrush
+    Built a nest there--let me see,
+    Two are by the apple-tree,
+    In the clover--that makes three--
+    One beside the playhouse door,
+    --Three plus one, that must be four--
+    Two are in the tulip-bed--
+    Was it seven that I said?
+    Oh, yes! six I've counted, and
+    One is in our pile of sand.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Come and see! Oh, hurry, hurry!
+    For the Rabbit, kind and furry,
+    Has been here again and laid
+    Eggs in every nest we made!
+    Purple, orange, red, and blue,
+    Pink and green and yellow, too,
+    Like a bunch of finest flowers
+    Ever seen, and all are ours!
+    And oh, _look!_ What _do_ you think!
+    Here our names are in white ink,
+    All spelled nicely so we know
+    Just where every egg should go!
+    Is it not surprising, quite,
+    How well Easter Rabbits write?
+
+
+
+
+THE BIRDS' BATH
+
+
+    In our garden we have made
+      Such a pretty little pool,
+    Lined with pebbles neatly laid,
+      Filled with water clean and cool.
+
+    [Illustration: THE BIRDS' BATH]
+
+    When the sun shines warm and high
+      Robins cluster round its brink,
+    Never one comes flying by
+      But will flutter down to drink.
+
+    Then they splash and splash and splash,
+      Spattering little showers bright
+    All around, till off they flash
+      Singing sweetly their delight.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER MORNING
+
+
+    A tingling, misty marvel
+      Blew hither in the night,
+    And now the little peach-trees
+      Are clasped in frozen light.
+
+    Upon the apple-branches
+      An icy film is caught,
+    With trailing threads of gossamer
+      In pearly patterns wrought.
+
+    The autumn sun, in wonder,
+      Is gayly peering through
+    This silver-tissued network
+      Across the frosty blue.
+
+    The weather-vane is fire-tipped,
+      The honeysuckle shows
+    A dazzling icy splendor,
+      And crystal is the rose.
+
+    Around the eaves are fringes
+      Of icicles that seem
+    To mock the summer rainbows
+      With many-colored gleam.
+
+    Along the walk, the pebbles
+      Are each a precious stone;
+    The grass is tasseled hoarfrost,
+      The clover jewel-sown.
+
+    Such sparkle, sparkle, sparkle
+      Fills all the frosty air,
+    Oh, can it be that darkness
+      Is ever anywhere!
+
+
+
+
+THE RUNAWAY
+
+
+    A frantic clatter of horses' feet!
+    A runaway's coming down the street!
+          Flurry, scurry,
+          Children, hurry!
+    Drop your playthings! Quick! don't wait!
+    Run and get within the gate!
+    Push the baby in the door,
+    Scramble in yourselves before
+          --_Whoa! Whoa!_
+          There they go!
+    Pell-mell rushing, snorting, quaking,
+    Wagon rumbling, harness breaking,
+    Frightened so they cannot know
+    Everybody's shrieking "_Whoa!_"
+          O my, don't cry!
+      Whiz, bang, they've galloped by!
+    No one hurt, but horses dashed
+    Round a post and wagon smashed!
+          Dear me! Dear me!
+      When a runaway we see,
+    Children, too, must run, oh, fast!
+    Run and hide as it goes past!
+
+
+
+
+LOST!
+
+
+    "Peep! Peep! Peep!" Poor little chick!
+      Little cry so weak and small,
+    Meadow grass so tall and thick,
+      And the clover tufts so tall!
+
+    Little heart in sore distress,
+      Longing for the mother wing;
+    Through the weedy wilderness
+      Searching for its sheltering!
+
+
+
+
+THE QUEEN'S PAGE
+
+
+    Once I was a little page
+      To a May-day queen,
+    And I wore a little coat
+      Made of Lincoln green.
+
+    Oh, the queen was beautiful!
+      And she had a bright
+    Crown of golden cuckoo-buds
+      And violets blue and white.
+
+    On the step beside her throne
+      I sat very still,
+    Ready, as a page should be,
+      To obey her will.
+
+    And before us little girls,
+      Each with garlands gay,
+    Round a May-pole danced and sang
+      Almost all the day.
+
+
+
+
+OUR TREE-TOAD
+
+
+    Grandfather says the tree-toad,
+      That to our yard has come,
+    Is just a little wee toad
+      No bigger than his thumb!
