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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of In My Nursery, by Laura E. Richards
+
+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: In My Nursery
+
+Author: Laura E. Richards
+
+Release Date: May 20, 2012 [EBook #39741]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN MY NURSERY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Katherine Ward, Matthew Wheaton and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ IN MY NURSERY.
+
+ BY
+ LAURA E. RICHARDS,
+
+
+ AUTHOR OF
+ "THE JOYOUS STORY OF TOTO," "TOTO'S MERRY WINTER," ETC.
+
+ BOSTON:
+ LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
+
+
+ _Copyright, 1890,_
+ BY ROBERTS BROTHERS
+
+ _All rights reserved._
+
+ Printers
+ S. J. PARKHILL & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.
+
+
+ To my Mother,
+
+ JULIA WARD HOWE.
+
+ _Sweet! when first my baby ear
+ Curled itself and learned to hear,
+ 'Twas your silver-singing voice
+ Made my baby heart rejoice._
+
+ _Hushed upon your tender breast,
+ Soft you sang me to my rest;
+ Waking, when I sought my play,
+ Still your singing led the way._
+
+ _Cradle songs, more soft and low
+ Than the bird croons on the bough;
+ Olden ballads, grave and gay,
+ Warrior's chant, and lover's lay._
+
+ _So my baby hours went
+ In a cadence of content,
+ To the music and the rhyme
+ Keeping tune and keeping time._
+
+ _So you taught me, too, ere long,
+ All our life should be a song,--
+ Should a faltering prelude be
+ To the heavenly harmony;_
+
+ _And with gracious words and high,
+ Bade me look beyond the sky,
+ To the Glory throned above,
+ To th' eternal Light and Love._
+
+ _Many years have blossomed by:
+ Far and far from childhood I;
+ Yet its sunrays on me fall,
+ Here among my children all._
+
+ _So among my babes I go,
+ Singing high and singing low;
+ Striving for the silver tone
+ Which my memory holds alone._
+
+ _If I chant my little lays
+ Tunefully, be yours the praise;
+ If I fail, 'tis I must rue
+ Not t' have closelier followed you._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ Dedication
+ In my Nursery
+ The Baby's Future
+ Baby's Hand
+ The First Tooth
+ Johnny's By-low Song
+ Baby's Valentine
+ The Rain
+ The Ballad of the Fairy Spoon
+ Song of the Little Winds
+ Good-night Song
+ Another "Good-night"
+ "A Bee came tumbling"
+ Jingle
+ Little Old Baby
+ Baby's Journey
+ The Bumble-bee
+ The Owl and the Eel and the Warming-pan
+ Young (one)'s Night Thoughts
+ Little Sunbeam
+ Baby's Belongings
+ Infantry Tactics
+ Baby Bo
+ The Difference
+ Little John Bottlejohn
+ Jemima Brown
+ Alice's Supper
+ Toddlekins
+ Bobbily Boo and Wollypotump
+ Sleepyland
+ Little Brown Bobby
+ Phil's Secret
+ A Song for Hal
+ The Fairies
+ The Queen of the Orkney Islands
+ Baby's Ways
+ Pot and Kettle
+ Punkydoodle and Jollapin
+ Mrs. Snipkin and Mrs. Wobblechin
+ My Sunbeams
+ In the Closet
+ Bed-time
+ Bird-song
+ Geographi
+ Higgledy-piggledy
+ Belinda Blonde
+ Tommy's Dream; or, The Geography Demon
+ Polly's Year
+ What the Robins sing in the Morning
+ The Eve of the Glorious Fourth
+ The Dandy Cat
+ A Party
+ Jumbo Jee
+ An Indian Ballad
+ The Egg
+ Wouldn't
+ Will-o'-the-wisp
+ Nonsense Verses
+ An Old Rat's Tale
+ To the Little Girl who wriggles
+ The Forty little Ducklings
+ The Mouse
+ A Valentine
+ Jamie in the Garden
+ Somebody's Boy (not mine)
+ Bogy
+ The Mermaidens
+ The Phrisky Phrog
+ The Ambitious Chicken
+ The Boy and the Brook
+ The Shark
+ The Easter Hen
+ Pump and Planet
+ The Postman
+ Hopsy Upsy
+ Little Black Monkey
+ Jippy and Jimmy
+ Master Jack's Song
+ Mother Rosebush
+ The Five Little Princesses
+ The Hornet and the Bee
+ The Three Little Chickens who went out to Tea
+ A Legend of Lake Okeefinokee
+ Grandpapa's Valentine
+ Alibazan
+ The Three Fishers
+ Peepsy
+ May Song
+ Two Little Valentines
+ A Howl about an Owl
+ Our Celebration
+ The Song of the Corn-popper
+ What Bobby said
+ Master Jack's Views
+ Emily Jane
+ Song of the Mother whose Children are Fond of Drawing
+ The Seven Little Tigers and the Aged Cook
+ Agamemnon
+ The Wedding
+ Swing Song
+ The Little Cossack
+ What a Very Rude Little Bird said to Johnny this Morning
+ The Monkeys and the Crocodile
+ Painted Ladies
+ Some Fishy Nonsense
+ Lady's Slipper
+ A Little Song to sing to a Little Maid in a Swing
+ Betty in Blossom-time
+ Betty's Song
+ A Nonsense Tragedy
+ From New York to Boston
+ Sandy Godolphin
+ My Clock
+ My Uncle Jehoshaphat
+ Rosy Posy
+ Sick-room Fancies.
+ I. My Wall Paper
+ II. My Japanese Fan
+ Marjorie's Knitting
+ He and His Family
+ Easter-time
+ Easter
+ Jacky Frost
+ Subtraction
+ Grandfather Dear
+ Gathering Apples
+ The Ballad of the Beach
+ The Boots of a Household
+ The Palace
+ Bunker Hill Monument
+ May
+ Gregory Griggs
+ A Nursery Tragedy
+ The Umbrella Brigade
+ The Princess in Saturn and the Red Man in Mars
+ Wiggle and Waggle
+ Gret Gran'f'ther
+ Day Dreams
+ The Battle
+ The Strange Beast
+ A Garden Jingle
+ The Baby goes to Boston
+ The Flag in the Schoolroom
+ Johnny Jump-up
+ The Outlandishman
+ A Sleigh-ride
+ The Little Gnome
+ The Little Dutchess
+
+
+
+
+IN MY NURSERY.
+
+
+ In my nursery as I sit,
+ To and fro the children flit:
+ Rosy Alice, eldest born,
+ Rosalind like summer morn,
+ Sturdy Hal, as brown as berry,
+ Little Julia, shy and merry,
+ John the King, who rules us all,
+ And the Baby sweet and small.
+
+ Flitting, flitting to and fro,
+ Light they come and light they go:
+ And their presence fair and young
+ Still I weave into my song.
+ Here rings out their merry laughter,
+ Here their speech comes tripping after:
+ Here their pranks, their sportive ways,
+ Flash along the lyric maze,
+ Till I hardly know, in fine,
+ What is theirs and what is mine:
+ Can but say, through wind and weather,
+ They and I have wrought together.
+
+
+
+
+THE BABY'S FUTURE.
+
+
+ What will the baby be, Mamma,
+ (With a kick and a crow, and a hushaby-low).
+ What will the baby be, Mamma,
+ When he grows up into a man?
+ Will he always kick, and always crow,
+ And flourish his arms and his legs about so,
+ And make up such horrible faces, you know,
+ As ugly as ever he can?
+
+ The baby he may be a soldier, my dear,
+ With a fife and a drum, and a rum-tiddy-tum!
+ The baby he may be a soldier, my dear,
+ When he grows up into a man.
+ He will draw up his regiment all in a row,
+ And flourish his sword in the face of the foe,
+ Who will hie them away on a tremulous toe,
+ As quickly as ever they can.
+
+ The baby he may be a sailor, my dear,
+ With a fore and an aft, and a tight little craft
+ The baby he may be a sailor, my dear,
+ When he grows up into a man.
+ He will hoist his sails with a "Yo! heave, ho!"
+ And take in his reefs when it comes on to blow,
+ And shiver his timbers and so forth, you know,
+ On a genuine nautical plan.
+
+ The baby he may be a doctor, my dear,
+ With a powder and pill, and a nice little bill.
+ The baby he may be a doctor, my dear,
+ When he grows up into a man.
+ He will dose you with rhubarb, and calomel too,
+ With draughts that are black and with pills that are blue;
+ And the chances will be, when he's finished with you,
+ You'll be worse off than when he began.
+
+ The baby he may be a lawyer, my dear,
+ With a bag and a fee, and a legal decree.
+ The baby he may be a lawyer, my dear,
+ When he grows up into a man.
+ But, oh! dear me, should I tell to you
+ The terrible things that a lawyer can do,
+ You would take to your heels when he came into view,
+ And run from Beersheba to Dan.
+
+
+
+
+BABY'S HAND.
+
+
+ Like a little crumpled roseleaf
+ It lies on my bosom now,
+ Like a tiny sunset cloudlet,
+ Like a flake of rose-tinted snow;
+ And the pretty, helpless fingers
+ Are never a moment at rest,
+ But ever are moving and straying
+ About on the mother's breast:
+ Trying to grasp the sunbeam
+ That streams through the window high;
+ Trying to catch the white garments
+ Of the angels hovering by.
+ And as she pats and caresses
+ The dear little lovely hand,
+ The mother's thoughts go forward
+ Toward the future's shadowy land.
+ And ever her anxious vision
+ Strives to pierce each coming year,
+ With a mother's height of rapture,
+ With a mother's depth of fear,
+ As she thinks, "In the years that are coming,
+ Be they many or be they few,
+ What work is the good God sending
+ For this little hand to do?
+ Will it always be open in giving,
+ And always strong for the right?
+ Will it always be ready for labor,
+ Yet always gentle and light?
+ Will it wield the brush or the chisel
+ In the magical realms of Art?
+ Will it waken the loveliest music
+ To gladden the weary heart?
+ Will it smooth the sufferer's pillow,
+ Bring rest to his aching head?
+ Will it proffer the cup of cold water?
+ By it shall the hungry be fed?
+ Oh! in the years that are coming,
+ Be they many or be they few,
+ What now is the good God sending
+ For this little hand to do?"
+ Thus the mother's anxious vision
+ Strives to pierce each coming year,
+ With a mother's height of rapture,
+ With a mother's depth of fear.
+ Ah! whatever may be its fortunes,
+ Whatever in life its part,
+ This little wee hand will never loose
+ Its hold on the mother's heart.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST TOOTH.
+
+
+ My own little beautiful Baby,
+ You're weeping most bitterly, dear!
+ There'd soon be a lake, if we treasured
+ Each sweet little silvery tear.
+
+ A lake? Nay! an ocean of sorrow
+ Would murmur and sigh at your feet,
+ And you would be drowned in your tear-drops,
+ My own little Baby sweet.
+
+ But, darling, as in the wide ocean
+ The divers plunge boldly down,
+ And bring up the radiant pearl-drops
+ To set in some royal crown,
+
+ E'en so from the sea of your sorrow,
+ This dolorous "fountain of youth,"
+ Will come, ere a week be over,
+ A little wee pearly tooth.
+
+ And then the tears will all vanish,
+ Dried up by the sunshine of smiles;
+ And we'll have back our own little Alice,
+ With her merriest frolics and wiles.
+
+ And whenever you laugh, my Baby,
+ Through all your life's happy years,
+ You'll show us the radiant pearl-drop
+ That you brought from the ocean of tears.
+
+
+
+
+JOHNNY'S BY-LOW SONG.
+
+
+ Here on our rock-away horse we go,
+ Johnny and I, to a land we know,--
+ Far away in the sunset gold,
+ A lovelier land than can be told.
+
+ _Chorus._ Where all the flowers go niddlety nod,
+ Nod, nod, niddlety nod!
+ Where all the flowers go niddlety nod,
+ And all the birds sing by-low!
+ Lullaby, lullaby, by-low.
+
+ The gates are ivory set with pearls,
+ One for the boys, and one for the girls:
+ So shut your bonny two eyes of blue,
+ Or else they never will let you through.
+
+ _Chorus._ Where all the flowers go niddlety nod,
+ Nod, nod, niddlety nod!
+ Where all the flowers go niddlety nod,
+ And all the birds sing by-low!
+ Lullaby, lullaby, by-low.
+
+ But what are the children all about?
+ There's never a laugh and never a shout.
+ Why, they all fell asleep, dear, long ago;
+ For how could they keep awake, you know?
+
+ _Chorus._ When all the flowers went niddlety nod,
+ Nod, nod, niddlety nod!
+ When all the flowers went niddlety nod,
+ And all the birds sang by-low!
+ Lullaby, lullaby, by-low.
+
+ And each little brown or golden head
+ Is pillowed soft in a satin bed,--
+ A satin bed with sheets of silk,
+ As soft as down and as white as milk.
+
+ _Chorus_. And all the flowers go niddlety nod,
+ Nod, nod, niddlety nod!
+ And all the flowers go niddlety nod,
+ And all the birds sing by-low!
+ Lullaby, lullaby, by-low.
+
+ The brook in its sleep goes babbling by,
+ And the fat little clouds are asleep in the sky;
+ And now little Johnny is sleeping too,
+ So open the gates and pass him through.
+
+ _Chorus_. Where all the flowers go niddlety nod,
+ Nod, nod, niddlety nod!
+ Where all the flowers go niddlety nod,
+ And all the birds sing by-low!
+ Lullaby, lullaby, by-low.
+
+
+
+
+BABY'S VALENTINE.
+
+
+ Valentine, O Valentine,
+ Pretty little Love of mine;
+ Little Love whose yellow hair
+ Makes the daffodils despair;
+ Little Love whose shining eyes
+ Fill the stars with sad surprise:
+ Hither turn your ten wee toes,
+ Each a tiny shut-up rose,
+ End most fitting and complete
+ For the rosy-pinky feet;
+ Toddle, toddle here to me,
+ For I'm waiting, do you see?--
+ Waiting for to call you mine,
+ Valentine, O Valentine!
+
+ Valentine, O Valentine,
+ I will dress you up so fine!
+ Here's a frock of tulip-leaves,
+ Trimmed with lace the spider weaves;
+ Here's a cap of larkspur blue,
+ Just precisely made for you;
+ Here's a mantle scarlet-dyed,
+ Once the tiger-lily's pride,
+ Spotted all with velvet black
+ Like the fire-beetle's back;
+ Lady-slippers on your feet,
+ Now behold you all complete!
+ Come and let me call you mine,
+ Valentine, O Valentine!
+
+ Valentine, O Valentine,
+ Now a wreath for you I'll twine.
+ I will set you on a throne
+ Where the damask rose has blown,
+ Dropping all her velvet bloom,
+ Carpeting your leafy room:
+ Here while you shall sit in pride,
+ Butterflies all rainbow-pied,
+ Dandy beetles gold and green,
+ Creeping, flying, shall be seen,
+ Every bird that shakes his wings,
+ Every katydid that sings,
+ Wasp and bee with buzz and hum.
+ Hither, hither see them come,
+ Creeping all before your feet,
+ Rendering their homage meet.
+ But 'tis I that call you mine,
+ Valentine, O Valentine!
+
+
+
+
+THE RAIN.
+
+
+ The rain came down from the sky,
+ And we asked it the reason why
+ It would ne'er stay away
+ On washing day,
+ To let our poor clothes get dry.
+
+ The rain came down on the ground,
+ With a clattering, pelting sound,
+ "Indeed, if I stayed
+ Till you called me," it said,
+ "I should not come all the year round!"
+
+
+
+THE BALLAD OF THE FAIRY SPOON.
+
+
+ The little wee baby came tripping
+ All out of the fairy land,
+ With a nosegay of fairy flowers
+ Clasped close in each little wee hand;
+
+ The flower of baby beauty,
+ The flower of baby health,
+ And all the blossomy sweetness
+ That makes up a baby's wealth.
+
+ But still he kept sighing and sobbing,
+ Sighing and sobbing away,
+ Till I said, "Now what ails my Baby,
+ And why does he cry all day?"
+
+ And he answered, "Oh! as I came tripping,
+ I spied a rose by the way:
+ And on it the loveliest dewdrop
+ I'd seen since I came away.
+
+ "But as I was stooping to sip it,
+ A wind came up from the south;
+ And it blew my little wee spoonie
+ Away from my little wee mouth."
+
+ "And what was your little wee spoonie?
+ And what does my Baby mean?"
+ "Oh! the little wee fairy spoonie
+ That was given me by the queen.
+
+ "For whenever a baby leaves her,
+ The queen she grants him a boon,--
+ She fills both his hands with flowers,
+ And puts in his mouth a spoon.
+
+ "And some are made of the hazel,
+ And some are made of the horn;
+ And some are made of the silver white,
+ For the good-luck babes that are born."
+
+ "But what are they for, my Baby?"
+ "Nay! that part I cannot tell!
+ But send for the fairy Spoonman,
+ For he knows it all right well.
+
+ "Oh! the little old fairy Spoonman,
+ He lives in the white, white moon.
+ Send a whisper up by a moonbeam,
+ And he will be down here soon."
+
+ Then I whispered along a moonbeam
+ That silvered the grass so clear,
+ "Oh! little old fairy Spoonman,
+ Come down and comfort my dear!"
+
+ Then something came sliding, sliding
+ Down out of the white, white moon.
+ And something came gliding, gliding
+ Straight in at my window soon.
+
+ And there stood a little old fairy,
+ All bent and withered and black,
+ With a leathern apron about him,
+ And a bundle of spoons at his back.
+
+ And first he looked at my baby,
+ And then he looked at me;
+ And then he looked at his apron,
+ But never a word spake he.
+
+ "Oh! Spoonman dear," said the baby,
+ "The wind blew my spoon away.
+ So now will you give me another,
+ You little black Spoonman, pray?
+
+ "For I did not lose my spoonie,
+ Nor drop it carelessly;
+ But a wind came up to my poor little mouth,
+ And blew it away from me."
+
+ "Now well for you," said the Spoonman,
+ "Little Baby, if this be so.
+ For if you had carelessly lost your spoon,
+ Without it through life you'd go.
+
+ "And well for you, little Baby,
+ If you know your spoon again.
+ For but if you know the very same one,
+ Your asking will be in vain.
+
+ "So say: was it made of the hazel,
+ Or was it made of the horn,
+ Or was it made of the silver white,
+ If a good-luck babe you were born?"
+
+ "Oh! it was nor horn nor hazel,
+ But all of the silver bright;
+ For a good-luck babe I was born indeed,
+ To be my Mammy's delight."
+
+ "Then take your spoon, little Baby,
+ With the fairies' blessing free,
+ For the south wind blew it around the world,
+ And blew it again to me."
+
+ With that he gave to my baby
+ The tiniest silver spoon.
+ Then out he slipped in the moonlight,
+ And we lost him from sight right soon.
+
+ Now some may think I am foolish,
+ And some may think I am mad;
+ But never once since that very night
+ Has my baby been cross or sad.
+
+ And I counsel all anxious mothers
+ Whose babies are crying in pain,
+ To send for the fairy Spoonman,
+ And get them their spoons again.
+
+
+
+
+SONG OF THE LITTLE WINDS.
+
+
+ The birdies may sleep, but the winds must wake
+ Early and late, for the birdies' sake.
+ Kissing them, fanning them, soft and sweet,
+ E'en till the dark and the dawning meet.
+
+ The flowers may sleep, but the winds must wake
+ Early and late, for the flowers' sake.
+ Rocking the buds on the rose-mother's breast,
+ Swinging the hyacinth-bells to rest.
+
+ The children may sleep, but the winds must wake
+ Early and late, for the children's sake.
+ Singing so sweet in each little one's ear,
+ He thinks his mother's own song to hear.
+
+
+
+
+GOOD-NIGHT SONG.
+
+
+ Good-night, Sun! go to bed!
+ Take your crown from your shining head.
+ Now put on your gray night-cap,
+ And shut your eyes for a good long nap.
+
+ Good-night, Sky, bright and blue!
+ Not a wink of sleep for you.
+ You must watch us all the night,
+ With your twinkling eyes so bright.
+
+ Good-night, flowers! now shut up
+ Every swinging bell and cup.
+ Take your sleeping-draught of dew:
+ Pleasant dreams to all of you!
+
+ Good-night, birds, that sweetly sing!
+ Little head 'neath little wing!
+ Every leaf upon the tree
+ Soft shall sing your lullaby.
+
+ Last to you, little child,
+ Sleep is coming soft and mild.
+ Now he shuts your blue eyes bright:
+ Little Baby dear, good-night!
+
+
+
+
+ANOTHER "GOOD-NIGHT."
+
+
+ Birds, birds, in the linden-tree,
+ Low, low let your music be!
+ Bees, bees, in the garden bloom,
+ Hushed, hushed be your drowsy hum!
+ Wind, wind, through the lattice waft
+ Still, still, thy breathing soft!
+ Flowers, sweet be the breath you shed:
+ Two little children are going to bed.
+
+ Eyes, eyes, 'neath your curtains white,
+ Veiled, veiled be the sunny light!
+ Lips, lips, like the roses red,
+ Soft, soft be your sweet prayers said!
+ Feet, feet, that have danced all day,
+ Now, now must your dancing stay.
+ Low, low lay each golden head!
+ Two little children are going to bed.
+
+
+
+
+"A BEE CAME TUMBLING"
+
+
+ A bee came tumbling into my ear,
+ And what do you think he remarked, my dear?
+ He said that two tens make up a score,
+ And really and truly I knew that before.
+
+
+
+
+JINGLE.
+
+
+ I jumped on the back of a dragon-fly,
+ And flew and flew till I reached the sky.
+
+ I pulled down a cloud that was hiding the blue,
+ And all the wee stars came tumbling through.
+
+ They tumbled down and they tumbled round,
+ And turned into flowers as they touched the ground.
+
+ So come with me, little children, come,
+ And down in the meadow I'll pick you some.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE OLD BABY.
+
+
+ Little old baby, pretty old baby,
+ Screams and cries at his little old bath,
+ Pours on the head of his little old mother
+ All the full vials of baby wrath.
+
+ Little old baby, pretty old baby,
+ If you could see just how queer you look,--
+ Arms and legs in a knot together,
+ Face twisted up in a terrible crook,--
+
+ How you would straighten out every feature,
+ Masculine vanity all aflame!
+ Fie! what a noise from a little wee creature!
+ _Did_ they abuse him! and _was_ it a shame!
+
+ Little old baby, pretty old baby,
+ Curls himself over and goes to sleep.
+ Ah! such is life, my little old baby,
+ Sleep and forget it, or wake and weep!
+
+
+
+
+BABY'S JOURNEY.
+
+
+ Hoppety hoppety ho!
+ Where shall the baby go?
+ Over dale and down,
+ To Limerick town,
+ And there shall the baby go.
+
+ Hoppety hoppety ho!
+ _How_ shall the baby go?
+ In a coach-and-seven,
+ With grooms eleven,
+ And so shall the baby go.
+
+ Hoppety hoppety ho!
+ _When_ shall the baby go?
+ In the afternoon,
+ By the light of the moon,
+ And then shall the baby go.
+
+ Hoppety hoppety ho!
+ _Why_ shall the baby go?
+ To dance a new jig,
+ And to buy a new wig,
+ And _that's_ why the baby shall go.
+
+
+
+
+THE BUMBLEBEE.
+
+
+ The bumblebee, the bumblebee,
+ He flew to the top of the tulip-tree.
+ He flew to the top, but he could not stop,
+ For he had to get home to his early tea.
+
+ The bumblebee, the bumblebee,
+ He flew away from the tulip-tree;
+ But he made a mistake, and flew into the lake,
+ And he never got home to his early tea.
+
+
+
+
+THE OWL AND THE EEL AND THE WARMING-PAN.
+
+
+ The owl and the eel and the warming-pan,
+ They went to call on the soap-fat man.
+ The soap-fat man he was not within:
+ He'd gone for a ride on his rolling-pin.
+ So they all came back by the way of the town,
+ And turned the meeting-house upside down.
+
+
+
+
+YOUNG (ONE)'S NIGHT THOUGHTS.
+
+
+ "Hi!" said the baby.
+ "Ho!" said the baby.
+ "Ha!" said the baby,
+ "I won't go to sleep!
+ Naughty old mother,
+ You make such a pother,
+ Just for to bother
+ You, awake I will keep.
+
+ "Dance!" said the baby.
+ "Prance!" said the baby.
+ "Perchance," said the baby,
+ "You think I'm a goose.
+ Vainly you're dreaming
+ Of rest, and your scheming
+ To silence my screaming
+ Is all of no use.
+
+ "Sing!" said the baby.
+ "Ring!" said the baby.
+ "Bring," said the baby,
+ "My rattles and toys.
+ Still I will weep, oh!
+ Awake I will keep, oh!
+ _Won't_ go to sleep, oh!
+ _Will_ make a noise!
+
+ "Walk!" said the baby.
+ "Talk!" said the baby.
+ "I'll balk," said the baby,
+ "Your efforts, one and all.
+
+ Still I'll be scorning,
+ When, towards the morning,
+ Without any warning
+ Asleep I will fall."
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE SUNBEAM.
+
+
+ Little yellow Sunbeam,
+ Waking up one day,
+ Down into the garden
+ Took her shining way;
+ Merrily went dancing
+ Down the morning air,
+ Shaking out the sparkles
+ From her golden hair.
+
+ Little yellow Sunbeam
+ Twinkled all about,
+ Down among the green leaves
+ Flitting in and out.
+ Waking up the daisies
+ From their morning doze,
+ Ringing up the lily-bells,
+ Knocking up the rose.
+
+ Little yellow Sunbeam,
+ Climbing up the wall,
+ On the baby's window
+ Happened for to fall.
+ In the little chamber
+ As she took a peep,
+ There she saw the Lovely One
+ Lying fast asleep.
+
+ Little yellow Sunbeam
+ Tripped into the room,
+ Sweeping out the darkness
+ With her golden broom.
+ All the little shadows,
+ Glimmering and gray,
+ Gathered up their dusky skirts,
+ Softly slid away.
+
+ Little yellow Sunbeam,
+ Flitting to the bed,
+ Merrily went dancing
+ Round the baby's head.
+ Suddenly there flashed out,
+ To her great surprise,
+ Other little sunbeams
+ From the baby's eyes.
+
+ Little yellow Sunbeam
+ Said, "How can this be?
+ Whence these little sparklers
+ So unlike to me?
+ Scarce I think they can be
+ Sunbeams real and true,
+ For we all are yellow;
+ These are lovely blue."
+
+ Little yellow Sunbeam
+ Flew back to the sky.
+ Running to her father,
+ She began to cry:
+ "Father, you must vanish!
+ Run and hide your head!
+ There's a brighter sun than you
+ In the baby's bed."
+
+
+
+
+BABY'S BELONGINGS.
+
+
+ Here are the baby's bonny blue eyes.
+ What shall we give her to see?
+ A calico doll and a parrotty poll,
+ As funny as funny can be.
+
+ Here are the baby's little pink ears.
+ What shall we give her to hear?
+ A bell that will ring, and a bird that will sing,
+ And a brook that goes tinkling clear.
+
+ Here is the baby's little wee nose.
+ What shall we give her to smell?
+ A hyacinth blue and a violet too,
+ And roses and lilies as well.
+
+ Here is the baby's pretty red mouth.
+ What shall we give her to eat?
+ A sugary heart and a raspberry tart,
+ And everything else that is sweet.
+
+ And here are the baby's little fat hands.
+ What shall we give her to hold?
+ A sunbeam? That's right! and a rainbow bright,
+ And plenty of silver and gold.
+
+
+
+
+INFANTRY TACTICS.
+
+
+ _Present arms!_ There they are,
+ Both stretched out to me.
+ Strong and sturdy, smooth and white,
+ Fair as arms may be.
+
+ _Ground arms!_ on the floor,
+ Picking up his toys:
+ Breaking all within his reach,
+ Busiest of boys.
+
+ _Right wheel!_ off his cart,
+ Left wheel too is gone.
+ Horsey's head is broken off,
+ Horsey's tail is torn.
+
+ _Quick step_, forward march!
+ Crying, too, he comes.
+ Had a battle with the cat.
+ "Scratched off bofe my fums!"
+
+ _Shoulder arms!_ Here at last,
+ Round my neck they close.
+ Poor little soldier boy
+ Off to quarters goes.
+
+
+
+
+BABY BO.
+
+
+ Fly away, fly away, Birdie oh!
+ Bring something home to my Baby Bo!
+ Bring him a feather and bring him a song,
+ And sing to him sweetly all the day long.
+
+ Hoppety, kickety, Grasshopper oh!
+ Bring something home to my Baby Bo!
+ Bring him a thistle and bring him a thorn,
+ Hop over his head and then be gone.
+
+ Howlibus, gowlibus, Doggibus oh!
+ Bring something home to my Baby Bo!
+ Bring him a snarl and bring him a snap,
+ And bring him a posy to put in his cap.
+
+ Twinkily, winkily, Firefly oh!
+ Bring something home to my Baby Bo!
+ Bring him a moonbeam and bring him a star,
+ Then twinkily, winkily, fly away far.
+
+
+
+
+THE DIFFERENCE.
+
+
+ Eight fingers,
+ Ten toes,
+ Two eyes,
+ And one nose.
+ Baby said
+ When she smelt the rose,
+ "Oh! what a pity
+ I've only one nose!"
+
+ Ten teeth
+ In even rows,
+ Three dimples,
+ And one nose.
+ Baby said
+ When she smelt the snuff,
+ "Deary me!
+ One nose is enough."
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE JOHN BOTTLEJOHN.
+
+
+ Little John Bottlejohn lived on the hill,
+ And a blithe little man was he.
+ And he won the heart of a pretty mermaid
+ Who lived in the deep blue sea.
+ And every evening she used to sit
+ And sing on the rocks by the sea,
+ "Oh! little John Bottlejohn, pretty John Bottlejohn,
+ Won't you come out to me?"
+
+ Little John Bottlejohn heard her song,
+ And he opened his little door.
+ And he hopped and he skipped, and he skipped and he hopped,
+ Until he came down to the shore.
+ And there on the rocks sat the little mermaid,
+ And still she was singing so free,
+ "Oh! little John Bottlejohn, pretty John Bottlejohn,
+ Won't you come out to me?"
+
+ Little John Bottlejohn made a bow,
+ And the mermaid, she made one too,
+ And she said, "Oh! I never saw any one half
+ So perfectly sweet as you!
+ In my lovely home 'neath the ocean foam,
+ How happy we both might be!
+ Oh! little John Bottlejohn, pretty John Bottlejohn,
+ Won't you come down with me?"
+
+ Little John Bottlejohn said, "Oh yes!
+ I'll willingly go with you.
+ And I never shall quail at the sight of your tail,
+ For perhaps I may grow one too."
+ So he took her hand, and he left the land,
+ And plunged in the foaming main.
+ And little John Bottlejohn, pretty John Bottlejohn,
+ Never was seen again.
+
+
+
+
+JEMIMA BROWN.
+
+
+ I.
+
+ Bring her here, my little Alice,
+ Poor Jemima Brown!
+ Make the little cradle ready!
+ Softly lay her down!
+ Once she lived in ease and comfort,
+ Slept on couch of down;
+ Now upon the floor she's lying,
+ Poor Jemima Brown!
+
+
+ II.
+
+ Once she was a lovely dolly,
+ Rosy-cheeked and fair,
+ With her eyes of brightest azure
+ And her golden hair;
+ Now, alas! no hair's remaining
+ On her poor old crown;
+ And the crown itself is broken,
+ Poor Jemima Brown!
+
+
+ III.
+
+ Once her legs were smooth and comely,
+ And her nose was straight;
+ And that arm, now hanging lonely,
+ Had, methinks, a mate.
+ And she was as finely dressed as
+ Any doll in town.
+ Now she's old, forlorn, and ragged,
+ Poor Jemima Brown!
+
+
+ IV.
+
+ Yet be kind to her, my Alice;
+ 'Tis no fault of hers
+ If her wilful little mistress
+ Other dolls prefers.
+ Did _she_ pull her pretty hair out?
+ Did _she_ break her crown?
+ Did _she_ pull her arms and legs off,
+ Poor Jemima Brown?
+
+
+ V.
+
+ Little hands that did the mischief,
+ You must do your best
+ Now to give the poor old dolly
+ Comfortable rest.
+ So we'll make the cradle ready,
+ And we'll lay her down;
+ And we'll ask Papa to mend her,
+ Poor Jemima Brown!
+
+
+
+
+ALICE'S SUPPER.
+
+
+ Far down in the meadow the wheat grows green,
+ And the reapers are whetting their sickles so keen;
+ And this is the song that I hear them sing,
+ While cheery and loud their voices ring:
+ "'Tis the finest wheat that ever did grow!
+ And it is for Alice's supper, ho! ho!"
+
+ Far down in the valley the old mill stands,
+ And the miller is rubbing his dusty white hands;
+ And these are the words of the miller's lay,
+ As he watches the millstones a-grinding away:
+ "'Tis the finest flour that money can buy,
+ And it is for Alice's supper, hi! hi!"
+
+ Downstairs in the kitchen the fire doth glow,
+ And Maggie is kneading the soft white dough,
+ And this is the song that she's singing to-day,
+ While merry and busy she's working away:
+ "'Tis the finest dough, by near or by far,
+ And it is for Alice's supper, ha! ha!"
+
+ And now to the nursery comes Nannie at last,
+ And what in her hand is she bringing so fast?
+ 'Tis a plate full of something all yellow and white,
+ And she sings as she comes with her smile so bright:
+ "'Tis the best bread-and-butter I ever did see!
+ And it is for Alice's supper, he! he!"
+
+
+
+
+TODDLEKINS.
+
+
+ Butterfly,
+ Flutter by,
+ Through the summer air;
+ Roses bloom,
+ Sweet perfume
+ Shedding everywhere;
+ Robins sing,
+ Bluebells ring
+ Greeting to my dear,
+ When her sweet
+ Tiny feet
+ Bring her toddling here.
+
+ Pitapat!
+ Little fat
+ Funny baby toes!
+ Do not stumble,
+ Or she'll tumble
+ On her baby nose.
+ Closer cling,
+ Little thing,
+ To your mother's side,
+ Baby mine,
+ Fair and fine,
+ Mother's joy and pride.
+
+
+
+
+BOBBILY BOO AND WOLLYPOTUMP.
+
+
+ Bobbily Boo, the king so free,
+ He used to drink the Mango tea.
+ Mango tea and coffee, too,
+ He drank them both till his nose turned blue.
+
+ Wollypotump, the queen so high,
+ She used to eat the Gumbo pie.
+ Gumbo pie and Gumbo cake,
+ She ate them both till her teeth did break.
+
+ Bobbily Boo and Wollypotump,
+ Each called the other a greedy frump.
+ And when these terrible words were said,
+ They sat and cried till they both were dead.
+
+
+
+
+SLEEPYLAND.
+
+
+ Baby's been in Sleepyland,
+ Over the hills, over the hills.
+ Baby's been in Sleepyland
+ All the rainy morning.
+ From the cradle where she lay,
+ Up she jumped and flew away,
+ For Sleepyland is bright and gay
+ Every rainy morning.
+
+ What did you see in Sleepyland,
+ Baby littlest, Baby prettiest?
+ What did you see in Sleepyland,
+ All the rainy morning?
+ Saw the sun that shone so twinkily,
+ Saw the grass that waved so crinkily,
+ Saw the brook that flowed so tinkily,
+ All the lovely morning.
+
+ What did you hear in Sleepyland,
+ Over the hills, over the hills?
+ What did you hear in Sleepyland,
+ All the rainy morning?
+ Heard the winds that wooed so wooingly,
+ Heard the doves that cooed so cooingly,
+ Heard the cows that mooed so mooingly,
+ All the lovely morning.
+
+ What did you do in Sleepyland,
+ Baby littlest, Baby prettiest?
+ What did you do in Sleepyland,
+ All the rainy morning?
+ Sang a song with a blue canary,
+ Danced a dance with a golden fairy,
+ Rode about on a cinnamon beary,
+ All the lovely morning.
+
+ Would I could go to Sleepyland,
+ Over the hills, over the hills;
+ Would I could go to Sleepyland,
+ Every rainy morning.
+ But to Sleepyland, as I have been told,
+ No one may go after three years old,
+ So poor old Mammy stays out in the cold,
+ Every rainy morning.
+
+
+
+
+Little Brown Bobby.
+
+
+ Little Brown Bobby sat on the barn floor
+ Little Brown Bobby looked in at the door,
+ Little Brown Bobby said "Lackaday!
+ Who'll drive me this little brown bobby away?"
+ Little Brown Bobby said "Shoo! shoo! shoo!"
+ Little Brown Bobby said "Moo! moo! moo!"
+ This frightened them so that both of them cried,
+ And wished they were back at their Mammy's side!
+
+
+
+
+PHIL'S SECRET.
+
+
+ I know a little girl,
+ But I won't tell who!
+ Her hair is of the gold,
+ And her eyes are of the blue.
+ Her smile is of the sweet,
+ And her heart is of the true.
+ Such a pretty little girl!--
+ But I won't tell who.
+
+ I see her every day,
+ But I won't tell where!
+ It may be in the lane,
+ By the thorn-tree there.
+ It may be in the garden,
+ By the rose-beds fair.
+ Such a pretty little girl!--
+ But I won't tell where.
+
+ I'll marry her some day,
+ But I won't tell when!
+ The very smallest boys
+ Make the very biggest men.
+ When I'm as tall as father,
+ You may ask about it then.
+ Such a pretty little girl!--
+ But I won't tell when.
+
+
+
+
+A SONG FOR HAL.
+
+
+ Once I saw a little boat, and a pretty, pretty boat,
+ When daybreak the hills was adorning,
+ And into it I jumped, and away I did float,
+ So very, very early in the morning.
+
+ _Chorus._ And every little wave had its nightcap on,
+ Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap on.
+ And every little wave had its nightcap on,
+ So very, very early in the morning.
+
+ All the fishes were asleep in their caves cool and deep,
+ When the ripple round my keel flashed a warning.
+ Said the minnow to the skate, "We must certainly be late,
+ Though I thought 'twas very early in the morning."
+
+ _Chorus._ For every little wave has its nightcap on,
+ Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap on.
+ For every little wave has its nightcap on,
+ So very, very early in the morning.
+
+ The lobster darkly green soon appeared upon the scene,
+ And pearly drops his claws were adorning.
+ Quoth he, "May I be boiled, if I'll have my slumber spoiled,
+ So very, very early in the morning!"
+
+ _Chorus._ For every little wave has its nightcap on,
+ Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap on,
+ For every little wave has its nightcap on,
+ So very, very early in the morning.
+
+ Said the sturgeon to the eel, "Just imagine how I feel,
+ Thus roused without a syllable of warning.
+ People ought to let us know when a-sailing they would go,
+ So very, very early in the morning."
+
+ _Chorus._ When every little wave has its nightcap on,
+ Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap on.
+ When every little wave has its nightcap on,
+ So very, very early in the morning.
+
+ Just then up jumped the sun, and the fishes every one
+ For their laziness at once fell a-mourning.
+ But I stayed to hear no more, for my boat had reached the shore,
+ So very, very early in the morning.
+
+ _Chorus._ And every little wave took its nightcap off,
+ Its nightcap, white cap, nightcap off.
+ And every little wave took its nightcap off,
+ And courtesied to the sun in the morning.
+
+
+
+
+THE FAIRIES.
+
+
+ Is it true, my mother?
+ Can it really be,
+ That the little fairies
+ Every day you see?
+ Oh! the little fairies,
+ Wonderful and wise,
+ Have you really seen them
+ With your own two eyes?
+
+ Tell me where their home is,
+ Dearest mother mine.
+ Is it in the garden
+ 'Neath the clustering vine?
+ Is it in the meadow,
+ 'Mid the grasses tall?
+ Is it by the brookside,
+ Sweetest place of all?
+
+ Deep within the woodland,
+ Shall I find them then,--
+ Pretty little maidens,
+ Pretty little men;
+ Curled among the roseleaves,
+ Stretched along the fern,
+ Where no wind can shake them,
+ And no sunbeams burn?
+
+ Does the little queen live
+ In a great red rose,
+ Twenty elves to fan her
+ When to sleep she goes;
+ Coverlet of lilies
+ Sprinkled o'er with pearls,
+ Golden stars a-twinkling
+ In her golden curls?
+
+ Do they paint the flowers?
+ Do they teach the birds
+ All their lovely music,
+ With its strange, sweet words?
+ Oh! but tell me, mother!
+ Is it really true?
+ And when next you seek them,
+ Will you take me too?
+
+ True it is, my darling,
+ True as true can be,
+ That the little fairies
+ Every day I see,
+ Not within the meadow,
+ Not in woodland gloom,
+ But in brightest sunshine,
+ In this very room.
+
+ Singing like the robin,
+ Chirping like the wren,
+ Pretty little maidens,
+ Pretty little men;
+ Leaning o'er my shoulder,
+ Swinging on my chair,
+ Oh! the little fairies,
+ I see them everywhere.
+
+ Peeping at the window,
+ Peeping at the door,
+ If I bid them scamper,
+ Peeping all the more.
+ Little sweetest voices
+ Laughing merrily,
+ Oh! the little fairies,
+ They'll never let me be.
+
+ Tugging at my apron,
+ Twitching at my gown,
+ Climbing up into my lap,
+ Rumble-tumbling down.
+ Naughty little blue eyes,
+ Full of impish glee,
+ Oh! the little fairies,
+ They'll never let me be!
+
+ All are kings and queens, dear,
+ Every smallest one;
+ And on mother's knee here
+ Is their regal throne.
+ Look into the glass, dear!
+ One of them you'll see.
+ Oh! the little fairies,
+ God bless them all for me!
+
+
+
+
+THE QUEEN OF THE ORKNEY ISLANDS.
+
+
+ Oh! the Queen of the Orkney Islands,
+ She's travelling over the sea:
+ She's bringing a beautiful cuttlefish,
+ To play with my baby and me.
+
+ Oh! his head is three miles long, my dear,
+ His tail is three miles short.
+ And when he goes out he wriggles his snout,
+ In a way that no cuttlefish ought.
+
+ Oh! the Queen of the Orkney Islands,
+ She rides on a sea-green whale.
+ He takes her a mile, with an elegant smile,
+ At every flip of his tail.
+
+ He can snuffle and snore like a Highlandman,
+ And swear like a Portugee;
+ He can amble and prance like a peer of France,
+ And lie like a heathen Chinee.
+
+ [Illustration: QUEEN OF THE ORKNEY ISLANDS.]
+
+ Oh! the Queen of the Orkney Islands,
+ She dresses in wonderful taste.
+ The sea-serpent coils, all painted in oils,
+ Around her bee-yu-tiful waist.
+
+ Oh! her gown is made of the green sea-kale;
+ And though she knows nothing of feet,
+ She can manage her train, with an air of disdain,
+ In a way that is perfectly sweet.
+
+ Oh! the Queen of the Orkney Islands,
+ She's travelling over the main.
+ So we'll hire a hack, and we'll take her straight back
+ To her beautiful Islands again.
+
+
+
+
+BABY'S WAYS.
+
+
+ Toddle, toddle, waddle, waddle,
+ On her little pinky toes.
+ Stumble, stumble, pitch and tumble,
+ That's the way the baby goes.
+
+ Prattle, prattle, rattle, rattle,
+ Little shouts and little shrieks,
+ Tears, with laughter coming after,
+ That's the way the baby speaks.
+
+ Playing, toying, still enjoying
+ Every sweet that Nature gives.
+ Smiling, weeping, waking, sleeping,
+ That's the way the baby lives.
+
+
+
+
+POT AND KETTLE.
+
+ [_To be read to little boys and girls who quarrel with each
+ other._]
+
+
+ "Oho! Oho!" said the pot to the kettle,
+ "You're dirty and ugly and black!
+ Sure no one would think you were made of metal,
+ Except when you're given a crack."
+
+ "Not so! not so!" kettle said to the pot.
+ "'Tis your own dirty image you see.
+ For I am so clear, without blemish or blot,
+ That your blackness is mirrored in me."
+
+
+
+
+PUNKYDOODLE AND JOLLAPIN.
+
+
+ Oh, Pillykin Willykin Winky Wee!
+ How does the Emperor take his tea?
+ He takes it with melons, he takes it with milk,
+ He takes it with syrup and sassafras silk.
+ He takes it without, he takes it within.
+ Oh, Punkydoodle and Jollapin!
+
+ Oh, Pillykin Willykin Winky Wee!
+ How does the Cardinal take his tea?
+ He takes it in Latin, he takes it in Greek,
+ He takes it just seventy times in the week.
+ He takes it so strong that it makes him grin.
+ Oh, Punkydoodle and Jollapin!
+
+ Oh, Pillykin Willykin Winky Wee!
+ How does the Admiral take his tea?
+ He takes it with splices, he takes it with spars,
+ He takes it with jokers and jolly jack tars.
+ And he stirs it round with a dolphin's fin.
+ Oh, Punkydoodle and Jollapin!
+
+ Oh, Pillykin Willykin Winky Wee!
+ How does the President take his tea?
+ He takes it in bed, he takes it in school,
+ He takes it in Congress against the rule.
+ He takes it with brandy, and thinks it no sin.
+ Oh, Punkydoodle and Jollapin!
+
+
+
+
+MRS. SNIPKIN AND MRS. WOBBLECHIN.
+
+
+ Skinny Mrs. Snipkin,
+ With her little pipkin,
+ Sat by the fireside a-warming of her toes.
+ Fat Mrs. Wobblechin,
+ With her little doublechin,
+ Sat by the window a-cooling of her nose.
+
+ Says this one to that one,
+ "Oh! you silly fat one,
+ _Will_ you shut the window down? You're freezing me to death!"
+ Says that one to t'other one,
+ "Good gracious, how you bother one!
+ There isn't air enough for me to draw my precious breath!"
+
+ Skinny Mrs. Snipkin,
+ Took her little pipkin,
+ Threw it straight across the room as hard as she could throw;
+ Hit Mrs. Wobblechin
+ On her little doublechin,
+ And out of the window a-tumble she did go.
+
+
+
+
+MY SUNBEAMS.
+
+
+ Oh, what shall we do for the Lovely
+ This rainy, rainy day?
+ Oh! how shall we make the baby laugh,
+ When everything's dull and gray?
+
+ The sun has gone on a picnic,
+ The moon has gone to bed,
+ The tiresome sky does nothing but cry,
+ As if its best friend were dead.
+
+ Come hither, come hither, my Sunbeams!
+ Come one, and two, and three;
+ And now in a trice we'll have the room
+ As sunny as sunny can be.
+
+ Come, dimpling, dimpling Dumpling,
+ Come, Rosy, Posy Rose,
+ Come, little boy Billy a-toddling round
+ On little fat tottering toes.
+
+ Now twinkle, now twinkle, my Sunbeams!
+ Now twinkle and laugh and dance,
+ And brush me the gloom straight out of the room,
+ Nor leave it the ghost of a chance.
+
+ Aha! see the Lovely smile now!
+ Aha! see her jump and crow!
+ As round and round, with laugh and dance,
+ My three merry Sunbeams go.
+
+ And who cares now for the raindrops?
+ Who cares for the gloomy day,
+ When each little heart is doing its part
+ To make us all glad and gay?
+
+ You moon, you may stay in bed now;
+ You sun, you may wander and roam;
+ And cry away, cry, you tiresome sky!
+ We've plenty of sunshine at home!
+
+
+
+
+IN THE CLOSET.
+
+
+ They've took away the ball,
+ Oh dear!
+ And I'll never get it back,
+ I fear.
+ And now they've gone away,
+ And left me for to stay
+ All alone the livelong day,
+ In here.
+
+ It was my ball, anyhow,
+ Not his:
+ For he never had a ball
+ Like this.
+ Such a coward you'll not see,
+ E'en if you should live to be
+ Old as Deuteronomy,
+ As he is.
+
+ I'm sure I meant no harm,
+ None at all!
+ I just held out my hand
+ For the ball,
+ And--somehow--it hit his head.
+ Then his nose it went and bled,
+ And as if I 'd killed him dead
+ He did bawl.
+
+ Mother said I was a naughty
+ Little wretch.
+ And Aunt Jane said the police
+ She would fetch.
+ And that nurse, who's always glad
+ Of a chance to make me mad,
+ Said, "indeed she never _had_
+ Seen sech!"
+
+ No! I never, never _will_
+ Be good!
+ I'll go and be a babe
+ In the wood.
+ I'll run away to sea,
+ And a pirate I will be.
+ Then they'll never _dare_ call me
+ Rough and rude.
+
+ How hungry I am getting!
+ Let me see!
+ I wonder what they're going to have
+ For tea.
+ Of course there will be jam
+ And--oh! that potted ham!
+ How unfortunate I am!
+ Dear me!
+
+ Oh! it's growing very dark
+ In here.
+ And that shadow in the corner
+ Looks so queer!
+ Won't they bring me any light?
+ Must I stay in here all night?
+ I shall surely die of fright.
+ Oh dear!
+
+ Mother, darling, will you _never_
+ Come back?
+ _Oh! I'm sorry that I hit him
+ Such a crack!_
+ Hark! yes, 'tis her voice I hear!
+ Now good-by to every fear!