+
+    And that his coat's so queer it
+      Can turn from green to blue!
+    Whatever color's near it,
+      Why, that's its color, too!
+
+    And then Grandfather snickers
+      And says, "Would you suppose
+    He climbs with little stickers
+      On all his little toes?
+
+    "And don't you wish your toes now
+      Were fixed like his? For, see,
+    Right up the elm he goes now
+      And sticks tight to the tree!"
+
+    "But then," he says, "O dear me!
+      If all the little boys
+    Could _screech_ as loud, I fear me
+      There'd be a dreadful noise!"
+
+
+
+
+IN THE WATER-WORLD
+
+
+    Down among the water-weeds,
+      Darting through the grass,
+    Round about the tasseled reeds,
+      See the minnows pass!
+    See the little turtles there,
+      Hiding, half asleep,
+    Tucked in tangled mosses where
+      Tiny crayfish creep!
+
+    Watch the trailing grasses string
+      Strands of purple shells
+    That the lazy ripples ring,
+      Sweet as silver bells;
+    Watch the sunshine sift and drift
+      Down the eddy whirls,
+    Whence the laden whiteweeds lift
+      Loads of blossom pearls;
+
+    While the limpid shadows slip
+      Softly in between,
+    And the pussy-willows dip
+      Lightly in the green
+    Of the mocking trees that grow
+      Down the water-sky,
+    Flecked with fleecy clouds that blow
+      Where the reed-birds fly.
+
+    Oh, such marvels manifold
+      Fill the summer stream,
+    Such enticing things untold
+      Through the ripples gleam,
+    If you could a moment turn
+      Into what you wish,
+    Would it not be fun to be
+      Yonder little fish?
+
+
+
+
+WHO WAS IT?
+
+
+    Of course I've heard the moon's green cheese,
+    But will somebody tell me, please,
+    Who was it took so big a bite
+    There's scarcely any left to-night?
+
+
+
+
+VISITING DAY
+
+
+    I'll wear the striped skirt that trails,
+      And you the flowered one,
+    And we will take our parasols
+      And walk out in the sun.
+
+    We'll leave our dolly-carts at home,
+      For ladies, when they call,
+    Must not have children with them, no,
+      That would not do at all.
+
+    And I'll be "Mrs. Wilkinson,"
+      And you'll be "Mrs. Brown,"
+    And we will call and call and call
+      On every one in town!
+
+
+
+
+A VALENTINE TO CATHERINE
+
+
+    If you will be my True-Love,
+      I'll tell you what I'll do,
+    I'll ask a little bluebird
+      To sing a song to you.
+
+    When first you see a violet
+      And softly pricking through
+    The garden-bed come crocuses
+      And golden tulips, too,
+
+    Then watch! for he'll be coming,
+      The little bird of blue;
+    He'll sing, "I love you, Sweetheart,
+      It's true, true, true!"
+
+
+
+
+FIREFLIES
+
+
+    Look! Look down in the garden how
+    The firefly lights are flitting now!
+    A million tiny sparks I know
+    Flash through the pinks and golden-glow,
+    And I am very sure that all
+    Have come to light a fairy ball,
+    And if I could stay up I'd see
+    How gay the fairy folks can be!
+
+
+
+
+THE RAINY DAY
+
+
+    Let's sail all day, away, away
+      To the splendid Spanish Main
+    And the sultry seas of the Caribbees
+      And skies that never rain!
+
+    As pirates bold with bags of gold
+      And cutlasses and things,
+    We'll pack doubloons and silver spoons
+      In chests with iron rings.
+
+    And these we'll carry and secretly bury
+      In cannibal isles afar;
+    Like Captain Kidd, when they're safely hid
+      We won't tell where they are.
+
+    Let's sail all day, away, away
+      To the splendid Spanish Main
+    And the sultry seas of the Caribbees
+      --But at night sail home again!
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST RED-BIRD
+
+
+    I heard a song at daybreak,
+      So honey-sweet and clear,
+    The essence of all joyous things
+      Seemed mingling in its cheer.
+
+    The frosty world about me
+      I searched with eager gaze,
+    But all was slumber-bound and wrapped
+      In violet-tinted haze.
+
+    Then suddenly a sunbeam
+      Shot slanting o'er the hill,
+    And once again from out the sky
+      I heard that honied trill.