+ For she's calling me her dear
+ Little Jack!
+
+
+
+
+BED-TIME.
+
+
+ How many toes has the tootsey foot?
+ One, two, three, four, five.
+ Shut them all up in the little red sock,
+ Snugger than bees in a hive.
+
+ How many fingers has little wee hand?
+ Four, and a little wee thumb.
+ Shut them up under the bedclothes tight,
+ For fear that Jack Frost should come.
+
+ How many eyes has the Baby Bo?
+ Two, so shining and bright.
+ Shut them up under the little white lids.
+ And kiss them a loving good-night.
+
+
+
+
+BIRD-SONG.
+
+
+ Sweet! sweet! sweet! sweet!
+ Sing we in the morning,
+ Sending up to heaven's blue our happy waking song;
+ Daily, gayly, our tiny home adorning,
+ Working all so merrily the whole day long.
+
+ Sweet! sweet! sweet! sweet!
+ Sing we in the noontide;
+ Half the day is over now, half our work is done;
+ Neatly, featly, the moss and twigs are blended,
+ Feather, flower, leaf, and stems, all added one by one.
+
+ Sweet! sweet! sweet! sweet!
+ Sing we in the evening;
+ Happy day is past, past, happy night begun;
+ Wooing, cooing, we nestle 'mid the branches,
+ Sinking down to rest with the sinking of the sun.
+
+ Soft, soft, soft, soft,
+ Sleep we through the still night;
+ Tiny head 'neath tiny wing comfortably curled,
+ Singing, springing, with the breath of morning,
+ Waking up once more to all the wonder of the world.
+
+
+
+
+GEOGRAPHI.
+
+ [AIR: _There was a maid in my countree._]
+
+
+ There was a man in Manitoba,
+ The only man that ever was thar;
+ His name was Nicholas Jones McGee,
+ And he loved a maid in Mirimichi.
+
+ _Chorus._
+
+ Sing ha! ha! ha! for Manitoba!
+ Sing he! he! he! for Mirimichi!
+ Sing hi! hi! hi! for Geographi!
+ And that's the lesson for you and me.
+
+ There was a man in New Mexico,
+ He lost his grandmother out in the snow;
+ But his heart was light, and his ways were free,
+ So he bought him another in Santa Fe.
+
+ _Chorus._
+
+ Sing ho! ho! ho! for New Mexico!
+ Sing he! he! he! for Santa Fe!
+ Sing hi! hi! hi! for Geographi!
+ And that's the lesson for you and me.
+
+ There was a man in Austra-li-a,
+ He sat and wept on the new-mown hay;
+ He jumped on the tail of a kangaroo.
+ And rode till he came to Kalamazoo.
+
+ _Chorus._ Sing hey! hey! hey! for Austra-li-a!
+ Sing hoo! hoo! hoo! for Kalamazoo!
+ Sing hi! hi! hi! for Geographi!
+ And that's the lesson for me and you.
+
+ There was a man in Jiggerajum,
+ He went to sea in a kettle-drum;
+ He sailed away to the Salisbury Shore,
+ And I never set eyes on that man any more.
+
+ _Chorus._ Sing hum! hum! hum! for Jiggerajum!
+ Sing haw! haw! haw! for the Salisbury Shore!
+ Sing hi! hi! hi! for Geographi!
+ And that's the lesson the whole world o'er.
+
+
+
+
+HIGGLEDY-PIGGLEDY.
+
+
+ Higgledy-piggledy went to school,
+ Looking so nice and neat!
+ Clean little mittens on clean little hands,
+ Clean little shoes on his feet.
+ Jacket and trousers all nicely brushed,
+ Collar and cuffs like snow.
+ "See that you come home as neat to-night,
+ Higgledy-piggledy oh!"
+
+ Higgledy-piggledy came from school,
+ In such a woful plight,
+ All the people he met on the road
+ Ran screaming away with fright.
+ One shoe gone for ever and aye,
+ T'other one stiff with mud,
+ Dirt-spattered jacket half torn from his back,
+ Mittens both lost in the wood.
+
+ Higgledy-piggledy stayed in bed
+ All a long, pleasant day,
+ While his father fished for his other boot
+ In the roadside mud and clay.
+ All day long his mother must mend,
+ Wash and iron and sew,
+ Before she can make him fit to be seen,
+ Higgledy-piggledy oh!
+
+
+
+
+BELINDA BLONDE.
+
+
+ Belinda Blonde was a beautiful doll,
+ With rosy-red cheeks and a flaxen poll.
+ Her lips were red, and her eyes were blue,
+ But to say she was happy would not be true;
+ For she pined for love of the great big Jack
+ Who lived in the Box so grim and black.
+
+ She never had looked on the Jack his face;
+ But she fancied it shining with beauty and grace,
+ And all the day long she would murmur and pout,
+ Because Jack-in-the-box would never come out.
+
+ "Oh, beautiful, beautiful Jack-in-the-box,
+ Undo your bolts and undo your locks!
+ The cupboard is shut, and there's no one about:
+ Oh! Jack-in-the-box, jump out! jump out!"
+
+ But alas! alas! for Belinda Blonde,
+ And alas! alas! for her dreamings fond.
+ There soon was an end to all her doubt,
+ For Jack-in-the-box really _did_ jump out,--
+
+ Out with a crash and out with a spring,
+ Half black and half scarlet, a horrible thing.
+ Out with a yell and a shriek and a shout,
+ His great goggle-eyes glaring wildly about.
+
+ "And what did Belinda do?" you say.
+ Alas! before she could get out of the way,
+ The monster struck her full on the head,
+ And with pain and with terror she fell down dead.
+
+
+MORAL.
+
+ Now all you dolls, both little and big,
+ With china crown and with curling wig,
+ Before you give way to affection fond,
+ Remember the fate of Belinda Blonde!
+ And unless you're fond of terrible knocks,
+ _Don't_ set your heart on a Jack-in-the-box!
+
+
+
+
+TOMMY'S DREAM; OR, THE GEOGRAPHY DEMON.
+
+
+ I hate my geography lesson!
+ It's nothing but nonsense and names.
+ To bother me so every Thursday,
+ I think it's the greatest of shames.
+ The brooklets flow into the rivers,
+ The rivers flow into the sea;
+ For my part, I hope they enjoy it!
+ But what does it matter to me?
+ Of late even more I've disliked it,
+ More thoroughly odious it seems,
+ Ever since that sad night of last winter,
+ When I had that most frightful of dreams.
+ I'd studied two hours that evening,
+ On mountains and rivers and lakes;
+
+ When I'd promised to go down to Grandpa's,
+ For one of Aunt Susan's plum-cakes.
+ She sent me one, though, and I ate it
+ On the stairs, before going to bed;
+ And those stupid old mountains and rivers
+ Were dancing all night through my head.
+ I dreamed that a horrible monster
+ Came suddenly into my room,--
+ A frightful Geography Demon,
+ Enveloped in darkness and gloom.
+ His body and head like a mountain,
+ A volcano on top for hat;
+ His arms and his legs were like rivers,
+ With a brook round his neck for cravat.
+ He laid on my trembling shoulder
+ His fingers cold, clammy, and long;
+ And rolling his red eyes upon me,
+ He roared out this horrible song:--
+
+ "Come! come! rise and come
+ Away to the banks of the Muskingum!
+ It rolls o'er the plains of Timbuctoo,
+ With the Peak of Teneriffe just in view;
+ And the cataracts leap in the pale moonshine,
+ As they dance o'er the cliffs of Brandywine.
+
+ "Flee! flee! rise and flee
+ Away to the banks of the Tombigbee!
+ We'll pass by Alaska's flowery strand,
+ Where the emerald towers of Pekin stand;
+ We'll pass it by, and we'll rest awhile
+ On Michillimackinack's tropic isle;
+ While the apes of Barbary frisk around,
+ And the parrots crow with a lovely sound.
+
+ "Hie! hie! rise and hie
+ Away to the banks of the Yang-tse-kai!
+ There the giant mountains of Oshkosh stand,
+ And the icebergs gleam through the shifting sand;
+ While the elephant sits in the palm-tree high,
+ And the cannibal feasts upon bad-boy pie.
+
+ "Go! go! rise and go
+ Away to the banks of the Hoang-ho!
+ There the Chickasaw sachem is making his tea,
+ And the kettle boils and waits for thee.
+ I'll smite thee, ho! and I'll lay thee low,
+ On the beautiful banks of the Hoang-ho!"
+
+ These terrible words were still sounding
+ Like trumpets and drums through my head,
+ When the monster clutched tighter my shoulder,
+ And dragged me half out of the bed.
+ In terror I clung to the bedpost,
+ But the faithless bedpost broke;
+ I screamed out aloud in my anguish,
+ And suddenly--well--I awoke!!--
+ No monster--no music--all silence,
+ Save mother's soft accents so mild:
+ "No, Father, you need not be anxious!
+ I know now what troubles the child.
+ I'll give him a little hot ginger
+ As soon as he's fairly awake;
+ His frightful Geography Demon
+ Is just his Aunt Susan's plum-cake!"
+
+
+
+
+POLLY'S YEAR.
+
+
+ JANUARY 1.
+
+ Come sit on my knee and tell me here,
+ Polly, my dear, Polly, my dear,
+ What do you mean to do this year?
+
+ I mean to be good the whole year long,
+ And never do anything careless or wrong;
+ I mean to learn all my lessons right,
+ And do my sums, if I sit up all night.
+ I mean to keep all my frocks so clean,
+ Nurse never will say I'm "not fit to be seen."
+ I mean not to break even one of my toys,
+ And I never, oh! _never_ will make any noise.
+ In short, Uncle Ned, as you'll very soon see,
+ The best little girl in the world I shall be.
+
+
+DECEMBER 31.
+
+ Come sit on my knee and let me hear,
+ Polly, my dear, Polly, my dear,
+ What you have done in the course of the year.
+
+ Oh dear! Uncle Ned, oh dear! and oh dear!
+ I'm afraid it has _not_ been a very good year.
+ For somehow my sums _would_ come out wrong,
+ And somehow my frocks wouldn't stay clean long.
+ And somehow I've often been dreadfully cross,
+ And somehow I broke my new rocking-horse.
+ And somehow Nurse says I have made such a noise,
+ I might just as well have been one of the boys.
+ In short, Uncle Ned, I very much fear
+ You must wait for my goodness another year.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT THE ROBINS SING IN THE MORNING.
+
+
+ Wake! wake! children, wake!
+ Here we're singing for your sake,
+ Chirrup! chirrup! chirrup! chee!
+ Sweet a song as sweet can be.
+
+ Rise! rise! children, rise!
+ Shake the poppies from your eyes.
+ Sweet! sweet! chirrup! tweet!
+ Morning blossoms at your feet.
+
+ Song and sweetness, dawn and dew,
+ All are waiting now for you.
+ Wake! wake! children, wake!
+ Here we're singing for your sake.
+
+
+
+
+THE EVE OF THE GLORIOUS FOURTH.
+
+
+ I.
+
+ Robby and Bobby and Billy and Ned,
+ Philip and Peter and Guy,
+ They vowed, every one, they'd have glorious fun
+ On the glorious Fourth of July.
+ They spent all their money on trumpets and drums,
+ On fish-horns and pistols and guns,
+ On elephant crackers (which they pronounced "whackers"),
+ On toffee, torpedoes, and buns.
+
+
+ II.
+
+ Robby and Bobby and Billy and Ned,
+ Philip and Peter and Guy,
+ They said with delight, "We will sit up all night,
+ To make ready for Fourth of July.
+ We will beat on our drums till the constable comes,
+ And then we will hasten away.
+ We will toot the gay horn till the coming of morn,
+ The morn of the glorious day."
+
+
+ III.
+
+ Robby and Bobby and Billy and Ned,
+ Philip and Peter and Guy,
+ They made such a noise that the other small boys
+ With envy were ready to die.
+ They made such a din that the neighbors within
+ With fury were ready to choke,
+ With rage at the drumming and strumming and humming,
+ The pistols and powder and smoke.
+
+
+ IV.
+
+ Robby and Bobby and Billy and Ned,
+ Philip and Peter and Guy,
+ They thought 'twould be best for a moment to rest,
+ And their toffee and buns for to try.
+ On the steps of a house they began to carouse,
+ And they shouted and shrieked in their glee,
+ As they fired their guns and devoured their buns
+ In a manner both frolic and free.
+
+
+ V.
+
+ Robby and Bobby and Billy and Ned,
+ Philip and Peter and Guy,
+ Ah! nothing they saw of the opening door,
+ Nothing knew of the peril so nigh.
+ A horrid great man with a watering-can
+ Was standing behind them so still,
+ And suddenly down on each curly crown
+ Its contents he poured with a will.
+
+
+ VI.
+
+ Robby and Bobby and Billy and Ned,
+ Philip and Peter and Guy,
+ With squeaks and with squeals did they take to their heels,
+ While their enemy after did fly.
+ And he beat them with sticks, and he kicked them with kicks,
+ And he thumped on their heads with the can,
+ And half-way up the street he pursued them so fleet,
+ Still thumping their heads as he ran.
+
+
+ VII.
+
+ Robby and Bobby and Billy and Ned,
+ Philip and Peter and Guy,
+ They said, every one, that it wasn't much fun
+ Getting ready for Fourth of July.
+ They crept to their beds and they laid down their heads,
+ And they slept till the sun was on high,
+ And when they awaked, so sorely they ached,
+ That they just could do nothing but cry.
+
+
+
+
+THE DANDY CAT.
+
+
+ To Sir Green-eyes Grimalkin de Tabby de Sly
+ His mistress remarked one day,
+ "I'm tormented, my cat, both by mouse and by rat:
+ Come rid me of them, I pray!
+
+ "For though you're a cat of renowned descent,
+ And your kittenhood's long been gone,
+ Yet never a trace of the blood of your race
+ In battle or siege you've shown."
+
+ Sir Green-eyes Grimalkin de Tabby de Sly
+ Arose from his downy bed.
+ He washed himself o'er, from his knightly paw
+ To the top of his knightly head.
+
+ And he curled his whiskers, and combed his hair,
+ And put on his perfumed gloves;
+ And his sword he girt on, which had never been drawn
+ Save to dazzle the eyes of his loves.
+
+ And when he had cast one admiring glance
+ On the looking-glass tall and fair,
+ To the pantry he passed; but he stood aghast,
+ For lo! the pantry was bare!
+
+ The pickles, the cookies, the pies were gone!
+ And naught remained on the shelf
+ Save the bone of a ham, which lay cold and calm,
+ The ghost of its former self.
+
+ Sir Green-eyes Grimalkin stood sore dismayed,
+ And he looked for the mice and rats.
+ But they, every one, had been long since gone
+ Far, far from the reach of cats.
+
+ For while he was donning his satin pelisse,
+ And his ribbons and laces gay,
+ They had finished their feast, without hurry the least,
+ And had tranquilly trotted away.
+
+ The mistress of Green-eyes Grimalkin de Sly,
+ A woman full stern was she.
+ She came to the door, and she rated him sore
+ When the state of the case she did see.
+
+ She grasped him, spite of his knightly blood,
+ By the tip of his knightly tail;
+ His adornments she stripped, and his body she dipped
+ Three times in the water-pail.
+
+ She plunged him thrice 'neath the icy flood,
+ Then turned him out-doors to dry;
+ And terror and cold on his feelings so told,
+ That he really was like to die.
+
+ And now in this world 'twould be hard to find,
+ Although you looked low and high,
+ A cat who cares less for the beauties of dress
+ Than Sir Green-eyes Grimalkin de Sly.
+
+
+
+
+A PARTY.
+
+
+ On Willy's birthday, as you see,
+ These little boys have come to tea.
+ But, oh! how very sad to tell!
+ They have not been behaving well.
+ For ere they took a single bite,
+ They all began to scold and fight.
+
+ The little boy whose name was Ned,
+ He wanted jelly on his bread;
+ The little boy whose name was Sam,
+ He vowed he would have damson jam;
+ The little boy whose name was Phil
+ Said, "I'll have honey! _Yes_--I--WILL!!"
+
+ BUT--
+
+ The little boy whose name was Paul,
+ While they were quarrelling, ate it all.
+
+
+
+
+JUMBO JEE.
+
+
+ There were some kings, in number three,
+ Who built the tower of Jumbo Jee.
+ They built it up to a monstrous height,
+ At eleven o'clock on a Thursday night.
+
+ They built it up for forty miles,
+ With mutual bows and pleasing smiles;
+ And then they sat on the edge to rest,
+ And partook of lunch with a cheerful zest.
+
+ And first they ate of the porkly pie,
+ And wondered why they had built so high;
+ And next they drank of the ginger wine,
+ Which gave their noses a regal shine.
+
+ They drank to the health of Jumbo Jee,
+ Until they could neither hear nor see.
+ They drank to the health of Jumbo Land,
+ Until they could neither walk nor stand.
+
+ They drank to the health of Jumbo Tower
+ Until they really could drink no more;
+ And then they sank in a blissful swoon,
+ And flung their crowns at the rising moon.
+
+
+
+
+AN INDIAN BALLAD.
+
+
+ Whopsy Whittlesey Whanko Whee,
+ Howly old, growly old Indian he,
+ Lived on the hills of the Mungo-Paws,
+ With all his pappooses and all his squaws.
+ There was Wah-wah-bocky, the Blue-nosed Goose,
+ And Ching-gach-gocky, the Capering Moose:
+ There was Pecksy Wiggin, and Squaw-pan too,
+ But the fairest of all was Michiky Moo.
+ Michiky Moo, the Savory Tart,
+ Pride of Whittlesey Whanko's heart;
+ Michiky Moo, the Cherokee Pie,
+ Apple of Whittlesey Whanko's eye.
+ Whittlesey Whanko loved her so
+ That the other squaws did with envy glow;
+ And each said to the other, "Now, what shall we do
+ To spoil the beauty of Michiky Moo?"
+ "We'll lure her away to the mountain top,
+ And there her head we will neatly chop."
+ "We'll wile her away to the forest's heart,
+ And shoot her down with a poisoned dart."
+ "We'll lead her away to the river-side,
+ And there she shall be the Manito's bride."
+ "Oh! one of these things we will surely do,
+ And we'll spoil the beauty of Michiky Moo."
+ "Michiky Moo, thou Cherokee Pie,
+ Away with me to the mountain high!"
+ "Nay, my sister, I will not roam.
+ I'm safer and happier here at home."
+ "Michiky Moo, thou Savory Tart,
+ Away with me to the forest's heart!"
+ "Nay! my sister, I will not go;
+ I fear the dart of some hidden foe."
+ "Michiky Moo, old Whittlesey's pride,
+ Away with me to the river-side!"
+ "Nay! my sister, for fear I fall!
+ And wouldst thou come if thou heardst me call?"
+ "Now choose thee, choose thee thy way of death!
+ For soon thou shalt draw thy latest breath!
+ We all have sworn that this day we'll see
+ The last, proud Michiky Moo, of thee!"
+ Whittlesey Whanko, hidden near,
+ Each and all of these words did hear.
+ He summoned his braves, all painted for war,
+ And gave them in charge each guilty squaw:
+ "Take Wah-wah-bocky, the Blue-nosed Goose;
+ Take Ching-gach-gocky, the Capering Moose;
+ Take Peeksy Wiggin, and Squaw-pan too,
+ And leave me alone with my Michiky Moo.
+ This one away to the mountain top,
+ And there her head ye shall neatly chop;
+ This one away to the forest's heart,
+ And shoot her down with a poisoned dart;
+ This one away to the river-side,
+ And there she shall be the Manito's bride;
+ Away with them all, the woodlands through!
+ For I'll have no squaw save Michiky Moo."
+ Away went the braves, without question or pause,
+ And they soon put an end to the guilty squaws.
+ They pleasantly smiled when the deed was done,
+ Saying, "Ping-ko-chanky! oh! isn't it fun!"
+ And then they all danced the Buffalo dance,
+ And capered about with ambiguous prance,
+ While they drank to the health of the lovers so true,
+ Bold Whittlesey Whanko and Michiky Moo.
+
+
+
+
+THE EGG.
+
+
+ Oh! how shall I get it, how shall I get it,--
+ A nice little new-laid egg?
+ My grandmamma told me to run to the barn-yard,
+ And see if just one I could beg.
+
+ "Moolly-cow, Moolly-cow, down in the meadow,
+ Have you any eggs, I pray?"
+ The Moolly-cow stares as if I were crazy,
+ And solemnly stalks away.
+
+ "Oh! Doggie, Doggie, perhaps you may have it,
+ That nice little egg for me."
+ But Doggie just wags his tail and capers,
+ And never an egg has he.
+
+ "Now, Dobbin, Dobbin, I'm sure you must have one,
+ Hid down in your manger there."
+ But Dobbin lays back his ears and whinnies,
+ With "Come and look, if you dare!"
+
+ "Piggywig, Piggywig, grunting and squealing,
+ Are you crying 'Fresh eggs for sale'?"
+ No! Piggy, you're very cold and unfeeling,
+ With that impudent quirk in your tail.
+
+ "You wise old Gobbler, you look so knowing,
+ I'm sure you can find me an egg.
+ You stupid old thing! just to say 'Gobble-gobble!'
+ And balance yourself on one leg."
+
+ Oh! how shall I get it, how shall I get it,--
+ That little white egg so small?
+ I've asked every animal here in the barn-yard,
+ And they won't give me any at all.
+
+ But after I'd hunted until I was tired,
+ I found--not one egg, but ten!
+ And you _never_ could guess where they all were hidden,--
+ Right under our old speckled hen!
+
+
+
+
+WOULDN'T.
+
+
+ She _wouldn't_ have on her naughty bib!
+ She _wouldn't_ get into her naughty crib!
+ She _wouldn't_ do this, and she _wouldn't_ do that,
+ And she _would_ put her foot in her Sunday hat.
+
+ She _wouldn't_ look over her picture-book!
+ She _wouldn't_ run out to help the cook!
+ She _wouldn't_ be petted or coaxed or teased,
+ And she _would_ do _exactly whatever_ she pleased.
+
+ She _wouldn't_ have naughty rice to eat!
+ She _wouldn't_ be gentle and good and sweet!
+ She _wouldn't_ give me one single kiss,
+ And pray what could we do with a girl like this?
+
+ We tickled her up, and we tickled her down,
+ From her toddling toes to her curling crown.
+ And we kissed her and tossed her, until she was fain
+ To promise she wouldn't say "wouldn't" again.
+
+
+
+
+WILL-O'-THE-WISP.
+
+
+ "Will-o'-the-wisp! Will-o'-the-wisp!
+ Show me your lantern true!
+ Over the meadow and over the hill,
+ Gladly I'll follow you.
+ Never I'll murmur nor ask to rest,
+ And ever I'll be your friend,
+ If you'll only give me the pot of gold
+ That lies at your journey's end."
+
+ Will-o'-the-wisp, Will-o'-the-wisp,
+ Lighted his lantern true;
+ Over the meadow and over the hill,
+ Away and away he flew.
+ And away and away went the poor little boy,
+ Trudging along so bold,
+ And thinking of naught but the journey's end,
+ And the wonderful pot of gold.
+
+ Will-o'-the-wisp, Will-o'-the-wisp,
+ Flew down to a lonely swamp;
+ He put out his lantern and vanished away
+ In the evening chill and damp.
+ And the poor little boy went shivering home,
+ Wet and tired and cold;
+ He had come, alas! to his journey's end,
+ But where was the pot of gold?
+
+
+
+
+NONSENSE VERSES.
+
+
+ I.
+
+ Nicholas Ned,
+ He lost his head,
+ And put a turnip on instead;
+ But then, ah me!
+ He could not see,
+ So he thought it was night, and he went to bed.
+
+
+ II.
+
+ Ponsonby Perks,
+ He fought with Turks,
+ Performing many wonderful works;
+ He killed over forty,
+ High-minded and haughty,
+ And cut off their heads with smiles and smirks.
+
+
+ III.
+
+ Winifred White,
+ She married a fright,
+ She called him her darling, her duck, and delight;
+ The back of his head
+ Was so lovely, she said,
+ It dazzled her soul and enraptured her sight.
+
+
+ IV.
+
+ Harriet Hutch,
+ Her conduct was such,
+ Her uncle remarked it would conquer the Dutch:
+ She boiled her new bonnet,
+ And breakfasted on it,
+ And rode to the moon on her grandmother's crutch.
+
+
+
+
+AN OLD RAT'S TALE.
+
+
+ He was a rat, and she was a rat,
+ And down in one hole they did dwell.
+ And each was as black as your Sunday hat,
+ And they loved one another well.
+
+ He had a tail, and she had a tail;
+ Both long and curling and fine.
+ And each said, "My love's is the finest tail
+ In the world, excepting mine!"