+
+    And there upon a poplar,
+      Poised at its topmost height,
+    I saw a little singer clad
+      In scarlet plumage bright.
+
+    The poplar branches quivered,
+      By dawn winds lightly blown,
+    And like a breeze-swept poppy-flower
+      The red-bird rocked and shone.
+
+    The blue sky, and his feathers
+      Flashed o'er by golden light,
+    Oh, all my heart with rapture thrilled,
+      It was so sweet a sight!
+
+
+
+
+THE WEATHER-VANE
+
+
+    Turn, turn, when pelting rain
+    Rushes down the window-pane;
+    Turn, turn, and turn again
+    When the sun shines, weather-vane!
+
+      Fie! Fie! to always be
+      Emblem of uncertainty!
+      Followed by the restless sea,
+    Changeful moons may wax and wane,
+      Yet the moons and sea-tides, too,
+      Constant are compared to you!
+    Fickle still you must remain
+    Long as winds blow, weather-vane!
+
+
+
+
+THE SWAN
+
+
+    Stately swan, so proud and white
+    Glistening in the morning light,
+    Come and tell me is it true
+    That a snow-white swan like you,
+    Guided by bright golden chains
+    In his beak for bridle reins,
+    Once upon a time from far
+    Fabled lands where fairies are
+    Brought a magic boat wherein
+    Rode the brave knight Lohengrin?
+
+    Stately swan, so proud and white
+    Glistening in the morning light,
+    If you only wore a gold
+    Harness, like that swan of old,
+    And if trailing in your wake
+    Sailing on the silver lake
+    Was a boat of magic and
+    You could float to fairy-land,
+    Then I'd jump in and begin
+    Traveling like Lohengrin!
+
+
+
+
+BABY'S BAKING
+
+
+    So, so, spade and hoe,
+      Little pile of sand;
+    See it turning into dough
+      In the baby's hand!
+
+    Little pie with crimpy crust,
+      Set it in the sun;
+    Sugar it with powdered dust,
+      And bake it till it's done.
+
+
+
+
+A SURE SIGN
+
+
+    When you see upon the walk
+    Circles newly made of chalk,
+    And around them all the day
+    Little boys in eager play
+    Rolling marbles, agates fine,
+    Banded, polished, red as wine,
+    Marbles crystal as the dew,
+    Each with rainbows twisted through,
+    Marbles gay in painted clay,
+    Flashing, twinkling in your way,
+    When the walk has blossomed so,
+    Surely every one must know
+    None need wonder who has heard
+    Robin, wren, or Peter-bird;
+    Sure the sign as song or wing,
+          It is spring!
+
+
+
+
+ANOTHER SURE SIGN
+
+
+    When pink-cheeked on every hand
+    Little girls are seen to stand
+    Turning skipping ropes,--_swish-swash!_--
+    While their laughing playmates run
+    Jumping over,--oh, what fun!--
+      _Swish-swash! Swish-swash!_
+    Two and two now, see them dash!
+      _One, two, one, two,_
+    Round they scamper, safely through,
+    _Swish-swash!_ such merry skipping,
+    _One, two,_--some one is tripping!
+    Ah, she's out now and must pay
+    Turning rope while others play!
+    See the bobbing golden curls,
+    Little skirts in rhythmic swirls
+    Rising, falling, to the beat
+    Of the little skipping feet!
+    When these pretty sights appear,
+    It is surely very clear
+            April's here!
+
+
+
+
+THE ROBIN'S BATH
+
+
+    A flash and flicker of dripping wings,
+      A wet red breast that glows
+    Bright as the newly opened bud
+      The first red poppy shows,
+    A sparkle of flying rainbow drops,
+      A glint of golden sun
+    On ruffled feathers, a snatch of song,
+      And the robin's bath is done.
+
+
+
+
+THE FROSTED PANE
+
+
+        When I wakened, very early,
+        All my window-pane was pearly
+    With a sparkling little picture traced in lines of shining white;
+        Some magician with a gleaming
+        Frosty brush, while I was dreaming,
+    Must have come and by the starlight worked through all the quiet night.
+
+        He had painted frosty people,
+        And a frosty church and steeple,
+    And a frosty bridge and river tumbling over frosty rocks;
+        Frosty mountain peaks that glimmered,
+        And fine frosty ferns that shimmered,
+    And a frosty little pasture full of frosty little flocks.