+
+ He smelt the cheese, and she smelt the cheese,
+ And they both pronounced it good;
+ And both remarked it would greatly add
+ To the charms of their daily food.
+
+ So he ventured out and she ventured out;
+ And I saw them go with pain.
+ But what them befell I never can tell,
+ For they never came back again.
+
+
+
+
+TO THE LITTLE GIRL WHO WRIGGLES.
+
+
+ Don't wriggle about any more, my dear!
+ I'm sure all your joints must be sore, my dear!
+ It's wriggle and jiggle, it's twist and it's wiggle,
+ Like an eel on a shingly shore, my dear,
+ Like an eel on a shingly shore.
+
+ Oh! how do you think you would feel, my dear,
+ If you should turn into an eel, my dear?
+ With never an arm to protect you from harm,
+ And no sign of a toe or a heel, my dear,
+ No sign of a toe or a heel?
+
+ And what do you think you would do, my dear,
+ Far down in the water so blue, my dear,
+ Where the prawns and the shrimps, with their curls and their crimps,
+ Would turn up their noses at you, my dear,
+ Would turn up their noses at you?
+
+ The crab he would give you a nip, my dear,
+ And the lobster would lend you a clip, my dear.
+ And perhaps if a shark should come by in the dark,
+ Down his throat you might happen to slip, my dear,
+ Down his throat you might happen to slip.
+
+ Then try to sit still on your chair, my dear!
+ To your parents 'tis no more than fair, my dear.
+ For we really don't feel like inviting an eel
+ Our board and our lodging to share, my dear,
+ Our board and our lodging to share.
+
+
+
+
+The Forty Little Ducklings.
+
+ [_A story with a certain amount of truth in it._]
+
+
+ The forty little ducklings who lived up at the farm,
+ They said unto each other, "Oh! the day is very warm!"
+ They said unto each other, "Oh! the river's very cool!
+ The duck who did not seek it now would surely be a fool."
+
+ The forty little ducklings, they started down the road;
+ And waddle, waddle, waddle, was the gait at which they goed.
+ The same it is not grammar,--you may change it if you choose,--
+ But one cannot stop for trifles when inspired by the Muse.
+
+ They waddled and they waddled and they waddled on and on.
+ Till one remarked, "Oh! deary me, where is the river gone?
+ We asked the Ancient Gander, and he said 'twas very near.
+ He must have been deceiving us, or else himself, I fear."
+
+ They waddled and they waddled, till no further they could go:
+ Then down upon a mossy bank they sat them in a row.
+ They took their little handkerchiefs and wept a little weep,
+ And then they put away their heads, and then they went to sleep.
+
+ There came along a farmer, with a basket on his arm,
+ And all those little duckylings he took back to the farm.
+ He put them in their little beds, and wished them sweet repose,
+ And fastened mustard plasters on their little webby toes.
+
+ Next day these little ducklings, they were very very ill.
+ Their mother sent for Doctor Quack, who gave them each a pill;
+ But soon as they recovered, the first thing that they did,
+ Was to peck the Ancient Gander, till he ran away and hid.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOUSE.
+
+
+ I'm only a poor little mouse, Ma'am.
+ I live in the wall of your house, Ma'am.
+ With a fragment of cheese,
+ And a _very few_ peas,
+ I was having a little carouse, Ma'am.
+
+ No mischief at all I intend, Ma'am.
+ I hope you will act as my friend, Ma'am.
+ If my life you should take,
+ Many hearts it would break,
+ And the mischief would be without end, Ma'am.
+
+ My wife lives in there, in the crack, Ma'am,
+ She's waiting for me to come back, Ma'am.
+ She hoped I might find
+ A bit of a rind,
+ For the children their dinner do lack, Ma'am.
+
+ 'Tis hard living there in the wall, Ma'am,
+ For plaster and mortar _will_ pall, Ma'am,
+ On the minds of the young,
+ And when specially hung--
+ Ry, upon their poor father they'll fall, Ma'am.
+
+ I never was given to strife, Ma'am,--
+ (Don't look at that terrible knife, Ma'am!)
+ The noise overhead
+ That disturbs you in bed,
+ 'Tis the rats, I will venture my life, Ma'am.
+
+ In your eyes I see mercy, I'm sure, Ma'am.
+ Oh, there's no need to open the door, Ma'am.
+ I'll slip through the crack,
+ And I'll never come back,
+ Oh! I'll _never_ come back any more, Ma'am!
+
+
+
+
+A VALENTINE.
+
+
+ Oh, little loveliest lady mine!
+ What shall I send for your valentine?
+ Summer and flowers are far away,
+ Gloomy old Winter is king to-day,
+ Buds will not blow, and sun will not shine;
+ What shall I do for a valentine?
+
+ Prithee, Saint Valentine, tell me here,
+ Why do you come at this time o' year?
+ Plenty of days when lilies are white,
+ Plenty of days when sunbeams are bright;
+ But now, when everything's dark and drear,
+ Why do you come, Saint Valentine dear?
+
+ I've searched the gardens all through and through,
+ For a bud to tell of my love so true;
+ But buds are asleep, and blossoms are dead,
+ And the snow beats down on my poor little head;
+ So, little loveliest lady mine,
+ Here is my heart for your valentine.
+
+
+
+
+JAMIE IN THE GARDEN.
+
+
+ How is a little boy to know
+ About these berries all,
+ That ripen all the summer through,
+ From spring-time until fall?
+
+ I must not eat them till they're ripe,
+ I know that very well;
+ But each kind ripens differently,
+ So how am I to tell?
+
+ Though strawberries and raspberries,
+ When ripe, are glowing red,
+ Red blackberries I must not touch,
+ Mamma has lately said.
+
+ And though no one of these is fit
+ To touch when it is green,
+ Ripe gooseberries, as green as grass,
+ At Grandpapa's I've seen.
+
+ And peas are green when they are ripe;
+ Some kinds of apples too.
+ But they're not berries; neither are
+ These currants, it is true.
+
+ These currants, now! why, some are red,
+ And some are brilliant green.
+ "Don't eat unripe ones!" said Mamma.
+ But which ones did she mean?
+
+ To disobey her would be wrong.
+ To leave them I am loath.
+ I really _can't_ find out, unless--
+ Unless I eat them both!
+
+ [_He eats them both._]
+
+
+
+
+SOMEBODY'S BOY (NOT MINE).
+
+
+ When he was up he cried to get down,
+ And when he was in he cried to get out;
+ And no little boy in Boston town
+ Was ever so ready to fret and pout.
+ Poutsy, oh!
+ And fretsy, oh!
+ And spend the whole day in a petsy, oh!
+ And what shall we do to this bad little man,
+ But scold him as hard as we possibly can!
+
+ When he was cold he cried to be warm,
+ And when he was warm he cried to be cold;
+ And all the morning 'twas scold and storm,
+ And all the evening 'twas storm and scold.
+ Stormy, oh!
+ And scoldy, oh!
+ And never do what he was toldy, oh!
+ And what shall we do to this bad little man,
+ But scold him as hard as we possibly can!
+
+
+
+
+BOGY.
+
+
+ His eyes are green and his nose is brown,
+ His feet go up and his head goes down,
+ And so he goes galloping through the town,
+ The king of the Hobbledygoblins.
+ His heels stick out and his toes stick in,
+ He wears his mustaches upon his chin,
+ And he glares about with a horrible grin,
+ The king of the Hobbledygoblins.
+
+ No naughty boys can escape his eyes;
+ He clutches them, 'spite of their tears and sighs,
+ And away at a terrible pace he hies
+ To his castle of Killemaneetem;
+ There he shuts them up under lock and key,
+ And feeds them on blacking and grasshopper tea,
+ And if ever they try to get out, you see,
+ Why, this is the way he'll treat 'em.
+
+ [_Here Mamma may toss the little boy up in the air, or shake
+ him, or tickle his little chin, whichever he likes best._]
+
+ Now, Johnny and Tommy, you'd better look out!
+ All day you've done nothing but quarrel and pout,
+ And nobody knows what it's all about,
+ But it gives me a great deal of pain, dears.
+ So, Johnny and Tommy, be good, I pray,
+ Or the king will be after you some fine day,
+ And off to his castle he'll whisk you away,
+ And we never shall see you again, dears!
+
+
+
+
+THE MERMAIDENS.
+
+
+ The little white mermaidens live in the sea,
+ In a palace of silver and gold;
+ And their neat little tails are all covered with scales,
+ Most beautiful for to behold.
+
+ On wild white horses they ride, they ride,
+ And in chairs of pink coral they sit;
+ They swim all the night, with a smile of delight,
+ And never feel tired a bit.
+
+
+
+THE PHRISKY PHROG
+
+
+ Now list, oh! list to the piteous tale
+ Of the Phrisky Phrog and the Sylvan Snayle;
+ Of their lives and their loves, their joys and their woes,
+ And all about them that any one knows.
+
+ The Phrog lived down in a grewsome bog,
+ The Snayle in a hole in the end of a log;
+ And they loved each other so fond and true,
+ They didn't know what in the world to do.
+
+ For the Snayle declared 'twas too cold and damp
+ For a lady to live in a grewsome swamp;
+ While her lover replied, that a hole in a log
+ Was no possible place for a Phrisky Phrog.
+
+ "Come down! come down, my beautiful Snayle!
+ With your helegant horns and your tremulous tail;
+ Come down to my bower in the blossomy bog,
+ And be happy with me," said the Phrisky Phrog.
+
+ "Come up, come up, to my home so sweet,
+ Where there's plenty to drink, and the same to eat;
+ Come up where the cabbages bloom in the vale,
+ And be happy with me," said the Sylvan Snayle.
+
+ But he wouldn't come, and she wouldn't go,
+ And so they could never be married, you know;
+ Though they loved each other so fond and true,
+ They didn't know what in the world to do.
+
+
+
+
+THE AMBITIOUS CHICKEN.
+
+
+ It was an Easter chicken
+ So blithesome and so gay;
+ He peeped from out his plaster shell
+ All on an Easter Day.
+
+ His wings were made of yellow down,
+ His eyes were made of beads;
+ He seemed, in very sooth, to have
+ All that a chicken needs.
+
+ He winked and blinked and peeped about,
+ And to himself he said,
+ "When first a chicken leaves the shell,
+ Of course he must be fed.
+
+ "And though I may be young in years,
+ And this my natal morn,
+ I'm quite, _quite_ old enough to know
+ Where people keep the corn."
+
+ He winked and blinked and peeped about,
+ Till in a corner sly
+ He saw a heap of golden corn
+ Piled on a platter high.
+
+ "Now, this is well!" the chicken cried;
+ "Now, this is well, in sooth.
+ This corn shall nourish and sustain
+ My faint and tender youth.
+
+ "And I shall grow and grow apace,
+ And come to high estate,
+ With mighty feathers in my tail,
+ And combs upon my pate.
+
+ "To see my beauty and my grace
+ The feathered race will flock,
+ And all will bow them low before
+ The mighty Easter Cock."
+
+ As thus the chicken proudly spake,
+ And stooped to snatch the prize,
+ His head fell off, and rolled away
+ Before his very eyes!!!!
+
+ It rolled into the dish of corn,
+ A sad and sombre sight,
+ While still upon its plaster legs,
+ His body stood upright.
+
+ And little Mary, when she came
+ With shining "popper" bright,
+ To pop the corn, and make the balls
+ Which were her heart's delight,
+
+ Gazed at the dish with wide blue eyes,
+ And "Oh! Mamma!" she said:
+ "One piece has gone and _popped itself_
+ Into a chicken's head!"
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY AND THE BROOK.
+
+
+ Said the boy to the brook that was rippling away,
+ "Oh, little brook, pretty brook, will you not stay?
+ Oh, stay with me, play with me, all the day long,
+ And sing in my ears your sweet murmuring song."
+ Said the brook to the boy as it hurried away,
+ "And is't for my music you ask me to stay?
+ I was silent until from the hillside I gushed;
+ Should I pause for an instant, my song would be hushed."
+
+ Said the boy to the wind that was fluttering past,
+ "Oh, little wind, pretty wind, whither so fast?
+ Oh, stay with me, play with me, fan my hot brow,
+ And ever breathe softly and gently as now."
+ Said the wind to the boy as it hurried away,
+ "And is't for my coolness you ask me to stay?
+ 'Tis only in flying you feel my cool breath;
+ Should I pause for an instant, that instant were death."
+
+ Said the boy to the day that was hurrying by,
+ "Oh, little day, pretty day, why must you fly?
+ Oh, stay with me, play with me, just as you are;
+ Let no shadow of evening your noon-brightness mar."
+ Said the day to the boy as it hurried away,
+ "And is't for my brightness you ask me to stay?
+ Know, the jewel of day would no longer seem bright,
+ If it were not clasped round by the setting of night."
+
+
+
+
+THE SHARK.
+
+
+ Oh! blithe and merrily sang the shark,
+ As he sat on the house-top high:
+ A-cleaning his boots, and smoking cheroots,
+ With a single glass in his eye.
+
+ With Martin and Day he polished away,
+ And a smile on his face did glow,
+ As merry and bold the chorus he trolled
+ Of "Gobble-em-upsky ho!"
+
+ He sang so loud, he astonished the crowd
+ Which gathered from far and near.
+ For they said, "Such a sound, in the country round,
+ We never, no, never did hear."
+
+ He sang of the ships that he'd eaten like chips
+ In the palmy days of his youth.
+ And he added, "If you don't believe it is true,
+ Pray examine my wisdom tooth!"
+
+ He sang of the whales who'd have given their tails
+ For a glance of his raven eye.
+ And the swordfish, too, who their weapons all drew,
+ And swor'd for his sake they'd die.
+
+ And he sang about wrecks and hurricane decks
+ And the mariner's perils and pains,
+ Till every man's blood up on end it stood,
+ And their hair ran cold in their veins.
+
+ But blithe as a lark the merry old shark,
+ He sat on the sloping roof.
+ Though he said, "It is queer that no one draws near
+ To examine my wisdom toof!"
+
+ And he carolled away, by night and by day,
+ Until he made every one ill.
+ And I'll wager a crown that unless he's come down,
+ He is probably carolling still.
+
+
+
+
+THE EASTER HEN.
+
+
+ Oh! children, have you ever seen
+ The little Easter Hen,
+ Who comes to lay her pretty eggs,
+ Then runs away again?
+
+ She only comes on Easter Day;
+ And when that day is o'er,
+ Till next year brings it round again,
+ You will not see her more.
+
+ Her eggs are not like common eggs,
+ But all of colors bright:
+ Blue, purple, red, with spots and stripes,
+ And scarcely one that's white.
+
+ She lays them in no special place,--
+ On this side, now on that.
+ And last year, only think! she laid
+ One right in Johnny's hat.
+
+ But naughty boys and girls get none:
+ So, children, don't forget!
+ And be as good as good can be--
+ It is not Easter yet!
+
+
+
+
+PUMP AND PLANET.
+
+
+ With a hop, skip, and jump,
+ We went to the pump,
+ To fill our kettles with starch.
+ He gave us good day
+ In the pleasantest way,
+ With a smile that was winning and arch.
+
+ "Oh, Pump," said I,
+ "When you look up on high
+ To flirt with the morning star,
+ Does it make you sad,
+ Oh! Pumpy, my lad,
+ To think she's away so far?"
+
+ Said the Pump, "Oh no!
+ For we've settled it so
+ That but little my feelings are tried.
+ For every clear night
+ She slides down the moonlight,
+ And shines in the trough at my side."
+
+
+
+
+THE POSTMAN.
+
+
+ Hey! the little postman,
+ And his little dog.
+ Here he comes a-hopping
+ Like a little frog;
+ Bringing me a letter,
+ Bringing me a note,
+ In the little pocket
+ Of his little coat.
+
+ Hey! the little postman,
+ And his little bag,
+ Here he comes a-trotting
+ Like a little nag;
+ Bringing me a paper,
+ Bringing me a bill,
+ From the little grocer
+ On the little hill.
+
+ Hey! the little postman,
+ And his little hat,
+ Here he comes a-creeping
+ Like a little cat.
+ What is that he's saying?
+ "Naught for you to-day!"
+ Horrid little postman!
+ I wish you'd go away!
+
+
+
+
+HOPSY UPSY.
+
+
+ Hopsy upsy, Baby oh!
+ Into your bath you now must go;
+ Splash and dash, and paddle and plash,
+ That's what you like, my Baby oh!
+
+ Where is the sponge for Baby oh?
+ See the silvery fountains flow,--
+ Diamond drops so bright and clear,
+ Falling all over my Baby dear.
+
+ Now for the soap, my Baby oh!
+ Watch the bubbles that come and go;
+ Rainbow isles in a sea of foam,
+ Reflecting your smiles, they go and come.
+
+ Here is the towel for Baby oh!
+ Cannot stay in all day, you know;
+ Now scrub and rub, and rub and scrub,
+ And so good-by to the beautiful tub.
+
+ Now for the shirt, my Baby oh!
+ Soft and warm, and as white as snow.
+ Puffy white petticoats, fluffy white gown;
+ Why, what a great ball of thistle-down!
+
+ Last come the curls, my Baby oh!
+ Soft as silver they fall and flow.
+ Now toss him up and carry him down,
+ The bonniest Baby in Boston town!
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE BLACK MONKEY.
+
+
+ Little black Monkey sat up in a tree,
+ Little black Monkey he grinned at me;
+ He put out his paw for a cocoanut,
+ And he dropped it down on my occiput.
+
+ The occiput is a part, you know,
+ Of the head which does on my shoulders grow;
+ And it's very unpleasant to have it hit,
+ Especially when there's no hair on it.
+
+ I took up my gun, and I said, "Now, why,
+ Little black Monkey, should you not die?
+ I'll hit you soon in a vital part!
+ It may be your head, or it may be your heart."
+
+ I steadied my gun, and I aimed it true;
+ The trigger it snapped and the bullet it flew;
+ But just where it went to I cannot tell,
+ For I never _could_ find where that bullet fell.
+
+ Little black Monkey still sat in the tree,
+ And placidly, wickedly grinned at me.
+ I took up my gun and I walked away,
+ And postponed his death till another day.
+
+
+
+
+JIPPY AND JIMMY.
+
+
+ Jippy and Jimmy were two little dogs.
+ They went to sail on some floating logs;
+ The logs rolled over, the dogs rolled in,
+ And they got very wet, for their clothes were thin.
+
+ Jippy and Jimmy crept out again.
+ They said, "The river is full of rain!"
+ They said, "The water is far from dry!
+ Ki-hi! ki-hi! ki-_hi_-yi! ki-hi!"
+
+ Jippy and Jimmy went shivering home.
+ They said, "On the river no more we'll roam;
+ And we won't go to sail until we learn how,
+ Bow-wow! bow-wow! bow-_wow_-wow! bow-wow!"
+
+
+
+
+MASTER JACK'S SONG.
+
+ [_Written after spending the Christmas Holidays at
+ Grandmamma's._]
+
+
+ You may talk about your groves,
+ Where you wander with your loves.
+ You may talk about your moonlit waves that fall and flow.
+ Something fairer far than these
+ I can show you, if you please.
+ 'Tis the charming little cupboard where the jam-pots grow.
+
+ _Chorus._ Where the jam-pots grow!
+ Where the jam-pots grow!
+ Where the jelly jolly, jelly jolly jam-pots grow.
+ The fairest spot to me,
+ On the land or on the sea,
+ Is the charming little cupboard where the jam-pots grow.
+
+ There the golden peaches shine
+ In their syrup clear and fine,
+ And the raspberries are blushing with a dusky glow.
+ And the cherry and the plum
+ Seem to beckon you to come
+ To the charming little cupboard where the jam-pots grow.
+
+ _Chorus._ Where the jam-pots grow!
+ Where the jam-pots grow!
+ Where the jelly jolly, jelly jolly jam-pots grow.
+ The fairest spot to me,
+ On the land or on the sea,
+ Is the charming little cupboard where the jam-pots grow.
+
+ There the sprightly pickles stand,
+ With the catsup close at hand,
+ And the marmalades and jellies in a goodly row.
+ While the quinces' ruddy fire
+ Would an anchorite inspire
+ To seek the little cupboard where the jam-pots grow.
+
+ _Chorus._ Where the jam-pots grow!
+ Where the jam-pots grow!
+ Where the jelly jolly, jelly jolly jam-pots grow.
+ The fairest spot to me,
+ On the land or on the sea,
+ Is the charming little cupboard where the jam-pots grow.
+
+ Never tell me of your bowers
+ That are full of bugs and flowers!
+ Never tell me of your meadows where the breezes blow!
+ But sing me, if you will,
+ Of the house beneath the hill,
+ And the darling little cupboard where the jam-pots grow.
+
+ _Chorus._ Where the jam-pots grow!
+ Where the jam-pots grow!
+ Where the jelly jolly, jelly jolly jam-pots grow.
+ The fairest spot to me,
+ On the land or on the sea,
+ Is the charming little cupboard where the jam-pots grow.
+
+
+
+
+MOTHER ROSEBUSH.
+
+
+ There are roses that grow on a vine, on a vine,
+ There are roses that grow on a stalk;
+ But my little Rose
+ Grows on ten little toes,
+ So I'll take my Rose out for a walk.
+ Come out in the garden, Rosy Posy,
+ Come visit your cousins, child, with me!
+ If you are my daughter, it stands to reason
+ Your own Mother Rosebush I must be.
+
+ Now, here is your cousin Damask, Rosy!
+ And, Rosy, here is your cousin Blush;
+ General Jacqueminot,
+ (Your uncle, you know,)
+ Salutes you hero with his crimson flush.
+ Here's Gloire de Dijon, a splendid fellow,
+ All creamy and dreamy and soft and sweet;
+ And Cloth-of-Gold, with his coat of yellow,
+ Is dropping rose-nobles here at your feet.
+
+ My Baltimore Belle, my Queen of the Prairie,
+ Now, why are your ladyships looking so cross?
+ Lord Butterfly, see!
+ And Sir Honey de Bee,
+ Have deserted them both for your sweet cousin Moss.
+ All! Marechal Niel, I am glad to observe, sir,
+ You train up your buds in the way they should go,
+ All buttoned up close; while careless Niphetos
+ Lets her children go fluttering to and fro.
+
+ You whitest beauty, what is your name, now?
+ "Snow Queen?" Ay, and it suits you well!
+ And yonder, I see,
+ Is my friend Cherokee,
+ Who will not stop climbing, his name to tell;
+ And hero and there are blushing and blowing
+ Crimson and yellow and white and pink;
+ Pale or angry, gleaming or glowing.
+ The whole world's turning to roses, I think.
+
+ Oh! fair is the rose on the vine, on the vine,
+ And sweet is the rose on the tree;
+ But there's only one Rose
+ That has ten little toes,
+ And she is the Rose for me.
+ Come, put on your calyx, Rosy Posy,
+ Put on your calyx and come with me;
+ For if you are my daughter, it stands to reason,
+ Your own Mother Rosebush I must be.
+
+
+
+
+THE FIVE LITTLE PRINCESSES.
+
+
+ Five little princesses started off to school,
+ Following their noses, because it was the rule;
+ But one nose turned up, and another nose turned down,
+ So all these little princesses were lost in the town.
+
+ Poor little princesses cannot find their way.
+ Naughty little noses, to lead them astray!
+ Poor little princesses, sadly they roam;
+ Naughty little noses, pray lead them home!
+
+
+
+
+THE HORNET AND THE BEE.
+
+
+ Said the hornet to the bee,
+ "Pray you, will you marry me?
+ Will you be my little wife,
+ For to love me all my life?
+ You shall have a velvet cloak,
+ And a bonnet with a poke.
+ You shall sit upon a chair
+ With a cabbage in your hair.
+ You shall ride upon a horse,
+ If you fancy such a course.
+ You shall feed on venison pasty
+ In a manner trig and tasty;
+ Devilled bones and apple-cores,
+ If you like them, shall be yours.
+ You shall drink both rum and wine,
+ If you only will be mine.
+ Pray you, will you marry me?"
+ Said the hornet to the bee.
+
+ Said the bee unto the hornet,
+ "Your proposal, sir, I scorn it.
+ Marry one devoid of money,
+ Who can't make a drop of honey?
+ Cannot even play the fiddle,
+ And is pinched up in the middle?
+ Nay, my love is set more high.
+
+ Cockychafer's bride am I.
+ Cockychafer whirring loud,
+ Frisking free and prancing proud,
+ Cockychafer blithe and gay,
+ He hath stole my heart away.
+ Him alone I mean to marry,
+ So no longer you need tarry.
+ Not another moment stay!
+ Cockychafer comes this way.
+ Your proposal, sir, I scorn it!"
+ Said the bee unto the hornet.
+
+ So the cockychafer came,
+ Took the bee to be his dame.
+ Took the bee to be his wife,
+ For to love her all his life.