+
+        It was all touched in so lightly
+        And it glittered, oh, so whitely,
+    That I gazed and gazed in wonder at the lovely painted pane;
+        Then the sun rose high and higher
+        With his wand of golden fire
+    Till, alas, my picture vanished and I looked for it in vain!
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST SNOW
+
+
+    The snow! the snow! Whoop! Hooray! Ho! Ho!
+    Plunge in the deep drifts and toss it up so!
+      Rollick and roll in the feathery fleece
+      Plucked out of the breasts of the marvelous geese
+    By the little old woman who lives in the sky;
+    Have ever you seen her? No, neither have I!
+
+
+
+
+GRANDFATHER KNOWS
+
+
+    Grandfather says of all things
+      The silliest he's heard
+    Is that some children call things
+      They've never seen, "absurd!"
+    And have their doubts of true things,
+      And won't believe, because
+    They say, "If you but knew things,
+      There _is_ no Santa Claus!"
+
+    Grandfather says he _knows_ him,
+      And sees him every year,
+    And Santa often shows him
+      The playthings he brings here;
+    He says, too, Santa told him
+      If any girls and boys
+    Laugh at and won't uphold him,
+      They'll not get any toys!
+
+
+
+
+SLEIGH-BELLS
+
+
+    Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle!
+      Happy winter-time!
+    Baby's eyes a-twinkle,
+      Hear the sleigh-bells chime!
+
+    Each one rings a merry
+      Ting-a-ling-a-ling!
+    For a sleigh-bell fairy
+      Hides inside to sing.
+
+    See them quake and quiver,
+      Up and downward tossed,
+    Seems as if they shiver
+      In the nipping frost!
+
+    Shiver into laughter,
+      Jolly little elves!
+    Till we laugh thereafter,
+      Merry as themselves!
+
+
+
+
+THE RED-BIRD
+
+
+    Swept lightly by the south wind
+      The elm-leaves softly stirred,
+    And in their pale green clusters
+      There straightway bloomed a bird!
+
+    His glossy feathers glistened
+      With dyes as richly red
+    As any tulip flaming
+      From out the garden bed.
+
+    But ah, unlike the tulips,
+      In joyous strain, ere long,
+    This red-bird flower unfolded
+      A heart of golden song!
+
+
+
+
+WILD BEASTS
+
+
+    I will be a lion
+      And you shall be a bear,
+    And each of us will have a den
+      Beneath a nursery chair;
+    And you must growl and growl and growl,
+      And I will roar and roar,
+    And then--why, then--you'll growl again,
+      And I will roar some more!
+
+
+
+
+WHEREFORE WINGS?
+
+
+    Heigho, sparrow! Reckless of the rain;
+      When chill the cheerless wind grows,
+    Chirping might and main!
+      Is it naught, then, when the rose
+                Blows again?
+
+    Beating, sleeting on your draggled coat!
+      Surely, 'tis enough to drown
+    Any happy note
+      Nestling in that downy brown
+                Little throat.
+
+    Ah me, sparrow! Had I but your power,
+      Think you in the freezing sleet
+    I would waste an hour?
+      --I'd sing my sweetest to a sweet
+                Orange flower!
+
+
+
+
+BASKING
+
+
+    Frosty winter chased away
+      By the blessed sun,
+    Down upon the garden walks
+      Basking has begun.
+
+    Oh, the happy, happy heat!
+      How the pulses stir,
+    How it warms the hearts beneath
+      Little coats of fur!
+
+    Oh, the happy pussy-cats!
+      Days to doze and doze,
+    And what pleasant dreams they dream
+      Only pussy knows.
+
+
+
+
+WITH A MAY-BASKET FOR BABY AGNES
+
+
+              Peach-buds to meet thee,
+              Robins to greet thee,
+    Hey, little Sweetheart! and May morning, hey!
+              Sunbeam and sing time,
+              Bluebird and wing time,
+    This time is kiss time for sweethearts, I say!
+
+              Dearest, God bless thee,
+              Fold and caress thee,
+    Unto thy cradle may good fairies fly!
+              Fortune be fair for thee,
+              This is my prayer for thee,
+    Lullaby, little one, hush-a-by-bye!
+
+              So for a love now
+              Token thereof now,
+    Sweet, see this tiny May-basket I bring;
+              Posies to play with,
+              Pinks to be gay with,
+    Dear little baby of sunshine and spring!