+ Wedding dress of goblin green,
+ Hat and feathers for a queen,
+ Worsted mittens on her feet,
+ Thus her toilet was complete.
+ Then when it was time to dine,
+ Cockychafer brought her wine,
+ Roasted mouse and bunny-fish,
+ Porridge in a silver dish;
+ Lobster-claws and scalloped beast.
+ Was not that a lovely feast?
+ But when it was time to sup,
+ Cockychafer ate her up.
+ Thus concludes the history
+ Of the hornet and the bee.
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE LITTLE CHICKENS WHO WENT OUT TO TEA, AND THE ELEPHANT.
+
+
+ Little chickens, one, two, three,
+ They went out to take their tea,
+ Brisk and gay as gay could be,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+ Feathers brushed all smooth and neat,
+ Yellow stockings on their feet,
+ Tails and tuftings all complete,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+
+ "Very seldom," said the three,
+ "Like of us the world can see,
+ Beautiful exceedingly,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+ Such our form and such our face,
+ Such our Cochin China grace,
+ We must win in beauty's race,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!"
+
+ Met an elephant large and wise,
+ Looked at them with both his eyes:
+ Caused these chickens great surprise,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+ "Why," they said, "do you suppose
+ Elephant doesn't look out of his nose,
+ So very conveniently it grows?
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+
+ "Elephant with nose so long,
+ Sing on now a lovely song,
+ As we gayly trip along,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+ Sing of us and sing of you,
+ Sing of corn and barley too,
+ Beauteous beast with eyes of blue,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!"
+
+ Elephant sang so loud and sweet,
+ Chickens fell before his feet;
+ For his love they did entreat,
+ Cackle wackle wackle.
+ "Well-a-day! and woe is me!
+ Would we all might elephants be!
+ Then he'd marry us, one, two, three,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!"
+
+ Elephant next began to dance:
+ Capered about with a stately prance
+ Learned from his grandmother over in France,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+ Fast and faster 'gan to tread,
+ Trod on every chicken's head,
+ Killed them all uncommonly dead,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+
+
+ MORAL.
+
+ Little chickens, one, two, three,
+ When you're walking out to tea,
+ Don't make love to all you see,
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+ Elephants have lovely eyes,
+ But to woo them is not wise,
+ For they are not quite your size!
+ Cackle wackle wackle!
+
+
+
+
+A LEGEND OF LAKE OKEEFINOKEE.
+
+
+ There once was a frog,
+ And he lived in a bog,
+ On the banks of Lake Okeefinokee.
+ And the words of the song
+ That he sang all day long
+ Were, "Croakety croakety croaky."
+
+ Said the frog, "I have found
+ That my life's daily round
+ In this place is exceedingly poky.
+ So no longer I'll stop,
+ But I swiftly will hop
+ Away from Lake Okeefinokee."
+
+ Now a bad mocking-bird
+ By mischance overheard
+ The words of the frog as he spokee.
+ And he said, "All my life
+ Frog and I've been at strife,
+ As we lived by Lake Okeefinokee.
+
+ "Now I see at a glance
+ Here's a capital chance
+ For to play him a practical jokee.
+ So I'll venture to say
+ That he shall not to-day
+ Leave the banks of Lake Okeefinokee."
+
+ So this bad mocking-bird,
+ Without saying a word,
+ He flew to a tree which was oaky.
+ And loudly he sang,
+ Till the whole forest rang,
+ "Oh! Croakety croakety croaky!"
+
+ As he warbled this song,
+ Master Frog came along,
+ A-filling his pipe for to smokee,
+ And he said, "'Tis some frog
+ Has escaped from the bog
+ Of Okeefinokee-finokee.
+
+ "I am filled with amaze
+ To hear one of my race
+ A-warbling on top of an oaky;
+ But if frogs can climb trees,
+ I may still find some ease
+ On the banks of Lake Okeefinokee."
+
+ So he climbed up the tree;
+ But alas! down fell he!
+ And his lovely green neck it was brokee;
+ And the sad truth to say,
+ Never more did he stray
+ From the banks of Lake Okeefinokee.
+
+ And the bad mocking-bird
+ Said, "How very absurd
+ And delightful a practical jokee!"
+ But I'm happy to say
+ He was drowned the next day
+ In the waters of Okeefinokee.
+
+
+
+
+GRANDPAPA'S VALENTINE.
+
+
+ I may not claim her lovely hand,
+ My darling and my pride!
+ I may not ask her to become
+ My bright and beauteous bride;
+ The measure of my love for her
+ May not be said or sung;
+ And all because I'm rather old,
+ And she is rather young.
+
+ I may not clasp her slender waist,
+ And thread the mazy dance;
+ I may not drive her in the Park,
+ With steeds that neigh and prance.
+ I may not tempt her with my lands,
+ Nor buy her with my gold;
+ And all because she's rather young,
+ And I am rather old.
+
+ She leaves me for a younger swain,
+ A plump and beardless boy.
+ She slights me for a sugar-plum,
+ Neglects me for a toy.
+ And worst of all, this state of things
+ Can never altered be;
+ For I am nearly sixty-eight,
+ And she is only three.
+
+
+
+
+ALIBAZAN.
+
+
+ All on the road to Alibazan,
+ A May Day in the morning,
+ 'Twas there I met a bonny young man,
+ A May Day in the morning;
+ A bonny young man all dressed in blue,
+ Hat and feather and stocking and shoe,
+ Ruff and doublet and mantle too,
+ A May Day in the morning.
+
+ He made me a bow, and he made me three,
+ A May Day in the morning;
+ He said, in truth, I was fair to see,
+ A May Day in the morning.
+ "And say, will you be my sweetheart now?
+ I'll marry you truly with ring and vow;
+ I've ten fat sheep and a black-nosed cow,
+ A May Day in the morning.
+
+ "What shall we buy in Alibazan,
+ A May Day in the morning?
+ A pair of shoes and a feathered fan,
+ A May Day in the morning.
+ A velvet gown all set with pearls,
+ A silver hat for your golden curls,
+ A pot of pinks for my pink of girls,
+ A May Day in the morning."
+
+ All in the streets of Alibazan,
+ A May Day in the morning,
+ The merry maidens tripped and ran,
+ A May Day in the morning.
+ And this was fine, and that was free,
+ But he turned from them all to look on me;
+ And "Oh! but there's none so fair to see,
+ A May Day in the morning."
+
+ All in the church of Alibazan,
+ A May Day in the morning,
+ 'Twas there I wed my bonny young man,
+ A May Day in the morning.
+ And oh! 'tis I am his sweetheart now!
+ And oh! 'tis we are happy, I trow,
+ With our ten fat sheep and our black-nosed cow,
+ A May Day in the morning.
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE FISHERS.
+
+
+ John, Frederick, and Henry,
+ Had once a holiday;
+ And they would go a-fishing,
+ So merry and so gay.
+ They went to fish for salmon,
+ These little children three;
+ As in this pretty picture
+ You all may plainly see.
+
+ It was not in the ocean,
+ Nor from the river shore,
+ But in the monstrous water-butt
+ Outside the kitchen door.
+ And John he had a fish-hook,
+ And Fred a crooked pin,
+ And Henry took his sister's net,
+ And thought it was no sin.
+
+ They climbed up on the ladder,
+ Till they the top did win;
+ And then they perched upon the edge,
+ And then they did begin.
+ But how their fishing prospered,
+ Or if they did it well,
+ Or if they caught the salmon,
+ I cannot, cannot tell.
+
+ Because I was not there, you know,
+ But I can only say
+ That I too went a-fishing,
+ That pleasant summer day.
+ It was not for a salmon,
+ Or shark with monstrous fin,
+ But it was for three little boys,
+ All dripping to the skin.
+
+
+
+
+PEEPSY.
+
+ [_After the manner of Jane Taylor._]
+
+
+ Our Julia has a little bird,
+ And Peepsy is his name;
+ And now I'll sing a little song
+ To celebrate the same.
+
+ He's yellow all from head to foot,
+ And he is very sweet,
+ And very little trouble, for
+ He never wants to eat.
+
+ He never asks for water clear,
+ He never chirps for seed,
+ For cracker, or for cuttlefish,
+ For sugar or chickweed.
+
+ "Oh! what a perfect pet!" you cry,
+ But there's one little thing,
+ One drawback to the bonny bird,--
+ Our Peepsy cannot sing.
+
+ He chirps no song at dawn or eve,
+ He makes no merry din;
+ But this one cannot wonder at,
+ For Peepsy's made of tin.
+
+
+
+
+MAY SONG.
+
+
+ On a certain First of May,
+ So they say,
+ Came two merry little maids
+ Out to play.
+ Brown-haired Jeanie, sweet and wise,
+ Fair-haired Norah, with her eyes
+ Blue as are the morning skies.
+ Each in cap and kirtle gay,
+ Pretty little maids were they;
+ Light of heart and well content,
+ Through the fields they singing went,
+ On a merry First of May,
+ So they say.
+
+ On this merry First of May,
+ So they say,
+ Came two sturdy little lads
+ By that way.
+ Miller's Robin from the mill,
+ Shepherd's Johnnie from the hill;
+ Bonny little lads, I trow,
+ Sunny eyes and open brow,
+ Ruddy cheeks and curly hair,
+ Sturdy legs all brown and bare,
+ Through the fields they marched along,
+ Whistling each his cheery song,
+ On a merry First of May,
+ So they say.
+
+ On this merry First of May,
+ So they say,
+ Lads and lasses, there they met
+ On their way.
+ Said the lads, "We'll choose a queen!
+ May Day comes but once, I ween.
+ Search we all the country round,
+ Sweeter maids could not be found."
+ Laughed the lasses merrily,
+ "Ay! but which one shall it be?
+ John and Robin, tell us true,
+ Which is fairer of the two,
+ On this merry First of May?
+ Quickly say!"
+
+ On this merry First of May,
+ So they say,
+ Shepherd Johnnie hushed his whistle
+ Blithe and gay;
+ "Brown eyes are more fair," said he,
+ "For they shine so winsomely!"
+ "Nay!" quoth Robin, "'tis confessed
+ Blue eyes _always_ are the best!
+ Fair-haired Norah wins the prize!"
+ "That she does not!" Johnnie cries;
+ "Norah's well enough, but Jean,
+ Brown and sweet, shall be the queen
+ On this merry First of May!
+ Choose _my_ way!"
+
+ On this merry First of May,
+ So they say,
+ Soon to earnest turned their play.
+ Well-a-day!
+ Loud and angry words arose,
+ Angry words soon turned to blows;
+ John and Robin o'er the ground
+ Chase each other round and round,
+ Kicking, cuffing, here and there,
+ Shouting through the sweet May air:
+ "Jeanie!" "Norah!--is more fair!"
+ While the little maids aside,
+ Blue eyes, brown eyes, open wide
+ On this stormy First of May,
+ Well-a-day!
+
+ On this merry First of May,
+ So they say,
+ Jean and Norah stole away
+ From the fray.
+ "Silly lads!" they laughing cried,
+ "Let them as they will decide;
+ Shall we while they quarrel, pray,
+ Lose our pretty holiday?
+ Come away, and we may find
+ Other lads, who know their mind.
+ Or if not, why then, I ween,
+ Each will be the other's queen,
+ On this merry First of May.
+ Come away!"
+
+
+
+
+TWO LITTLE VALENTINES.
+
+ [_For two little girls._]
+
+
+ I.
+
+ Young Rosalind, she is my rose!
+ I care not who the secret knows;
+ So deep within my heart she grows,
+ Her constant bloom no winter knows;
+ Sweet Rosalind, she is my rose.
+
+ Alas! this rose hath yet a thorn,
+ Whereon my heart is daily torn.
+ The love I proffer her each morn,
+ That love she flings me back in scorn.
+ But shall I therefore idly mourn?
+ She'd be no rose _without_ the thorn.
+
+
+ II.
+
+ When the ivory lily darkens,
+ When the jealous rose turns pale,
+ Then I say, "My Julia's coming!
+ 'Tis a sign will never fail."
+
+ When the bobolink is silent,
+ When the linnet stays her trill,
+ Then I say, "My Julia's singing!
+ At her voice the birds are still."
+
+ When I feel two velvet rose-leaves
+ Touch my eyes on either lid,
+ Then I say, "My Julia kissed me!"
+ And she answers, "Yes, me did!"
+
+
+
+
+A HOWL ABOUT AN OWL.
+
+
+ It was an owl lived in an oak,
+ Sing heigh ho! the prowly owl!
+ He often smiled, but he seldom spoke,
+ And he wore a wig and a camlet cloak.
+ Sing heigh ho! the howly fowl!
+ Tu-whit! tu-whit! tu-whoo!
+
+ He fell in love with the chickadee,
+ Sing heigh ho! the prowly owl!
+ He asked her, would she marry he,
+ And they'd go and live in Crim Tartaree.
+ Sing heigh ho! the howly fowl!
+ Tu-whit! tu-whit! tu-whoo!
+
+ "'Tis true," says he, "you are far from big."
+ Sing heigh ho! the prowly owl!
+ "But you'll look twice as well when I've bought you a wig,
+ And I'll teach you the Lancers and the Chorus Jig."
+ Sing heigh ho! the howly fowl!
+ Tu-whit! tu-whit! tu-whoo!
+
+ "I'll feed you with honey when the moon grows pale."
+ Sing heigh ho! the prowly owl!
+ "I'll hum you a hymn, and I'll sing you a scale,
+ Till you quiver with delight to the tip of your tail!"
+ Sing heigh ho! the howly fowl!
+ Tu-whit! tu-whit! tu-whoo!
+
+ So he went for to marry of the chickadee,
+ Sing heigh ho! the prowly owl!
+ But the sun was so bright that he could not see,
+ So he married the hoppergrass instead of she.
+ And wasn't that a sad disappointment for he!
+ Sing heigh ho! the howly fowl!
+ Tu-whit! tu-whit! tu-whoo!
+
+
+
+
+OUR CELEBRATION.
+
+
+ Off go the fire-crackers, bang! bang! bang!
+ Off go the fire-crackers, bang! bang! bang!
+ Popguns all a-snapping, and banners all a-flapping,--
+ Off go the fire-crackers, bang! bang! bang!
+
+ Off the torpedoes go, crack! crack! crack!
+ Off the torpedoes go, crack! crack! crack!
+ Fish-horns all a-tooting, and schoolboys all a-hooting,--
+ Off the torpedoes go, crack! crack! crack!
+
+ Off go the fireworks, fizz! fizz! fizz!
+ Off go the fireworks, fizz! fizz! fizz!
+ Pin-wheels all a-turning, and fingers all a-burning,--
+ Off go the fireworks, fizz! fizz! fizz!
+
+ Off goes our little Ned, boo-hoo-hoo!
+ Off goes our little Ned, boo-hoo-hoo!
+ Big hole in his jacket, and another in his pocket,
+ Half the hair singed off his head,
+ Off goes our little Ned,--
+ Mamma'll put him straight to bed, boo-hoo-hoo!
+
+
+
+
+THE SONG OF THE CORN-POPPER.
+
+
+ Pip! pop! flippety flop!
+ Here am I, all ready to pop.
+ Girls and boys, the fire burns clear;
+ Gather about the chimney here.
+ Big ones, little ones, all in a row.
+ Hop away! pop away! here we go!
+
+ Pip! pop! flippety flop!
+ Into the bowl the kernels drop.
+ Sharp and hard and yellow and small;
+ Must say they don't look good at all.
+ But wait till they burst into warm white snow!
+ Hop away! pop away! here we go!
+
+ Pip! pop! flippety flop!
+ Don't fill me too full; shut down the top!
+ Rake out the coals in an even bed,
+ Topaz yellow and ruby red;
+ Shade your eyes from the fiery glow.
+ Hop away! pop away! here we go!
+
+ Pip! pop! flippety flop!
+ Shake me steadily; do not stop!
+ Backward and forward, not up and down;
+ Don't let me drop, or you'll burn it brown.
+ Never too high and never too low.
+ Hop away! pop away! here we go!
+
+ Pip! pop! flippety flop!
+ Now they are singing, and soon they'll hop.
+ Hi! the kernels begin to swell;
+ Ho! at last they are dancing well.
+ Puffs and fluffs of feathery snow,
+ Hop away! pop away! here we go!
+
+ Pip! pop! flippety flop!
+ All full, little ones? Time to stop!
+ Pour out the snowy, feathery mass;
+ Here is a treat for lad and lass.
+ Open your mouths now, all in a row;
+ Munch away! crunch away! here we go!
+
+
+
+
+WHAT BOBBY SAID.
+
+
+ I don't think it's right!
+ I don't think it's fair!
+ I don't like Easter
+ At all! so there!
+
+ It's only because
+ I'm young, you see,
+ They think they can play
+ Their tricks upon me.
+
+ They brought me an egg,
+ And a beauty, too!
+ All golden yellow,
+ With stripes of blue.
+
+ They said 'twas a true egg,
+ A _truly_ true!
+ And, of course, I supposed
+ It was so all through;
+
+ But when it was opened,
+ Just think what a shame!
+ 'Twas just like the white ones,
+ Just _'zactly_ the same!
+
+ Part white and part yellow,
+ No bit of it blue,
+ And it tasted the same
+ As the other ones, too.
+
+ I don't think it's right,
+ And I don't think it's fair,
+ And I don't like Easter
+ _At all!_ so there!
+
+
+
+
+MASTER JACK'S VIEWS.
+
+ [_After a lesson in astronomy._]
+
+
+ The merry old World goes round, goes round,
+ And round the old World does go;
+ Day in, day out, from west to east,
+ At a pace that is far from slow.
+
+ And he's never been known to change his pace,
+ Or swerve an inch from his course,
+ Though his journey so easily shortened might be,
+ By cutting his orbit across.
+
+ If I were you, you silly old World,
+ I know well what I 'd do:
+ Break loose from that tiresome orbit-track,
+ And go spinning the Universe through.
+
+ I'd startle the stars from their morning nap,
+ With a "How do you do to-day?"
+ And before any one could take off his night-cap,
+ I'd be millions of miles away.
+
+ I'd warm my hands at the gate of the Sun,
+ And cool them off at the Pole;
+ Then off and away down the Milky Way,
+ How merrily I would roll!
+
+ I'd steal from Saturn his golden rings,
+ From Mars his mantle of red;
+ And I'd borrow the sword of Orion the brave,
+ To cut off the Serpent's head.
+
+ I'd saddle the Bear, and ride on his back,
+ Nor dream of being afraid;
+ And maybe I'd stop at the Archer's shop,
+ To see how the rainbows are made.
+
+ I'd race with the comets, I'd flirt with the moon,
+ I'd waltz with the Northern Lights,
+ Till the whole Solar System should hold up its hands
+ And exclaim, "What remarkable sights!"
+
+ But stay! to all these delightful things
+ One slight objection I see;
+ For if the World _should_ play these wonderful pranks.
+ Pray, what would become of me?
+
+ And what would become of papa and mamma?
+ And what would become of you?
+ And how should we like to go spinning about,
+ And careering the Universe through?
+
+ Well, the merry old World goes round, goes round,
+ And round the old World does go;
+ And a great deal better than you or I,
+ The wise old World must know!
+
+
+
+
+EMILY JANE.
+
+
+ Oh! Christmas time is coming again,
+ And what shall I buy for Emily Jane?
+ O Emily Jane, my love so true,
+ Now what upon earth shall I buy for you?
+ My Emily Jane, my doll so dear,
+ I've loved you now for many a year,
+ And still while there's anything left of you,
+ My Emily Jane, I'll love you true!
+
+ My Emily Jane has lost her head,
+ And has a potato tied on instead;
+ A hole for an eye, and a lump for a nose,
+ It really looks better than you would suppose.
+ My Emily Jane has lost her arms,
+ The half of one leg's the extent of her charms;
+ But still, while there's anything left of you,
+ My Emily Jane, I'll love you true!
+
+ And now, shall I bring you a fine new head,
+ Or shall I bring you a leg instead?
+ Or will you have arms, to hug me tight,
+ When naughty 'Lizabeth calls you a fright?
+ Or I'll buy you a dress of satin so fine,
+ 'Mong all the dolls to shimmer and shine;
+ For oh! while there's anything left of you,
+ My Emily Jane, I'll love you true!
+
+ Mamma says, "Keep all your pennies, Sue,
+ And I'll buy you a doll all whole and new;"
+ But better I love my dear old doll,
+ With her one half-leg and potato poll.
+ "The potato may rot, and the leg may fall?"
+ Well, then I shall treasure the sawdust, that's all!
+ For while there is _anything_ left of you,
+ My Emily Jane, I'll love you true!
+
+
+
+
+SONG OF THE MOTHER WHOSE CHILDREN ARE FOND OF DRAWING.
+
+
+ Oh, could I find the forest
+ Where the pencil-trees grow!
+ Oh, might I see their stately stems
+ All standing in a row!
+ I'd hie me to their grateful shade;
+ In deep, in deepest bliss;
+ For then I need not hourly hear
+ A chorus such as this:
+
+ _Chorus._ Oh, lend me a pencil, _please_, Mamma!
+ Oh, draw me some houses and trees, Mamma!
+ Oh, make me a floppy
+ Great poppy to copy,
+ And a horsey that prances and gees, Mamma!
+
+ The branches of the pencil-tree
+ Are pointed every one;
+ Ay! each one has a glancing point
+ That glitters in the sun.
+ The leaves are leaves of paper white,
+ All fluttering in the breeze;
+ Ah! could I pluck one rustling bough,
+ I'd silence cries like these:
+
+ _Chorus._ Oh, lend me a pencil, do, Mamma!
+ I've got mine all stuck in the glue, Mamma!
+ Oh, make me a pretty
+ Big barn and a city,
+ And a cow and a steam-engine too, Mamma!
+
+ The fruit upon the pencil-tree
+ Hangs ripening in the sun,
+ In clusters bright of pocket-knives,--
+ Three blades to every one.
+ Ah! might I pluck one shining fruit,
+ And plant it by my door,
+ The pleading cries, the longing sighs,
+ Would trouble me no more.
+
+ _Chorus._ Oh, sharpen a pencil for me, Mamma!
+ 'Cause Johnny and Baby have three, Mamma!
+ And this isn't fine!
+ And Hal sat down on mine!
+ So do it bee-yu-ti-ful-_lee_, Mamma!
+
+
+
+
+THE SEVEN LITTLE TIGERS AND THE AGED COOK.
+
+
+ Seven little tigers they sat them in a row,
+ Their seven little dinners for to eat;
+ And each of the troop had a little plate of soup,
+ The effect of which was singularly neat.
+
+ They were feeling rather cross, for they hadn't any sauce
+ To eat with their pudding or their pie;
+ So they rumpled up their hair, in a spasm of despair,
+ And vowed that the aged cook should die.
+
+ Then they called the aged cook, and a frying-pan they took,
+ To fry him very nicely for their supper;
+ He was ninety-six years old, on authority I'm told,
+ And his name was Peter Sparrow-piper Tupper.
+
+ "Mr. Sparrow-piper Tup, we intend on you to sup!"
+ Said the eldest little tiger very sweetly;
+ But this naughty aged cook, just remarking, "Only look!"
+ Chopped the little tiger's head off very neatly.
+
+ Then he said unto the rest, "It has always been confessed
+ That a tiger's better eating than a man;
+ So I'll fry him for you now, and you all will find, I trow,
+ That to eat him will be much the better plan."
+
+ So they tried it in a trice, and found that it was nice,
+ And with rapture they embraced one another;
+ And they said, "By hook or crook, we must keep this aged cook;
+ So we'll ask him to become our elder brother."
+
+ [_Which they accordingly did._]
+
+
+
+
+AGAMEMNON.
+
+
+ About a king I have to tell,
+ Of all the woes that him befell
+ Through those who should have served him well,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+ How he was huffed and cuffed about,
+ And tossed from windows, in and out,
+ With jest and gibe and eldritch shout,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+
+ Of worsted was the monarch made,
+ Of gayest colors neatly laid
+ In each imaginable shade,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+ His trousers were of scarlet hue,
+ His jacket of celestial blue,
+ With snow-white tunic peeping through,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+
+ When he was young and in his prime,
+ On Christmas tree, in Christmas time,
+ He glowed like bird of tropic clime,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+ His swarthy cheek, his beard of brown,
+ His gay attire and golden crown,
+ Showed him a king of high renown,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+
+ The children, learning then to pore
+ O'er Father Homer's god-like lore,
+ Cried, "See! the king of men once more,
+ Great Agamemnon!
+ Now, when we play the siege of Troy,
+ Achilles, Hector, Ajax boy,
+ With us the fighting he'll enjoy,
+ Great Agamemnon!"
+
+ But well-a-day! the war began,
+ And Greek and Trojan, man to man,
+ In god-like fury raged and ran,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+ 'Twas Ajax seized the king, I trow,
+ And, using him as weapon now,
+ Did smite bold Hector on the brow,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+
+ Then fierce and fell the contest grew;
+ From hand to hand the monarch flew,
+ Still clutched and hurled with fury new,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+ His beaded eyes wept tears of shame,
+ His worsted cheeks with wrath did flame;
+ In vain he called each hero's name,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+
+ At length great Hector seized the king
+ And gave his mighty arm a swing,
+ Then upward soared with sudden fling,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+ Upon the high-pitched roof fell he,
+ And there, from Greek and Trojan free,
+ He lay for all the world to see,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+
+ The fierce sun beat upon his head,
+ The rain washed white his trousers red,
+ The moon looked down on him and said,
+ "Poor Agamemnon!"
+ His gold and blue were gray and brown,
+ When Ajax, chief of high renown,
+ The roof-tree scaled, and brought him down,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+
+ And now within the nursery,
+ In doll-house parlor you may see
+ His dim and faded majesty,
+ Poor Agamemnon!
+ And still each little naughty boy,
+ Ranging the cupboards for some toy,
+ Cries out, "Aha! the siege of Troy!
+ Poor Agamemnon!"
+
+
+
+
+THE WEDDING.
+
+
+ Blue-bell, bonny bell, ring for the wedding!
+ Gallant young Hyacinth marries the Rose.
+ Here we all wait for the wedding procession,
+ Standing up high on our tippy-toe-toes.
+
+ Blue-bell, bonny bell, ring for the wedding!
+ First the three ushers on grasshoppers ride,--
+ Coxcomb, Larkspur, and gallant Sweet William,
+ Handsome young dandies as ever I spied.
+
+ Here in a coach come the bride's rich relations,--
+ Old Madam Damask and old Mr. Moss;
+ Greatly I fear they approve not the marriage,
+ Else they'd not look so uncommonly cross.
+
+ Here comes His Excellence Baron de Goldbug,
+ Leading the Dowager Duchess of Snail;
+ Feathers and fringe on the top of her bonnet,
+ Roses and rings on the end of her tail.
+
+ Blue-bell, bonny bell, ring for the wedding!
+ Here come the bridesmaids, by two and by two;
+ Gay little Primrose, fair little Snowdrop,
+ Peachblossom, Jasmine, and Eglantine too.
+
+ Last come the lovers, wrapped up in each other,
+ Thinking of love, and of little beside.
+ Blue-bell, bonny bell, ring for the wedding!
+ Health and long life to the beautiful bride!
+
+
+
+
+SWING SONG.
+
+
+ As I swing, as I swing,
+ Here beneath my mother's wing,
+ Here beneath my mother's arm,
+ Never earthly thing can harm.
+ Up and down, to and fro,
+ With a steady sweep I go,
+ Like a swallow on the wing,
+ As I swing, as I swing.
+
+ As I swing, as I swing,
+ Honey-bee comes murmuring,
+ Humming softly in my ear,
+ "Come away with me, my dear!
+ In the tiger-lily's cup
+ Sweetest honey we will sup."
+ Go away, you velvet thing!
+ I must swing! I must swing!
+
+ As I swing, as I swing,
+ Butterfly comes fluttering,
+ "Little child, now come away
+ 'Mid the clover-blooms to play;
+ Clover-blooms are red and white,
+ Sky is blue, and sun is bright.
+ Why then thus, with folded wing,
+ Sit and swing, sit and swing?"
+
+ As I swing, as I swing,
+ Oriole comes hovering.
+ "See my nest in yonder tree!
+ Little child, come work with me.
+
+ Learn to make a perfect nest,
+ That of all things is the best.
+ Come! nor longer loitering
+ Sit and swing, sit and swing!"
+
+ As I swing, as I swing,
+ Though I have not any wing,
+ Still I would not change with you,
+ Happiest bird that ever flew.
+ Butterfly and honey-bee,
+ Sure 'tis you must envy me,
+ Safe beneath my mother's wing
+ As I swing, as I swing.
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE COSSACK.
+
+
+ The tale of the little Cossack,
+ Who lived by the river Don:
+ He sat on a sea-green hassock,
+ And his grandfather's name was John.
+ His grandfather's name was John, my dears,
+ And he lived upon bottled stout;
+ And when he was found to be not at home,
+ He was frequently found to be out.
+
+ The tale of the little Cossack,--
+ He sat by the river-side,
+ And wept when he heard the people say
+ That his hair was probably dyed.
+ That his hair was probably dyed, my dears,
+ And his teeth were undoubtedly sham;
+ "If this be true," quoth the little Cossack,
+ "What a poor little thing I am!"
+
+ The tale of the little Cossack,--
+ He sat by the river's brim,
+ And he looked at the little fishes,
+ And the fishes looked back at him.
+ The fishes looked back at him, my dears,
+ And winked at him, which was wuss;
+ "If this be true, my friend," they said,
+ "You'd better come down to us."
+
+ The tale of the little Cossack,--
+ He said, "You are doubtless right,
+ Though drowning is not a becoming death
+ For it makes one look like a fright.
+ If my lovely teeth be crockery,
+ And my hair of Tyrian dye,
+ Then life is a bitter mockery,
+ And no more of it will I!"
+
+ The tale of the little Cossack,--
+ He drank of the stout so brown;
+ Then put his toes in the water,
+ And the fishes dragged him down.
+ And the people threw in his hassock
+ And likewise his grandfather John;
+ And there was an end of the family,
+ On the banks of the river Don.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT A VERY RUDE LITTLE BIRD SAID TO JOHNNY THIS MORNING.
+
+
+ Thing with two legs, out on the lawn!
+ Stupid old thing!
+ Why don't you fly, or hop at least?
+ Why don't you sing?
+ There you stand with your great long legs
+ Stiff as a couple of giant pegs;
+ Have you a nest with five blue eggs?
+ Have you _anything_?
+
+ Thing with two legs, out on the lawn!
+ Stubborn old thing!
+ Is that your only song, that harsh,
+ Loud muttering?
+ Here! listen, and try to imitate me!
+ Chirr-a-wink! chirr-a-wink! pirrip-wip-wee!
+ It's just as easy as easy can be,
+ Stubborn old thing!
+
+ Thing with two legs, out on the lawn!
+ Ugly old thing!
+ I hear my little brown wife in the nest
+ Soft chirruping.
+ And if you think I've nothing else to do
+ But stay here and talk to the like of you,
+ You're greatly mistaken, I tell you true!
+ Good-by, old thing!
+
+
+
+
+THE MONKEYS AND THE CROCODILE.
+
+
+ Five little monkeys
+ Swinging from a tree;
+ Teasing Uncle Crocodile,
+ Merry as can be.
+ Swinging high, swinging low,
+ Swinging left and right:
+ "Dear Uncle Crocodile,
+ Come and take a bite!"
+
+ Five little monkeys
+ Swinging in the air;
+ Heads up, tails up,
+ Little do they care.
+ Swinging up, swinging down,
+ Swinging far and near:
+ "Poor Uncle Crocodile,
+ Aren't you hungry, dear?"
+
+ Four little monkeys
+ Sitting in the tree;
+ Heads down, tails down,
+ Dreary as can be.
+ Weeping loud, weeping low,
+ Crying to each other:
+ "Wicked Uncle Crocodile,
+ To gobble up our brother!"
+
+
+
+
+PAINTED LADIES
+
+
+ Oh, the pretty painted ladies!
+ Oh, the naughty painted ladies,
+ That go running, climbing, running,
+ All about my cottage door.
+ Would you have their story, Johnny?
+ Sit beside me, Sweet-and-bonny!
+ You shall hear a sadder story
+ Than you ever beard before.
+
+ These were maidens fair and slender,
+ Some with dove-eyes, brown and tender,
+ Some with black, and some with blue eyes,
+ Locks of auburn, locks of gold.
+ Rosy cheeks, and lips of cherry,
+ Voices glad and laughter merry,
+ Ever smiling, ever singing,
+ Over gay and over bold.
+
+ And these maids were ever running,
+ Watching going, watching coming,
+ Asking questions of each other
+ And of every one they knew.
+ Peeping, peeping, here and yonder,
+ Ready still to guess and wonder,
+ "Was it she?" "And did he do it?"
+ "Tell me quickly!" "Tell me true!"
+
+ Oh, the pretty painted ladies!
+ Oh, the naughty painted ladies!
+ When the king came riding, riding,
+ For to seek him out a bride,
+ How they whispered, how they chattered;
+ Each herself in secret flattered
+ She could win him, she could wed him,
+ In an hour, if she tried.
+
+ So they prinked and pranked them gayly,
+ So they crimped and curled them daily,
+ Trying ring and trying jewel,
+ All their beauty to complete.
+ Not content with Nature's roses,
+ Fie! their cheeks are painted posies;
+ And their lips are red and reddest,
+ But alas! they are not sweet.
+
+ Then the king came riding stately,
+ On his charger set sedately,
+ With his golden robe about him,
+ And his crown upon his head.
+ Oh! a royal port and presence,
+ Meet for courtly love and pleasance;
+ Happy, happy is the maiden
+ He shall woo and he shall wed.
+
+ Oh, the pretty painted ladies!
+ Oh, the naughty painted ladies!
+ How they leaned from door and window,
+ Flinging roses 'neath his feet;
+ Silken robes and jewels shining,
+ White arms waving, tossing, twining,
+ Lips that laughed and eyes that languished,
+ Over bold and over sweet.
+
+ But the king looked gravely on them;
+ Cast no answering glance upon them;
+ Coldly turned from where they waited
+ In their beauty, in their pride.
+ "Find me out some modest maiden,
+ Not with silks and jewels laden,
+ One whose pureness, one whose sweetness
+ Fit her for a royal bride."
+
+ Oh, the pretty painted ladies!
+ Oh, the naughty painted ladies!
+ Red with shame and white with anger,
+ Back they pressed against the wall.
+ As they drew their silks around them,
+ Lo! some sudden magic bound them,
+ While they whispered, while they clustered,
+ Into flowers changed them all.
+
+ Glowing cheek and snowy bosom
+ Changed to white and ruddy blossom;
+ Locks of gold and locks of auburn
+ Into tendrils curling green.
+ While for silk and satin's shimmer,
+ And for jewels' rainbow glimmer,
+ Leaves that whispered, leaves that clustered,--
+ Only these were to be seen.
+
+ But the pretty painted ladies,
+ But the naughty painted ladies,
+ Still are running, climbing, running,
+ At the window, at the door.
+ Peeping, peeping, here and yonder,
+ "Is the story true?" you wonder;
+ Sure, I heard it from themselves, dear,
+ For they tell it o'er and o'er.
+
+
+
+
+SOME FISHY NONSENSE.
+
+
+ Timothy Tiggs and Tomothy Toggs,
+ They both went a-fishing for pollothywogs;
+ They both went a-fishing
+ Because they were wishing
+ To see how the creatures would turn into frogs.
+
+ Timothy Tiggs and Tomothy Toggs,
+ They both got stuck in the bogothybogs;
+ They caught a small minnow,
+ And said 'twas a sin oh!
+ That things with no legs should pretend to be frogs.
+
+
+
+
+LADY'S SLIPPER.
+
+
+ My lady she rose from her bower, her bower,
+ All under the linden tree.
+ 'Twas midnight past, and the fairies' hour,
+ And up and away must she.
+
+ She's pulled on her slippers of golden yellow,
+ Her mantle of gossamer green;
+ And she's away to the elfin court,
+ To wait on the elfin queen.
+
+ Oh hone! my lady's slipper,
+ Oh hey! my lady's shoe.
+ She's lost its fellow, so golden yellow,
+ A-tripping it over the dew.
+
+ And now she flitted, and now she stepped,
+ Through dells of the woodland deep,
+ Where owls were flying awake, awake,
+ And birds were sitting asleep.
+
+ And now she flitted, and now she trod,
+ Where the mist hung shadowy-white;
+ And the river lay gleaming, sleeping, dreaming,
+ Under the sweet moonlight.
+
+ Oh hone! my lady's slipper,
+ Oh hey! my lady's shoe.
+ She's lost its fellow, so golden yellow,
+ A-tripping it over the dew.
+
+ And now she passed through the wild marsh-land,
+ Where the marsh-elves lay asleep;
+ And a heron blue was their watchman true,
+ Good watch and ward for to keep.
+
+ But Jack-in-the-Pulpit was wake, awake,
+ And saw my lady gay;
+ And he reached his hand as she fluttered past,
+ And caught her slipper away.
+
+ Oh hone! my lady's slipper,
+ Oh hey! my lady's shoe.
+ She's lost its fellow, so golden yellow,
+ A-tripping it over the dew.
+
+ Oh! long that lady she searched and prayed,
+ And long she wept and besought;
+ But all would not do, and with one wee shoe
+ She must dance at the elfin court.
+
+ But she _might_ have found her slipper, her slipper,
+ It shone so golden-gay;
+ For I am no elf, yet I found it myself,
+ And I brought it home to-day.
+
+ Oh hone! my lady's slipper,
+ Oh hey! my lady's shoe.
+ She's lost its fellow, so golden yellow,
+ A-tripping it over the dew.
+
+
+
+
+A LITTLE SONG TO SING TO A LITTLE MAID IN A SWING.
+
+
+ If I were a fairy king,
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ I would give to you a ring,
+ (Swinging oh!)
+ With a diamond set so bright
+ That the shining of its light
+ Should make morning of the night,
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ Should make morning of the night.
+ (Swinging oh!)
+
+ On each ringlet as it fell
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ I would tie a golden bell;
+ (Swinging oh!)
+ And the golden bells would chime
+ In a little merry rhyme,
+ In the merry summer-time,--
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ In the happy summer-time.
+ (Swinging oh!)
+
+ You should wear a satin gown
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ All with ribbons falling down;
+ (Swinging oh!)
+ And your little darling feet,
+ Oh, my Pretty and my Sweet,
+ Should be shod with silver neat,--
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ Shod with silver slippers neat.
+ (Swinging oh!)
+
+ All the flowers in the land
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ You should hold in either hand;
+ (Swinging oh!)
+ And the myrtle and the rose
+ Should spring up beneath your toes,
+ For to gratify your nose,--
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ For to gratify your nose.
+ (Swinging oh!)
+
+ But I'm not a fairy, Pet,
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ Am not even a king as yet;
+ (Swinging oh!)
+ So all that I can do
+ Is to kiss your little shoe,
+ And to make a queen of you,--
+ (Swinging high, swinging low,)
+ Make a fairy queen of you.
+ (Swinging oh!)
+
+
+
+
+BETTY IN BLOSSOM-TIME.
+
+
+ Snow, snow, down from the apple-trees,
+ Pink and white drifting of petals sweet,
+ Kiss her and crown her, our Lady of Blossoming,
+ Here as she sits on the apple-tree seat.
+
+ Has she not gathered the summer about her?
+ Look, how it laughs from her lips and her eyes!
+ Think you the sun there would shine on without her?
+ Nay! 'tis her smile keeps the gray from the skies.
+
+ Fire of the rose and snow of the jessamine,
+ Gold of the lily-dust hid in her hair;
+ Day holds his breath and Night comes up to look at her,
+ Leaving their strife for a vision so rare.
+
+ Snow, snow, down from the apple-trees,
+ Pink and white drifting of petals sweet,
+ Kiss her and crown her, and flutter a-down her,
+ And carpet the ground for her dear little feet.
+
+
+
+
+BETTY'S SONG.
+
+
+ Little Two-shoes,
+ Little Toddle-toes,
+ Like a little pretty pinky winky rose,
+ Come to me, now,
+ And we'll see, now,
+ How the rocking-chair away to By-land goes.
+
+ With a heigh ho,
+ And a by-low,
+ And a swinging, swinging softly to and fro;
+ With a sleepy croon,
+ All about the moon,
+ How she puts the sleepy stars to beddy oh!
+
+ With a hey-day,
+ And a rock-away,
+ And a patting down the hands that want to play;
+ With a swing swong
+ In the drowsy song,
+ That forgets the drowsy words it has to say.
+
+ Now the lids close,
+ Just when no one knows,
+ And the dimpled flush grows deeper, rose on rose.
+ Little Two-shoes,
+ Little Toddle-toes,
+ With the rocking-chair away to By-land goes.
+
+
+
+
+A NONSENSE TRAGEDY.
+
+
+ Brown owl sat on a caraway tree,
+ Ruffly, puffly, great big owl;
+ Who so learned and wise as he?
+ Huffly, snuffly, eminent fowl.
+
+ Black bat hung by a twig of the tree,
+ Blinkety, winkety, blind old bat;
+ Paying his court to the bumble-bee,
+ Fuzzy bee, buzzy bee, yellow and fat.
+
+ "Oh!" said the owl, "but the sun is so bright.
+ Blazing, crazing, fiery sun,
+ How can I possibly wait till night?
+ Sweltering, meltering, not much fun!"
+
+ "Oh!" said the bat, "if a cloud would come,
+ Showery, lowery, nice gray cloud,
+ I'd take my love to my cavern home,
+ Happily, flappily, pleased and proud."
+
+ "Oh!" said the bee, "but if that be all,
+ Whimpering, simpering, blear-eyed bat,
+ Yonder's a cloud coming up at your call,
+ Scowling, growling, black as your hat."
+
+ "Oh!" said the owl and the bat together:
+ "Rollicky, jollicky, nice fat cloud,
+ Give us some good, black, thundery weather;
+ Roar away, pour away, can't be too loud!"
+
+ Up came the cloud, spreading far and wide,
+ Billowy, pillowy, black as night;
+ Brisk little hurricane sitting inside,
+ Blow away, strow away, out of sight.
+
+ Off went the owl like a thistle-down puff,
+ Ruffly, huffly, rolled in a ball;
+ Off went the bat like a candle-snuff,
+ Fly away, die away, terrible fall.
+
+ Off went the twig, and off went the tree,
+ Crashing, smashing, splintering round;
+ Nothing was left but the bumble-bee,
+ And who so merry, so merry as she,
+ As she laughed, "Ho! ho!" as she laughed, "He! he!
+ Creep away, sleep away, hole in the ground."
+
+
+
+
+FROM NEW YORK TO BOSTON.
+
+ [_Allegro con moto._]
+
+
+ Here we go skilfully skipping,
+ Riding the resonant rail;
+ Conductor the tickets is clipping,
+ Boy has bananas for sale.
+ Raindrops outside are a-dripping,--
+ Dripping o'er meadow and vale.
+ Here we go skilfully skipping,
+ Riding the resonant rail.
+
+ Clankety clankety clank,
+ Clinkety clinkety cling;
+ Five little boys on a bank,
+ One little girl in a swing.
+ Fishhawk o'erhead in the distance,
+ Spreading his wings like a sail.
+ Here we go skilfully skipping,
+ Riding the resonant rail.
+
+ "Puck, Life, Frank Leslie, and Harper!
+ Latest editions, just out!"
+ Boy is an impudent sharper!
+ All are last week's, I've no doubt.
+ "Every new monthly and weekly,
+ Every new novel and tale!"
+ Here we go skilfully skipping,
+ Riding the resonant rail.
+
+ Jogglety jogglety joggle!
+ Jigglety jigglety jig!
+ Snuffy old man with a goggle,
+ Acid old dame with a wig,
+ Pretty girl peacefully sleeping
+ Under her gold-spotted veil.
+ Here we go skilfully skipping,
+ Riding the resonant rail.
+
+ Now we are duly admonished,
+ Hartford's the place we reach next;
+ Cow in the field looks astonished,
+ Sheep in the pasture perplexed.
+ Furious puppy pursues us,
+ Cocking a truculent tail.
+ Here we go skilfully skipping,
+ Riding the resonant rail.
+
+ "Lozenges, peanuts, and candy!
+ Apples and oranges sweet!"
+ Legs are so frightfully bandy,
+ Wonder he keeps on his feet.
+ "All the New York evening papers,--
+ Times, Tribune, World, Sun, and Mail!"
+ Here we go skilfully skipping,
+ Riding the resonant rail.
+
+ Engine goes "Whoosh!" at the station,
+ Engine goes "Whizz!" o'er the plain;
+ Horses express consternation,
+ Drivers remonstrate in vain.
+ Smoke-witches dancing about us,
+ Sparks in a fiery train.
+ Here we go skilfully skipping,
+ Riding the resonant rail.
+
+ Tinklety tinklety tink!
+ Tunklety tunklety tunk!
+ Nearing the station, I think.
+ Where is the check for my trunk?
+ "Boston!" and "Boston!" and "Boston!"
+ Home of my fathers, all hail!
+ Here we go joyfully jumping,
+ Away from the resonant rail.
+
+
+
+
+SANDY GODOLPHIN.
+
+
+ Sandy Godolphin sat up on the hill,
+ And up on the hill sat he;
+ And the only remark he was known to make,
+ Was "Fiddledy diddledy dee!"
+
+ He made it first in the high Hebrew,
+ And then in the Dutch so low,
+ In Turkish and Russian and Persian and Prussian,
+ And rather more tongues than I know.
+
+ He made this remark until it was dark,
+ And he could no longer see;
+ Then he lighted his lamp, because it was damp,
+ And gave him the neuralgee.
+
+ Sandy Godolphin came down from the hill,
+ And moaned in a dark despair:
+ "I've finished," said he, "with my fiddledy dee,
+ For nobody seems to care."
+
+
+
+
+MY CLOCK.
+
+
+ My little clock, my little clock,
+ He lives upon the shelf;
+ He stands on four round golden feet,
+ And so supports himself.
+
+ His face is very white and clean,
+ His hands are very black;
+ He has no soap to wash them with,
+ And suffers from the lack.
+
+ He holds them up, his grimy hands,
+ And points at me all day;
+ "Make haste, make haste, the moments waste!"
+ He always seems to say.
+
+ "Tick tock! tick tock! I am a clock;
+ I'm always up to time.
+ Ding dong! ding dong! the whole day long
+ My silver warnings chime.
+
+ "Tick tock! tick tock! 'tis nine o'clock,
+ And time to go to school;
+ Don't loiter 'mid the buttercups,
+ Or by the wayside pool.
+
+ "Ding dong! tick tock! 'tis two o'clock.
+ The dinner's getting cold;
+ You'd better hurry down, you child,
+ Or your mamma will scold.
+
+ "Tick tock! tick tock! 'tis six o'clock.
+ You've had the afternoon
+ To play and romp, so now come in;
+ Your tea'll be ready soon.
+
+ "Tick tock! tick tock! 'tis nine o'clock.
+ To bed, to bed, my dear!
+ Sleep sound, until I waken you,
+ When day is shining clear."
+
+ So through the night and through the day,
+ My busy little clock,
+ He talks and talks and talks away,
+ With ceaseless "tick" and "tock."
+
+ But warning others on his shelf,
+ All earnest as he stands,
+ He never thinks to warn himself;
+ He'll _never_ wash his hands.
+
+
+
+
+MY UNCLE JEHOSHAPHAT.
+
+
+ My Uncle Jehoshaphat had a pig,--
+ A pig of high degree;
+ And he always wore a brown scratch wig,
+ Most beautiful for to see.
+
+ My Uncle Jehoshaphat loved this pig,
+ And the piggywig he loved him;
+ And they both jumped into the lake one day,
+ To see which best could swim.
+
+ My Uncle Jehoshaphat he swam up,
+ And the piggywig he swam down;
+ And so they both did win the prize,
+ Which the same was a velvet gown.
+
+ My Uncle Jehoshaphat wore one half,
+ And the piggywig wore the other;
+ And they both rode to town on the brindled calf,
+ To carry it home to its mother.
+
+
+
+
+ROSY POSY.
+
+
+ There was a little Rosy,
+ And she had a little nosy;
+ And she made a little posy,
+ All pink and white and green.
+ And she said, "Little nosy,
+ Will you smell my little posy?
+ For of all the flowers that growsy,
+ Such sweet ones ne'er were seen."
+
+ So she took the little posy,
+ And she put it to her nosy,
+ On her little face so rosy,
+ The flowers for to smell;
+ And which of them was Rosy,
+ And which of them was nosy,
+ And which of them was posy,
+ You really could not tell!
+
+
+[Illustration: MY WALLPAPER. ]
+
+
+
+
+SICK-ROOM FANCIES.
+
+
+ I.
+
+ MY WALL-PAPER.
+
+ The paper roses, blue and red,
+ That climbing go about my bed,
+ All up and down my chamber wall,
+ A-quarrelling one day did fall;
+ And as with half-shut eyes I lay,
+ 'Twas thus I heard the roses say:
+
+ "You vulgar creature!" cried the Red,
+ "I wonder you dare raise your head,
+ Much less go flaunting here and there
+ With such a proud and perky air.
+ I am a rose indeed; but _you_!
+ Who ever heard of roses blue?