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE NEST
+
+
+    A little picture haunts me;
+      It comes and comes again;
+    It is a tiny bird's-nest,
+      All ragged from the rain.
+
+    It clings within a birch-tree
+      Upon the moorland's edge,
+    Between the barren branches,
+      Above the swaying sedge.
+
+    The sky is gray behind it,
+      And when the north winds blow,
+    The birch-tree bends and shivers,
+      And tosses to and fro.
+
+    I wonder, does it haunt them,
+      The birds that flew away?
+    And will they come to seek it,
+      Some sunny summer day?
+
+    I wonder, does some redbreast
+      Upon an orange-bough,
+    Still picture it as plainly
+      As I can see it now?
+
+    Ah me! I would forget it,
+      Yet still, with sense of pain,
+    I see this little bird's-nest
+      Within the driving rain.
+
+
+
+
+CHRISTMAS CANDLES
+
+
+    When the Christ-child comes again
+      Softly down the street to-night,
+    Twinkling through the window pane
+      Let our candles shed their light.
+
+    Though the clouds are dark above
+      And the golden stars are dim,
+    We can tell Him of our love
+      If we set a light for Him.
+
+    Oh, the blessed Christ-child dear,
+      In His robe of shining white,
+    Let our candles give Him cheer
+      As He passes by to-night!
+
+
+
+
+A SONG OF THE CHRISTMAS-TREE
+
+[Illustration: CHRISTMAS CANDLES]
+
+    We can tell Him of our love
+      If we set a light for Him.
+
+
+    Hurrah! Hurrah! for the Christmas-tree
+    With its glory and glitter and mystery!
+    Its twinkling candles that bud and bloom
+    Like strange bright flowers in the darkened room,
+    Its glistening gold and silver balls,
+    Its candy canes and its blue-eyed dolls,
+    The sugary fruits it bears,--for oh,
+    Where else do such wonderful sweetmeats grow?--
+    Its tasseled horns and its pop-corn strings
+    And all its myriad marvelous things!
+                O-ho! and ah-ha!
+                  And a hip hurrah!
+    For our dear and beautiful tree, because
+    It grew in the gardens of Santa Claus
+
+    And he brought it here in his reindeer sleigh
+    From ever and ever so far away!
+      _So, children, come, let us make a ring
+      And all clasp hands as we dance and sing
+      To the blessed tree and the blessed night
+      When the Christ-child walks in the candles' light!_
+
+    Hurrah! Hurrah! for the Christmas-tree
+    That Santa Claus brought to you and me!
+    He cut it down with a silver axe--
+    There's a tree in each of his million packs!--
+    And carried it safely over the snow
+    And down our chimney and here, you know;
+    Its golden cobwebs that glint and gleam
+    He took from a lovely Christmas dream
+    And tangled them over it till, behold,
+    It shines like the fabled Fleece of Gold!
+
+                Oh, Santa Claus, here's
+                  A thrice three cheers
+    For garlands green and berries of red,
+    And mistletoe clustering overhead,
+    For the joy of our Christmas festival!
+    But our beautiful tree, it is best of all!
+      _And circling still in a merry ring
+      We'll still clasp hands as we dance and sing
+      To the blessed tree and the blessed night
+      When the Christ-child walks in the candles' light!_
+
+    Hurrah! Hurrah! for the Christmas-tree!
+    And look, O look to its tip and see
+    The feathery slim fir leaves and where,
+    In the topmost boughs, is the image fair
+    Of the Christ-child nestling amid the green
+    And the little brown cones that peep between!
+
+    And high above Him glittering bright
+    A gold star sparkles with golden light,
+    And we children think, as we gaze on them,
+    Of the wonderful Star of Bethlehem,
+                Of the lovely Star
+                  And the Kings who far,
+    Oh, far, came seeking a Babe and brought
+    Their love and worship to Him they sought,
+    And made Him gifts, as the gifts we make
+    With loving hearts for that Baby's sake.
+      _Oh, come, come all, and join the ring!
+      Let all clasp hands as we dance and sing
+      To the blessed tree and the blessed night
+      When the Christ-child walks in the candles' light!_
+
+
+
+
+OUR KITTENS
+
+
+    Our kittens have the softest fur,
+    And the sweetest little purr,
+    And such little velvet paws
+    With such cunning little claws,
+    And blue eyes, just like the sky!