+ Your sense of truth, Ma'am, must be small,
+ To call yourself a rose at all."
+
+ The Blue Rose proudly raised her head;
+ "Your humble servant, Ma'am!" she said.
+ "My family, I own, is far
+ From being such as you, Ma'am, are.
+ We blossomed lately in the sky,
+ A fairy plucked us, floating by,
+ And flung us down to earth, that we
+ Might show what roses _ought_ to be.
+ So, while we still adorn the earth,
+ Our hue attests our skyey birth."
+
+ Just then _my_ Rose came through the room;
+ And in her hand, in wondrous bloom,
+ A lovely snow-white bud she bore,
+ With diamond dew-drops sprinkled o'er.
+ She laid it in my hand, and "See,"
+ She said, "how fair a rose may be!"
+ The paper roses, Blues and Reds,
+ For shame hung down their silly heads.
+ I watched them, laughing, as I lay,
+ But not another word said they.
+
+
+ II.
+
+ MY JAPANESE FAN.
+
+ I have a friend, a little friend,
+ Who lives upon a fan;
+ Perhaps he is a woman,
+ Perhaps she is a man.
+ His clothes they are so very queer,
+ So _very_ queer, in sooth,
+ I sometimes call him "lovely maid,"
+ And sometimes "gentle youth."
+
+ Her hair is combed up straight and smooth
+ Above his pretty face.
+ His looks are full of friendliness;
+ Her attitude, of grace.
+ And every morning when I wake,
+ And every evening too,
+ She greets me with his pleasant smile,
+ And friendly "How-d'ye-do?"
+
+ She wonders why I lie in bed;
+ He thinks my wisest plan
+ Would be to come and live with her
+ Upon a paper fan.
+ But that, alas! can never be;
+ And so I never can
+ Know whether he's a woman,
+ Or whether she's a man.
+
+
+
+
+MARJORIE'S KNITTING.
+
+
+ In the chimney-corner our Marjorie sits,
+ Softly singing the while she knits.
+ The fire-light, flickering here and there,
+ Plays on her face and her shining hair;
+
+ And glimmering bright in the fitful glow,
+ Backward and forward her needles go,--
+ Backward and forward, swift and true,--
+ And hark! the needles are singing too.
+
+ "One and two and three and four,
+ Counting and narrowing o'er and o'er;
+ Knit and rib and seam and purl.
+ Clickety clackety, good little girl!"
+
+ And what is our Marjorie knitting, I pray?
+ A soft, warm scarf, for a wintry day,
+ A pair of mittens for schoolboy Fred,
+ Or some reins for toddling Baby Ned?
+
+ I cannot see, in the twilight gray,
+ How many needles are working away;
+ But I see them flickering in and out,
+ And _they_ know exactly what they are about.
+
+ "One and two and three and four
+ Counting and narrowing o'er and o'er;
+ Knit and rib and seam and purl.
+ Clickety clackety, good little girl!"
+
+ The fire is whispering, "Marjorie mine,
+ 'Tis a positive pleasure on you to shine,
+ From your pretty brown hair, all shining and neat,
+ Down to your dainty, trim-slippered feet."
+
+ The kettle is murmuring, "Marjorie dear,
+ 'Tis all for your sake that I'm bubbling here;
+ But though I have bubbled both loud and long,
+ You've ears for nought save those needles' song."
+
+ "One and two and three and four,
+ Counting and narrowing o'er and o'er;
+ Knit and rib and seam and purl.
+ Clickety clackety, good little girl!"
+
+ Marjorie cheerily works away,
+ Nor ever her thoughts from her knitting stray.
+ Whatever it is, 'twill be sure to fit,
+ For loving thoughts in the web are knit.
+
+ The kettle may bubble, the fire may burn,
+ But Marjorie's thoughts they cannot turn;
+ And I think my heart must be working too,
+ For it seems to sing as the needles do.
+
+ "One and two and three and four,
+ Counting and narrowing o'er and o'er;
+ Knit and rib and seam and purl.
+ Clickety clackety, dear little girl!"
+
+
+
+
+HE AND HIS FAMILY.
+
+
+ His father was a whale,
+ With a feather in his tail,
+ Who lived in the Greenland sea;
+ And his mother was a shark,
+ Who kept very dark
+ In the Gulf of Caribbee.
+ His uncles were a skate,
+ And a little whitebait,
+ And a flounder, and a chub beside;
+ And a lovely pickerel,
+ Both a beauty and a belle,
+ Had promised for to be his bride.
+ You may think these things are strange,
+ And they _are_ a little change
+ From the ordinary run, 'tis true;
+ But the queerest thing (to me)
+ Of all appeared to be,
+ That _he_ was a kangaroo!
+
+
+
+
+EASTER-TIME.
+
+
+ The little flowers came through the ground,
+ At Easter-time, at Easter-time;
+ They raised their heads and looked around,
+ At happy Easter-time.
+ And every pretty bud did say,
+ "Good people, bless this holy day;
+ For Christ is risen, the angels say,
+ This happy Easter-time."
+
+ The scarlet lily raised its cup,
+ At Easter-time, at Easter-time;
+ The crocus to the sky looked up,
+ At happy Easter-time.
+ "We hear the song of heaven!" they say;
+ "Its glory shines on us to-day,
+ Oh! may it shine on us alway,
+ At happy Easter-time."
+
+ 'Twas long and long and long ago,
+ That Easter-time, that Easter-time;
+ But still the scarlet lilies blow
+ At happy Easter-time.
+ And still each little flower doth say,
+ "Good Christians, bless this holy day;
+ For Christ is risen, the angels say,
+ At blessed Easter-time."
+
+
+
+
+EASTER.
+
+
+ Give flowers to all the children,
+ This blessed Easter Day,--
+ Fair crocuses and snowdrops,
+ And tulips brave and gay;
+
+ Bright nodding daffodillies,
+ And purple iris tall,
+ And sprays of silver lilies,
+ The loveliest of all.
+
+ And tell them, tell the children,
+ How in the dark, cold earth,
+ The flowers have been waiting
+ Till spring should give them birth.
+
+ All winter long they waited,
+ Till the south wind's soft breath
+ Bade them rise up in beauty,
+ And bid farewell to death.
+
+ Then tell the little children
+ How Christ our Saviour, too,
+ The flower of all eternity,
+ Once death and darkness knew.
+
+ How, like these blossoms, silent,
+ Within the tomb he lay;
+ Then rose in light and glory,
+ To live in heaven alway.
+
+ So take the flowers, children,
+ And be ye pure as they;
+ And sing of Christ our Saviour,
+ This blessed Easter Day.
+
+
+
+
+JACKY FROST.
+
+
+ Jacky Frost, Jacky Frost,
+ Came in the night;
+ Left the meadows that he crossed
+ All gleaming white.
+ Painted with his silver brush
+ Every window-pane;
+ Kissed the leaves and made them blush,
+ Blush and blush again.
+
+ Jacky Frost, Jacky Frost,
+ Crept around the house,
+ Sly as a silver fox,
+ Still as a mouse.
+ Out little Jenny came,
+ Blushing like a rose;
+ Up jumped Jacky Frost,
+ And pinched her little nose.
+
+
+
+
+SUBTRACTION.
+
+
+ Six from four leaves two, Mamma,
+ Six from four leaves two.
+ Surely that is right, Mamma,--
+ Don't you think 'twill do?
+
+ Please don't shake your head, Mamma!
+ Well, it's _nearly_ right;
+ And what difference does it make
+ If it isn't _quite_?
+
+ Hark! the boys are there, Mamma,
+ Out upon the lawn;
+ If I don't go soon, Mamma,
+ They will all be gone.
+
+ _I_ would let _you_ go, Mamma,
+ Were I teaching you.
+ Six from four leaves two--oh dear!
+
+ _Four_ from _six_ leaves two, Mamma!
+ Now I have it right.
+ Well! upon my word, I think
+ I wasn't very bright.
+
+ Dear Mamma, before I go,
+ Here's a kiss for you.
+ Four from six leaves two, hurrah!
+ Four from six leaves two!
+
+
+
+
+GRANDFATHER DEAR.
+
+ [_Written for Decoration Day._]
+
+
+ Jonquil and daffodil mine,
+ Lift me your golden-crowned heads!
+ Cockscomb and peony fine,
+ Lend me your lordliest reds!
+ Tying my posy up here,
+ I must have flowers at will;
+ They are for Grandfather dear,
+ There where he sleeps on the hill.
+
+ Grandfather dear was a soldier,
+ Gallant and handsome and young.
+ Flowers, I'll show you his picture,
+ Over the shelf where 'tis hung.
+ Yes, and his sword hangs beneath it,
+ The sword that he waved as he fell,
+ Fighting on Winchester Field,--
+ The field he was holding so well.
+
+ So when the year's at the sweetest,
+ Mother and Grandmother dear
+ And I, we go gathering flowers,
+ So sweet as they're blossoming here.
+ And when Grandfather looks down from heaven,
+ As he looks, and looks lovingly still,
+ He smiles as he sees his own flowers,
+ All shining and sweet on the hill.
+
+
+
+
+GATHERING APPLES.
+
+
+ Down in the orchard, down in the orchard,
+ Under the gold-apple tree,
+ One little maid and two little maids
+ Frolic, merry and free.
+ Brown as a berry, red as a rose,
+ Sweeter maidens nobody knows.
+ "What are you doing, Marjorie?
+ Marjorie, tell to me?"
+ Up she lifted her curly head,
+ (Oh, but her cheeks were rosy-red!)
+ Shaking her curls right saucily,
+ "I'm gathering apples!" said she, said she,
+ "I'm gathering apples!" said she.
+
+ Down in the orchard, down in the orchard,
+ Under the gold-apple tree,
+ Softly treading, the farmer came,
+ Peeping so warily.
+ Six feet high from his head to his toes;
+ A jollier farmer nobody knows.
+ "What are you doing, farmer, pray?
+ Jolly old farmer, say!"
+ Up he caught them both in his arms;
+ Oh, the shrieks, the merry alarms!
+ Closer clasping them lovingly,
+ "I'm gathering apples!" said he, said he,
+ "I'm gathering apples!" said he.
+
+
+
+
+THE BALLAD OF THE BEACH.
+
+
+ "Take off thy stockings, Samuel!
+ Now take them off, I pray;
+ Roll up thy trousers, Samuel,
+ And come with me to play.
+
+ "The ebbing tide has left the sand
+ All hard and smooth and white,
+ And we will build a goodly fort,
+ And have a goodly fight."
+
+ Then Samuel he pulled off
+ His hose of scarlet hue,
+ And Samuel he rolled up
+ His breeches darkly blue.
+
+ And hand-in-hand with Reginald,
+ He hied him to the beach;
+ Each little boy a shovel had,
+ And eke a pail had each.
+
+ Then down upon the shining sand
+ Right joyfully they sat;
+ And far upon the shining sand
+ Each tossed his broad-brimmed hat.
+
+ Then valiantly to work they went,
+ Like sturdy lads and true;
+ And there they built a stately fort,
+ The best that they might do.
+
+ "Now sit we down within the walls,
+ Which rise above our head,
+ And we will make us cannon-balls
+ Of sand, as good as lead."
+
+ Now as they worked, these little boys,
+ Full glad in heart and mind,
+ The creeping tide came back again,
+ To see what it could find.
+
+ The creeping tide came up the sand,
+ To see what it could do;
+ And there it found two broad-brimmed hats,
+ With ribbons red and blue.
+
+ And "See now!" said the creeping tide;
+ "These hats belong, I trow,
+ To Reginald and Samuel;
+ I saw them here but now."
+
+ And "See now!" said the creeping tide;
+ "What hinders me to float
+ These hats out to the boys' mamma,
+ Is sailing in a boat?"
+
+ Then up there came two little waves,
+ All rippling so free;
+ They lifted up the broad-brimmed hats,
+ And bore them out to sea.
+
+ The ribbons red and ribbons blue
+ Streamed gallantly away;
+ The straw did glitter in the sun,
+ Were never craft so gay!
+
+ The mother of these little lads
+ Was sailing on the sea;
+ And now she laughed, and now she sang,
+ And who so blithe as she?
+
+ And "Look!" she said; "what things be these
+ That dance upon the wave,
+ All fluttering and glittering
+ And sparkling so brave?
+
+ "Now row me well, my brethren, twain,
+ Now row me o'er the sea!
+ For we will chase these tiny craft,
+ And see what they may be."
+
+ They rowed her fast, they rowed her well,--
+ Too well, those gallants true;
+ For when she reached the broad-brimmed hats,
+ Right well those hats she knew.
+
+ "Alas!" she cried; "my little lads
+ Are drowned in the sea!"
+ Then down she sank in deadly swoon,
+ As pale as she might be.
+
+ They rowed her well, those gallants gay,
+ They rowed her to the land;
+ They lifted up that lady pale,
+ And bore her up the strand.
+
+ But as they bore her up the beach,
+ The balls began to fly,
+ And hit those gallants on the nose,
+ And hit them in the eye.
+
+ They looked here, they looked there,
+ To see whence this might be;
+ And soon they spied a stately fort,
+ Beside the salt, salt sea.
+
+ And straight from out the stately fort
+ The balls were flying free;
+ Each gallant rubbed his smitten nose,
+ And eke his eye rubbed he.
+
+ They looked within the stately fort,
+ To see who aimed so well;
+ And there was little Reginald,
+ And youthful Samuel.
+
+ They lifted up those little lads,
+ Each by his waisty-band;
+ And down beside that lady pale
+ They set them on the sand.
+
+ And first that lady waxed more pale,
+ And syne she waxed full red;
+ And syne she kissed those little boys,
+ But not a word she said.
+
+ Then up and spoke those gallants gay,
+ "You naughty little chaps,
+ Your poor mamma you've frightened sore,
+ And made her ill, perhaps.
+
+ "And if you are not shaken well,
+ And if you are not spanked,
+ It will not be your uncles' fault;
+ So _they_ need not be thanked."
+
+ Then up and spoke those little lads,
+ All mournful as they sat;
+ And each did cry, "Ah, woe is me!
+ I've lost--my nice--new--hat!"
+
+ Then up and spoke that lady fair,
+ "Nay, nay, my little dears,
+ You sha'n't be spanked! so come with me,
+ And wipe away your tears.
+
+ "There be more hats in Boston town,
+ For little boys to wear;
+ And as for those that you have lost,
+ I pray their voyage be fair.
+
+ "For since I have my little lads,
+ The hats may sail away
+ Around the world and back again,
+ Forever and a day!"
+
+
+
+
+THE BOOTS OF A HOUSEHOLD.
+
+ [_After Mrs. Hemans._]
+
+
+ They came in beauty, side by side,
+ They filled one house with noise;
+ And now they're trotting far and wide,
+ On feet of girls and boys.
+
+ The self-same shoemaker did bend
+ O'er every heel and toe;
+ Shaped all their upper leathers fair,--
+ Where are those leathers now?
+
+ One pair is kicking 'gainst the bench,
+ The patient bench, at school;
+ And two are wading through the mud,
+ And splashing in the pool.
+
+ "The sea, the blue, lone sea," hath one.
+ He left it on the beach;
+ A merry wave came dancing up,
+ And bore it out of reach.
+
+ One sleeps where depths of slimy bog
+ Are glossed with grasses o'er;
+ One hasty plunge--it loosed its hold,
+ And sank to rise no more.
+
+ One pair--aha! I see them now,
+ And know them past all doubt;
+ For through each leather, gaping wide,
+ A rosy toe peeps out.
+
+ And parted thus, old, dusty, torn,
+ They travel far and wide,
+ Who in the shop, in shining rows,
+ Sat lately side by side.
+
+ And thus they frolic, frolic there,
+ And thus they caper here;
+ But great and small, and torn and all,
+ To mother's heart are dear.
+
+ [N. B.--_Also to father's purse._]
+
+
+
+
+THE PALACE
+
+
+ It's far away under the water,
+ And it's far away under the sea,
+ There's a beautiful palace a-waiting
+ For my little Rosy and me.
+
+ [Illustration: Queen Rosy]
+
+ The roof is made of coral,
+ And the floor is made of pearl,
+ And over it all the great waves fall
+ With a terrible tumble and whirl.
+
+ The fishes swim in at the window,
+ And the fishes swim out at the door,
+ And the lobsters and eels go dancing quadrilles
+ All over the beautiful floor.
+
+ There's a silver throne at on end,
+ And a golden throne at the other;
+ And on them you see, as plain as can be,
+ "Queen Rosy" and "Queen Mother."
+
+ And I will sit on the silver throne,
+ And Rosy shall sit on the gold;
+ And there we will stay, and frolic and play,
+ Until we're a thousand years old.
+
+
+
+
+BUNKER HILL MONUMENT.
+
+
+ Do you see that stately column,
+ Children dear,
+ Lifting its gray head to heaven,
+ Year by year?
+ Telling of the battle fought,
+ Telling of the good work wrought,
+ Telling of the victory bought,
+ Bought so dear!
+
+ Oh! the costly blood that flowed,
+ Children mine!
+ Fast as from the purple grapes
+ Flows the wine!
+ Oh! the heroes lying dead!
+ Oh! the women's hearts that bled!
+ Oh! the bitter tears they shed,
+ Children mine!
+
+ Long ago the tears were dried,
+ Children dear!
+ Long ago the weepers died,
+ Year by year.
+ But the column old and gray
+ Tells the story day by day.
+ "Victory!" it seems to say.
+ "Victory's here!"
+
+
+
+
+MAY.
+
+
+ Is there anything new to sing about you,
+ May, my dear?
+ Any unhackneyed thing about you,
+ Pray, my dear?
+ Anything that has not been sung
+ Long ago, when the world was young,
+ By silver throat and golden tongue?
+ Say, my dear!
+
+ So many have said that your eyes are blue,
+ May, my dear;
+ It must be a tiresome fact, though true,
+ May, my dear.
+ And if I, for one, my gracious Queen,
+ Should boldly assert that your eyes are green,
+ 'Twould be a relief to you, I ween.
+ Eh, my dear?
+
+ We know, at the touch of your garment's fold,
+ May, my dear,
+ The daisies come starring with white and gold
+ The way, my dear;
+ We know that the painted blossoms all
+ Come starting up at your gentle call,
+ By dale and meadow and garden wall,
+ May, my dear.
+
+ We know that your birds have the sweetest tune,
+ May, my dear;
+ And lovers love best beneath your moon,
+ They say, my dear.
+ And I might add that your perfumed kiss
+ Is considered productive of highest bliss;
+ But you must be so tired of hearing this.
+ Eh, my dear?
+
+ No, I really don't think there's anything fresh
+ Or new, my dear;
+ For life is short, and available rhymes
+ Are few, my dear.
+ So if I say nought about vernal bowers,
+ And forbear to mention the sunlit showers,
+ I think I shall make the best use of my powers.
+ Don't you, my dear?
+
+ And yet--yet I cannot help loving you so,
+ May, my dear,
+ That the old words, whether I will or no,
+ I say, my dear.
+ And how you are fair, and how you are sweet,
+ My loving lips forever repeat,--
+ And is this the reason you pass so fleet?
+ Ah, stay, my dear!
+
+
+
+
+GREGORY GRIGGS.
+
+
+ Gregory Griggs, Gregory Griggs,
+ Had forty-seven different wigs;
+ He wore them up, and he wore them down,
+ To please the people of Boston town.
+ He wore them east, and he wore them west,
+ But he never could tell which he liked the best.
+
+
+
+
+A NURSERY TRAGEDY.
+
+
+ It was a lordly elephant,
+ His name, his name was Sprite;
+ He stood upon the nursery floor,
+ All ready for a fight.
+
+ He looked upon the rocking-horse,
+ Who proudly prancing stood:
+ "O rocking-horse! O shocking horse!
+ I'm thirsting for your blood!
+
+ "How dare you stand and look at me,
+ You ugly snorting thing?
+ Know, that of every living beast,
+ The elephant is king!
+
+ "And if a person looks at me,
+ Unless I give him leave,
+ He's very apt to meet his death
+ Too swiftly for reprieve.
+
+ "You are the most unpleasant beast
+ I e'er have looked on yet;
+ Although the stupid children here
+ Will make of you a pet.
+
+ "I hate your tail of waving hair!
+ I hate your bits of brass!
+ But more, oh, more than all, I hate
+ Your gleaming eyes of glass!
+
+ "Were you of cotton-flannel made,
+ As nursery beasts should be,
+ With eyes of good black boot-buttons,
+ You then might look at me.
+
+ "I might forgive your want of tusks,
+ Your lack of trunk forgive;
+ But that wild, goggling, glassy glare--
+ No! never, while I live!
+
+ "So get you gone, you rocking-horse!
+ Go to your closet-shed,
+ And there, behind the wood-basket,
+ Conceal your ugly head!"
+
+ But as the elephant thus did scold
+ And rage and fume and roar,
+ The rocking-horse rocked over him,
+ And crushed him to the floor.
+
+
+
+
+THE UMBRELLA BRIGADE
+
+
+ "Pitter patter!" falls the rain
+ On the school-room window-pane.
+ Such a plashing! such a dashing!
+ Will it e'er be dry again?
+ Down the gutter rolls a flood,
+ And the crossing's deep in mud;
+ And the puddles! oh, the puddles
+ Are a sight to stir one's blood!
+
+
+ _Chorus._
+
+ But let it rain
+ Tree-toads and frogs,
+ Muskets and pitchforks,
+ Kittens and dogs!
+ Dash away! plash away!
+ Who is afraid?
+ Here we go,
+ The Umbrella Brigade!
+
+ Pull the boots up to the knee!
+ Tie the hoods on merrily!
+ Such a hustling! such a jostling!
+ Out of breath with fun are we.
+ Clatter, clatter, down the street,
+ Greeting every one we meet,
+ With our laughing and our chaffing,
+ Which the laughing drops repeat.
+
+
+ _Chorus._
+
+ So let it rain
+ Tree-toads and frogs,
+ Muskets and pitchforks,
+ Kittens and dogs!
+ Dash away! plash away!
+ Who is afraid?
+ Here we go,
+ The Umbrella Brigade!
+
+
+
+
+THE PRINCESS IN SATURN AND THE RED MAN IN MARS.
+
+
+ There once was a princess both fair and tall,
+ Who did not live on this earth at all.
+ She lived up in Saturn,
+ And she was a pattern
+ Of every accomplishment, great and small;
+ The graces and virtues, she had them all.
+
+ Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, she had them pat;
+ And she played on the sackbut! think of that!
+ And she sang so sweet,
+ All the birds at her feet
+ With envy and sorrow fell down quite flat;
+ I've been told they fell down quite remarkably flat.
+
+ Now all the princes and all the kings
+ Who lived in Saturn and all his rings,
+ They came and knelt
+ Where the princess dwelt;
+ And they brought her all sorts of beautiful things,--
+ Oh! quite an assortment of elegant things.
+
+ For one king brought her a diamond hat;
+ And another presented a two-legged cat;
+ While another one said,
+ "When my uncle is dead,
+ I will give you his monkey. Be sure of that!
+ His talented monkey; depend upon that!"
+
+ One powerful prince, with a haughty stride,
+ Came forward and said, "If you'll be my bride,
+ You shall have the Great Bear
+ To powder your hair,
+ And the small one to lace up your boots beside,--
+ To lace up your boots, and to shine them beside."
+
+ But the princess sighed; and softly she said,
+ "Alas! not one of you all can I wed.
+ 'Tis my positive plan
+ To marry a man
+ Who lives up in Mars, and is painted red,--
+ From his head to his feet, quite a violent red.
+
+ "I have often looked through my opera-glass,
+ And up and down I have seen him pass;
+ And so bright was his hue,
+ And so lovely to view,
+ I felt that in him lay my fate, alas!
+ I read in his red my own fate, alas!
+
+ "So now, if you love me as fond and true
+ As all of you think that all of you do,
+ You will help me to wed
+ My 'Study in Red.'
+ Oh, kings and princes, now pray you, do!
+ You _dear_ kings and princes, I beg of you, do!"
+
+ The kings and princes arose with a frown,
+ And first they looked up, and then they looked down.
+ Not a man of them spoke
+ Till he'd straightened his cloak,
+ And settled his wig, and adjusted his crown.
+
+ [Illustration: THE PRINCESS IN SATURN.]
+
+ And then, "If you honestly wish," they said,
+ "To marry a man who is _painted red_"
+ (In Saturn, I ween,
+ All the people are green),
+ "We don't know that there's anything more to be said,--
+ Your Highness, there seems nothing more to be said."
+
+ So they called a comet, and told him to go
+ To the Red Man in Mars, and give him to know
+ That a princess in Saturn,
+ Of virtues the pattern,
+ Desired to marry him, whether or no,--
+ Was determined to marry him, whether or no.
+
+ Away whizzed the comet, and soon he came
+ To the Red Man in Mars, and called him by name.