+    (_Must_ they turn green, by and by?)
+    Two are striped like tigers, three
+    Are as black as black can be,
+    And they run so fast and play
+    With their tails, and are so gay,
+    Is it not a pity that
+    Each must grow into a cat?
+
+
+
+
+IN JULY
+
+
+    Let us find a shady wady
+      Pretty little brook;
+    Let us have some candy handy,
+      And a picture-book.
+
+    There all day we'll stay and play and
+      Never mind the heat,
+    While the water gleaming, streaming,
+      Ripples round our feet.
+
+    And we'll gather curly pearly
+      Mussel-shells while bright
+    Frightened minnows darting, parting,
+      Scurry out of sight.
+
+    What if, what if,--heigho! my oh!--
+      All the "ifs" were true,
+    And the little fishes wishes,
+      Now, what would you do?
+
+
+
+
+A VALENTINE TO A LITTLE CHILD
+
+
+    Dear heart, on this thrice-blessed day,
+      An thou my sweetheart be,
+    The rose of love shall bide alway
+      Upon the red-rose tree.
+
+    And in the garden of my heart
+      So ceaselessly shall shine,
+    The little birds will know thou art
+      Mine own true Valentine.
+
+    And I will bid them wing and sing
+      To all good winds that blow,
+    That to thy little feet they bring
+      All blessings, even so.
+
+    And o'er thy cradle I will coax,
+      By every lucky charm,
+    The friendship of the fairy folks
+      To fold thee from all harm.
+
+    So may they hover round thy head
+      And gently thereupon,
+    As doth the April sunshine, shed
+      Most gracious benison.
+
+    And all fair gifts that Fortune hath,
+      I'll pray she promise these,
+    And that she loose about thy path
+      All sweet influences.
+
+    Then here's a kiss! and there's a kiss!
+      And kisses, one, two, three!
+    I seal them in the folds of this,
+      And speed them unto thee!
+
+
+
+
+ZIP!
+
+
+    When we went to drive the cows home
+      Down the lane to-day,
+    There was such a funny bunny
+      Jumped across the way!
+
+    All we saw as he ran past us,
+      Faster than a quail,
+    Was his snow-white fuzzy-wuzzy
+      Little cotton tail!
+
+
+
+
+A LITTLE CAROL
+
+
+    Welcome, little Brother!
+      Lowly, holy One!
+    Hail thee, Virgin Mother,
+    More than any other
+      Blessed in thy Son!
+
+    Child, since the poor manger
+      Once thou didst not scorn,
+    Rest thee, little Stranger,
+    Folded from all danger,
+      In our hearts new-born!
+
+    Nestle thus, we pray thee,
+      In our love's caress;
+    Fain we are to pay thee
+    Worship, and obey thee,
+      Babe, and Prince no less!
+
+
+
+
+SONG
+
+
+    Honey-dew drippity-drops for a feast,
+    Dreams of delight when the feasting has ceased,
+                Poppy and rose,
+                Drain them and doze;
+    This is a song that the butterfly knows.
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE CANDLES
+
+
+    When the Christmas-tide drew nigh,
+    On a shelf three candles bright,
+    Two were red and one was white,
+    Waited for who came to buy.
+
+    Said the first one, "I shall be
+    Chosen for a Christmas-tree!"
+    Said the second, "I shall light
+    Christ Jesus on His way to-night!"
+    Then the third one sighed, "Ah me,
+    I know not what my lot will be!"
+
+    When the dark fell, bright and gay
+    The first candle burned away,
+    Red as all the berries red
+    On the holly overhead,
+    While the children in their glee
+    Danced around the Christmas-tree.
+
+    And the second, twinkling bright,
+    Poured forth all its golden light
+    Through a window decked with green
+    Garlands and red ribbons' sheen,
+    So the Christ-child when He came
+    Might be guided by its flame.
+
+    But the third one in the gloom
+    Of a bare and cheerless room
+    Softly burned where long had lain
+    A poor little child in pain,
+    And the baby in its bed
+    By the light was comforted.
+
+    When the Christ-child passed that night
+    All three candles gave Him light,
+    But the brightest was the spark
+    By the baby in the dark.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Child Songs of Cheer, by Evaleen Stein
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