+ And telling his news,
+ Begged him not to refuse
+ To send back an answer at once to the same,--
+ "Just you make up your mind in regard to the same!"
+
+ But the Red Man sighed, and mournfully said,
+ "My friend, 'tis our law that all wives _must_ be red;
+ And if I should be seen
+ With a wife who is green,
+ Our king would be apt at removing my head,--
+ Not a moment he'd lose in removing my head.
+
+ "But if the young lady (who's surely most kind),
+ Could in any way make up her princessly mind
+ To turn _herself red_,
+ It need hardly be said
+ That a lover devoted in me she would find,--
+ That a husband adoring in me she would find."
+
+ The comet whizzed back with the answer again,
+ And the kings and the princes received it with pain.
+ "Sure, the princess's green
+ Has so brilliant a sheen,
+ That the thought of a change is exceedingly vain,--
+ The idea of a change is prepost'rously vain."
+
+ But when the princess this message heard,
+ She said, "I see nothing in this that's absurd."
+ Then to blush she began;
+ And she blushed till the Man
+ In Mars was less ruddy by half, on my word,--
+ Less red by a generous half, on my word!
+
+ She blushed over cheek and lip and brow,
+ From her fair little head to her trim little toe.
+ And her hat and her shoe,
+ And her farthingale too,
+ They blushed just as red as herself, I vow,--
+ They blushed for the love of herself, I vow.
+
+ She blushed till the Northern Lights grew pale;
+ And the Scorpion danced on the tip of his tail;
+ And the Red Man came
+ In a fiery flame,
+ And cried, "My bee-yutiful bride, all hail!
+ My blushing, bee-yutiful bride, all hail!"
+
+ And so they were married, both he and she,
+ And the color of both was quite scarlet to see.
+ And they lived, the tale says,
+ To the end of their days,
+ As happy, as happy, as happy could be:
+ Sure, no other couple so happy could be.
+
+ For she loved him in Hebrew, and likewise in Greek,
+ And the Latin tongue also she freely did speak.
+ And the sackbut she'd play
+ Every hour in the day,
+ Till the Red Man in Mars would with ecstasy squeak,--
+ Till her cochineal husband with rapture would squeak.
+
+ But the people in Saturn were sad, I ween,
+ And evermore greener they grew, and more green;
+ And the princes and kings
+ Said such heartbreaking things,
+ In these mirth-loving pages they must not be seen:
+ I really must stop,
+ And the subject must drop,
+ For it won't do at all for such things to be seen.
+
+
+
+
+WIGGLE AND WAGGLE AND BUBBLE AND SQUEAK.
+
+
+ Wiggle and Waggle and Bubble and Squeak,
+ They went their fortunes for to seek;
+ They went to sea in a chicken-coop,
+ And they lived on mulligatawney soup.
+
+ Wiggle and Waggle and Bubble and Squeak,
+ They cooked their soup every day in the week;
+ They cooked their soup in a chimney-pot,
+ For there the water was always hot.
+
+ Wiggle and Waggle and Bubble and Squeak,
+ Each gave the other one's nose a tweak;
+ They tweaked so hard that it took their breath,
+ And so they met an untimely death.
+
+
+
+
+GRET GRAN'F'THER.
+
+
+ What! take Gret Gran'f'ther's musket,
+ Thet he kerried at Bunker Hill,
+ An' go a-gunnin' fer sparrers
+ With Solomon Judd an' Bill?
+
+ You let thet musket alone, Dan'l!
+ An' git down from thet air stool.
+ You've just time enough to hold this yarn
+ Afore ye go off to school.
+
+ Thar! don't ye wriggle an' twist, sonny!
+ The yarn's fer yer own new socks;
+ It's safer to hold than muskets,
+ With their triggers an' riggers an' locks.
+
+ A musket to shoot at sparrers!
+ Wal, boys is up to sech tricks!
+ An' thet old un, too, thet ain't ben tetched
+ Sence seventeen seventy-six!
+
+ But I set more store by its rusty stock,
+ Than the finest money could buy;
+ An' if you'll stan' stiddy, Dan'l,
+ I'll tell ye the reason why.
+
+ You never seed Gret Gran'f'ther,
+ But you've seed his pictur, boy,
+ With the smilin' mouth, an' the big brown eyes
+ Jes' brimmin' with life and joy.
+
+ Wal! he war'n't like thet when I seed him,
+ But his sperrit was lively still,
+ Fer all his white hair an' empty sleeve,
+ As it was at Bunker Hill.
+
+ An' many's the time he's told me,
+ Settin' here in this very cheer,
+ Of the fust time he shouldered thet musket,
+ In the Continental year.
+
+ How out in the field a-mowin',
+ He seed the bay'nets glance,
+ An' ran fer his gun with a lighter heart
+ Than ever he went to a dance.
+
+ Jest as he was,--in his shirt-sleeves
+ (Fer the day was warm and bright),
+ An' no hat,--but shoulderin' his musket,
+ Gret Gran'f'ther went to the fight.
+
+ An' thar upon Bunker hillside,
+ Whar the smoke hung thick an' gray,
+ He went a-gunnin' fer redcoats,
+ As you'd go fer sparrers to-day.
+
+ Hey! but the balls were whistlin'!
+ An' the flashes kem thick an' fast;
+ But whose-ever musket hed fust word,
+ Gret Gran'f'ther's hed the last.
+
+ Then a gunner was shot beside him,
+ Thet handled a six-pound gun,
+ An' they called fer a man to tend her;
+ An' Gran'f'ther said he was one.
+
+ "I ain't never fired a gun," said he,
+ "But I'll do my prideful best;
+ An' ef all you want is a man, Colonel,
+ Mebbe I'm as good as the rest."
+
+ An' I reckon he was! fer he stood thar,
+ An' fired thet six-pound gun,
+ Till every redcoat within his range
+ Hed either dropped or run.
+
+ Then all of a suddent thar kem a crack,
+ A flash an' a twinge an' a thrill,
+ An' Gran'f'ther's right arm dropped by his side,
+ An' hung thar, limp an' still.
+
+ Jest fer a moment, I've heard him say,
+ The hull world seemed to reel;
+ An' a hummin' sound went through his ears,
+ Like Gran'm'ther's spinnin'-wheel.
+
+ But he hedn't no time for faintin',
+ Nor he hedn't no time for pain;
+ "It's well I'm left-handed!" says Gran'f'ther,
+ An' he fired the gun again.
+
+ Bimeby, when the Colonel found him,
+ Arter the fight was done,
+ He was lyin', all black like a nigger,
+ An' senseless, along by his gun.
+
+ Then the boys made a kind o' stretcher,
+ An' jest as they laid him a-top,
+ "The balls was all gone," he says, "Colonel,
+ So I was obleeged to stop."
+
+ Yes! thet was the way Gret Gran'f'ther fit,
+ An' the way he lost his arm;
+ But he shot with his left till the land was free,
+ An' then he kem back to the farm.
+
+ An' he laid his musket acrost them hooks,
+ An' thar it's laid to this day;
+ An' spite o' you an' the sparrers, Dan'l,
+ Thar's whar it's a-goin' to stay.
+
+ The school-bell! run now, sonny boy!
+ An' thank ye fer standin' still.
+ What's thet? Ay! Hurrah fer Gret Gran'f'ther!
+ An' hurrah fer Bunker Hill!
+
+
+
+
+DAY DREAMS.
+
+
+ White wings over the water,
+ Fluttering, fluttering over the sea,
+ White wings over the water,
+ What are you bringing to me?
+ A fairy prince in a golden boat,
+ With golden ringlets that fall and float,
+ A velvet cap, and a taffety cloak,
+ This you are bringing to me.
+
+ Fairy, fairy princekin,
+ Sailing, sailing hither to me,
+ Silk and satin and velvet,
+ What are you coming to see?
+ A little girl in a calico gown,
+ With hair and eyes of dusky brown,
+ Who sits on the wharf of the fishing-town,
+ Looking away to sea.
+
+ [Illustration: DAY DREAMS.]
+
+ Golden, golden sunbeams,
+ Touch me now with your wands of gold;
+ Make me a beautiful princess,
+ Radiant to behold.
+
+ Blue and silver and ermine fine,
+ Diamond drops that flash and shine;
+ So shall I meet this prince of mine,
+ Fairer than may be told.
+
+ White wings over the water,
+ Fluttering ever farther away;
+ Dark clouds shrouding the sunbeams,
+ Sullen and cold and gray.
+ Back I go in my calico gown,
+ Back to the hut in the fishing-town.
+ And oh, but the night shuts darkly down
+ After the summer day!
+
+
+
+
+THE BATTLE.
+
+ [_All the children march, each singing a verse in turn, and all
+ joining in the refrain._]
+
+
+ I am a German,
+ Marching, marching.
+ I am a German,
+ Tum tum tum!
+ Musket on shoulder,
+ Who could be bolder,
+ Tramping away at the sound of the drum.
+
+ _Chorus_. Bang! bang! bang!
+ Hear the muskets rattle!
+ Bang! bang! bang! bang!
+ Now we'll have a battle.
+ Shoot 'em through the head,
+ Run 'em through the body!
+ He who runs away
+ Is called a Hoddy-Doddy.[1]
+
+ [_Repeat after each verse._]
+
+ I am a Frenchman,
+ Marching, marching.
+ I am a Frenchman,
+ Tum tum tum!
+ First at the front,
+ I will bear the battle's brunt,
+ Tramping away at the sound of the drum.
+
+ I am an Englishman,
+ Marching, marching.
+ I am an Englishman,
+ Tum tum tum!
+ Let the foeman meet me!
+ Where's the one to beat me?
+ Tramping away at the sound of the drum.
+
+ I am an Irishman,
+ Marching, marching.
+ I am an Irishman,
+ Tum tum tum!
+ When the battle's ready,
+ Who'll be there but Paddy?
+ Tramping away at the sound of the drum.
+
+ [_All together._]
+
+ We are the regiment,
+ Marching, marching.
+ We are the regiment,
+ Tum tum tum!
+ Let the trumpets blow,
+ As we rush to meet the foe,
+ With a tan tan tara! at the sound of the drum.
+
+[1] "Though you're such a Hoddy-Doddy!"--_Edward Lear._
+
+
+
+
+THE STRANGE BEAST.
+
+
+ Four gay gallants of London town
+ Went out to walk on Horsley Down;
+ And there they saw a beast,
+ The like of which had ne'er been seen
+ In Cheapside or in Strand, I ween,
+ In West-side or in East.
+
+ Its legs were four, its tail was one,
+ So one gallant swore by the sun
+ It therefore was a horse;
+ "Nay!" cried the next, "this talk is idle.
+ If 'twere a horse, 'twould have a bridle,
+ A saddle, too, of course."
+
+ "It has a horn, you will perceive,
+ We'll therefore call it, by your leave,
+ A unicorn of pride."
+ The others vowed by stick and fiddle
+ The unicorn wore his horn in the middle,
+ And not upon the side.
+
+ "I call't a lion!" said the third.
+ "Nay!" cried the fourth, "that's _too_ absurd!
+ The creature has no mane.
+ To one who has a judgment fair,
+ It would appear to be a bear;
+ And this I will maintain."
+
+ The beast (I'll tell the secret now!
+ 'Twas Farmer Giles's one-horned cow,
+ Her other horn was broken)
+ Advanced, meanwhile, toward the four,
+ And as 'twas supper-time and more,
+ Mooed loud, by way of token.
+
+ With shriek and scream those gallants gay
+ To London town fled back away,
+ As fast as they might fare.
+ And when at home they stopped to rest 'em,
+ A whole menagerie had chased 'em,
+ As every one could swear.
+
+
+
+
+A GARDEN JINGLE.
+
+
+ Three little peas,
+ Three little peas,
+ Three little peas in a pod.
+ The pod it was green,
+ And fair to be seen,
+ But they wanted to go abroad.
+
+ And "Oh," said they,
+ "To be far away,
+ Out in the air so green!
+ To flutter and fly
+ Like the birds that go by!
+ We would envy nor king nor queen."
+
+ Three little peas,
+ Three little peas,
+ Three little peas in a pod.
+ My Harry he took them,
+ And rattled and shook them,
+ And fired them all abroad.
+
+ The first one fell
+ Right into the well,
+ And learned how to float and swim.
+ The second did fly
+ Into Roderick's eye,
+ And sorely disgusted him.
+
+ But the third little pea,
+ Right venturesomely,
+ Straight up in the air it flew;
+ And it stared in surprise
+ With both of its eyes,
+ To find that the air was blue.
+
+
+
+
+THE BABY GOES TO BOSTON.
+
+
+ What does the train say?
+ Jiggle joggle, jiggle joggle!
+ What does the train say?
+ Jiggle joggle jee!
+ Will the little baby go
+ Riding with the locomo?
+ Loky moky poky stoky
+ Smoky choky chee!
+
+ Ting! ting! the bells ring,
+ Jiggle joggle, jiggle joggle!
+ Ting! ting! the bells ring,
+ Jiggle joggle jee!
+ Ring for joy because we go
+ Riding with the locomo,
+ Loky moky poky stoky
+ Smoky choky chee!
+
+ Look! how the trees run,
+ Jiggle joggle, jiggle joggle!
+ Each chasing t'other one,
+ Jiggle joggle jee!
+ Are they running for to go
+ Riding with the locomo?
+ Loky moky poky stoky
+ Smoky choky chee!
+
+ Over the hills now,
+ Jiggle joggle, jiggle joggle!
+ Down through the vale below,
+ Jiggle joggle jee!
+ All the cows and horses run,
+ Crying, "Won't you take us on,
+ Loky moky poky stoky
+ Smoky choky chee?"
+
+ So, so, the miles go,
+ Jiggle joggle, jiggle joggle!
+ Now it's fast and now it's slow,
+ Jiggle joggle jee!
+ When we're at our journey's end,
+ Say good-by to snorting friend,
+ Loky moky poky stoky
+ Smoky choky chee!
+
+
+
+
+THE FLAG IN THE SCHOOLROOM.
+
+ [_Written for the Central Street Grammar School, Gardiner, Me.,
+ Dec. 20, 1880._]
+
+
+ Goddess Freedom, look abroad
+ From thy snowy mount to-night!
+ In all thy realm so fair and broad,
+ Thou shalt not see a fairer sight.
+ Youthful hearts, so glad and free,
+ Paying homage due to thee:
+ Youthful voices, fresh and strong,
+ Singing thine immortal song.
+
+ As the stars with many a ray
+ Deck thy banner's azure field,
+ So these children stand to-day,
+ Stars of hope upon thy shield.
+ May each boy, to manhood grown,
+ Ever, Freedom, be thine own;
+ Now thy nursling, frail and tender,
+ Then thy strength and thy defender.
+
+ In the years that are to come,
+ Be they dark or be they bright,
+ Make in these young hearts thy home,
+ Raise them to thy lofty height.
+ Keep them still, in manhood's glow,
+ Pure as is our northern snow;
+ Keep their faith, till life be done,
+ Bright as is our northern sun!
+
+
+
+
+JOHNNY JUMP-UP.
+
+
+ Who wakes earliest in the morn?
+ Sure you'll think it is the lark,
+ Who before the daylight's born,
+ Rises singing through the dark.
+
+ But though sweet the lark may carol,
+ Early to his mate may call,
+ Johnny Jump-up, Johnny Jump-up,
+ Carols loud before them all.
+
+ Who wakes latest in the night
+ When the sun is gone to bed,
+ When each tiny blossom bright
+ Nods in sleep its pretty head?
+
+ Other babies all are sleeping,
+ Mother's eyelids droop and fall.
+ Johnny Jump-up, Johnny Jump-up,
+ Waketh later than them all.
+
+ Johnny's eyes are very lovely,
+ Johnny's eyes are very blue;
+ But one hardly cares to see them
+ Snap and dance the whole night through.
+
+ Johnny's laugh is clear and ringing,
+ Tinkling like a silver bell;
+ But a child should _not_ be singing
+ Morning, noon, and night as well.
+
+ Johnny Jump-up, Johnny Jump-up,
+ Rules us with his tiny hand;
+ Lord and master, king and kaiser,
+ In the realm of Nurseryland.
+
+ Take your pleasure without measure;
+ Laugh and crow, and whoop and call!
+ Johnny Jump-up, Johnny Jump-up,
+ We're your faithful servants all!
+
+
+
+
+THE OUTLANDISHMAN.
+
+
+ The Outlandishman came o'er the sea, o'er the sea,
+ In a skipaway flipaway boat;
+ And who so merry, so merry as he,
+ As soon as he got afloat?
+
+ He sat on the poop to gobble his soup
+ With a spoon, with a spoon of the best;
+ And part of his fast he broke on the mast,
+ And smashed on the bowsprit the rest.
+
+ He lowered his line in the deep, in the deep,
+ And invited the fishlikins up;
+ Then he hung them in rows in front of his nose,
+ And wished it were time to sup.
+
+ Then the Bottlegreen Bovis arose, arose,
+ And asked was he game for a fight;
+ But he seized on the anchor and threw it with rancor,
+ And the foe-fish retired from sight.
+
+ He danced on the deck with never a check
+ Till the clock, till the clock struck nine.
+ And his eyes did wink, and he sang "tink a tink!"
+ In the mowl of the merry moonshine.
+
+ Lo! all of these things the Outlandishman did,
+ As he sailed, as he sailed on the sea.
+ Yea, more! yea, more! both sorry and sore,
+ But you never shall learn them from me.
+
+
+
+
+A SLEIGH-RIDE.
+
+
+ Ting! ring! the sleigh-bells jingle
+ Merrily over the frozen snow.
+ Cheeks a-glow and ears a-tingle,
+ Tumble in, children, here we go!
+
+ Ting! ring! the sleigh-bells jingle!
+ Get along, Dobbin! go along, Jack!
+ Bells and voices merrily mingle,
+ Swift we fly as an arrow's track.
+
+ Ting! ring! the sleigh-bells jingle!
+ Nose cold, Tommy? Here, rub it with snow!
+ Toes ache, Ned? Just kick till they tingle,
+ Thump! thump! thump! on the dasher, so!
+
+ Ting! ring! the sleigh-bells jingle!
+ Snow-wreaths fly like a snow-sea's foam.
+ Sweet bells, sweet laugh, hark! how they mingle!
+ Tumble out, children, here we're at home!
+
+
+
+
+The Little Gnome
+
+
+ Once there lived a little gnome
+ Who had made his little home
+ Right down in the middle of the earth, earth, earth.
+ He was full of fun and frolic,
+ But his wife was melancholic,
+ And he never could divert her into mirth, mirth, mirth.
+
+ He had tried her with a monkey
+ And a parrot and a donkey,
+ And a pig that squealed whene'er he pulled its tail, tail, tail.
+ But though he laughed himself
+ Into fits, the jolly elf,
+ Still his wifey's melancholy did not fail, fail, fail.
+
+ [Illustration: THE BLINKING BEAR.]
+
+ "I will hie me," said the gnome,
+ "From my worthy earthy home;
+ I will go among the dwellings of the men, men, men.
+ _Something_ funny there must be,
+ That will make her say 'He, he!'
+ I will find it and will bring it her again, 'gain, 'gain."
+
+ [Illustration: THE PATTYPOL.]
+
+ So he travelled here and there,
+ And he saw the Blinking Bear,
+ And the Pattypol whose eyes are in his tail, tail, tail.
+ And he saw the Linking Gloon,
+ Who was playing the bassoon,
+ And the Octopus a-waltzing with the whale, whale, whale.
+
+ [Illustration: THE LINKING GLOON.]
+
+ He saw the Chingo Chee,
+ And a lovely sight was he,
+ With a ringlet and a ribbon on his nose, nose, nose,
+ And the Baggle, and the Wogg,
+ And the Cantilunar Dog,
+ Who was throwing cotton-flannel at his foes, foes, foes.
+
+ All these the little gnome
+ Transported to his home,
+ And set them down before his weeping wife, wife, wife;
+ But she only cried and cried,
+ And she sobbywobbed and sighed,
+ Till she really was in danger of her life, life, life.
+
+ [Illustration: THE OCTOPUS AND WHALE.]
+
+ Then the gnome was in despair,
+ And he tore his purple hair,
+ And he sat him down in sorrow on a stone, stone, stone.
+ "I, too," he said, "will cry,
+ Till I tumble down and die,
+ For I've had enough of laughing all alone, 'lone, 'lone."
+
+ [Illustration: THE BAGGLE.]
+
+ [Illustration: THE WOGG.]
+
+ [Illustration: THE CHINGO CHEE.]
+
+ His tears they flowed away,
+ Like a rivulet at play,
+ With a bubble, gubble, rubble, o'er the ground, ground, ground.
+ But when this his wifey saw,
+ She loudly cried "Haw, haw!
+ Here at last is something funny you have found, found, found."
+
+ She laughed, "Ho, ho! he, he!"
+ And she chuckled loud with glee,
+ And she wiped away her little husband's tears, tears, tears.
+ And since then, through wind and weather,
+ They have said "He, he!" together,
+ For several hundred thousand merry years, years, years.
+
+ [Illustration: THE CANTILUNAR DOG.]
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE DUTCHESS
+
+
+ Once there lived a little Dutchess,
+ Just beside the Zuyder Zee;
+ Short and stout and roly-poly,
+ As a Dutchess ought to be.
+
+ She had pigs and she had poultry,
+ She had lands and she had gold;
+ And she loved the Burgomaster,--
+ Loved him more than can be told.
+
+ "Surly, burly Burgomaster,
+ Will you have me for your love?
+ You shall be my pouter-pigeon,
+ I will be your turtle-dove.
+
+ "You shall have my China porkers,
+ You shall have each Dorking hen;
+ Take them with your loving Dutchess,
+ Oh, you Dutchiest of men!"
+
+ Loudly laughed the Burgomaster,
+ "Naught I care for Dorking fowls;
+ Naught for pig, unless 'tis roasted,
+ And on that my doctor scowls.
+
+ "Frumpy, stumpy little Dutchess,
+ I do not incline to wed.
+ Keep your pigs and keep your poultry!
+ I will take your gold instead.
+
+ "I will take your shining florins,
+ I will take your fields' rich hoard;
+ You may go and tend your piggies
+ Till your spirits be restored."
+
+ Loudly wept the little Dutchess,
+ Tending sad each China pig;
+ Loudly laughed the Burgomaster
+ 'Neath his merry periwig.
+
+ Till the Dutchy people, angry
+ Conduct such as this to see,
+ Took and plumped the pouter-pigeon
+ Right into the Zuyder Zee.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+BOOKS BY LAURA E. RICHARDS
+
+
+THE GOLDEN WINDOWS. A Book of Fables for Old and Young
+
+_Illustrated Edition._ With five full-page illustrations and text
+decorations by Arthur E. Becher and Julia Ward Richards. 12mo. Full
+gilt. $1.50.
+
+_Popular Edition._ With frontispiece and text decorations. 16mo.
+$1.00.
+
+ Simply written, and exquisitely conceived with a little golden
+ moral attached to each.--_Boston Herald._
+
+ Fitly named, for the book is a window into a realm as beautiful
+ as it is real.--_The Outlook_, New York.
+
+
+THE SILVER CROWN. Another Book of Fables for Old and Young
+
+With ornamental initials and title-page by Julia Ward Shaw. 12mo.
+Decorated cloth, gilt top. $1.25.
+
+ Forty-five simply written fables each with its own delightful
+ conception, and its own little moral, fragrant with
+ aspiration.--_New York Times._
+
+ Replete with exquisite feeling and lovely in the telling. No
+ child can read them without learning many a lesson tenderly
+ imparted, and no grown persons will read them without content
+ in their heart-satisfying wisdom.--_Chicago Post._
+
+
+THE JOYOUS STORY OF TOTO
+
+Illustrated by E. H. Garrett. 12mo. Cloth. $1.00.
+
+Toto is a little boy who lives with his blind grandmother on the edge
+of a wood. Toto makes friends with all the wood creatures, from the
+bear to the squirrel, and they frequently come to the house to
+entertain the grandmother with their conversation. Told in a droll way
+which is heartily enjoyed by the children.
+
+
+TOTO'S MERRY WINTER
+
+Fully illustrated. 12mo. Cloth. $1.00.
+
+Toto's friends of the wood consent to spend the winter with him at the
+cottage. Their adventures and their stories (for they delight to tell
+stories when gathered before the fire) make a volume full of treasures
+for young folks.
+
+
+IN MY NURSERY. A Book of Rhymes for Young Folks
+
+Profusely illustrated. Small 4to. $1.00 _net_.
+
+ Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt says:
+
+ "There is a book I did not have when I was a child because it
+ was not written. It is Laura E. Richards' nursery rhymes. My
+ own children loved them dearly and their mother and I love them
+ almost equally."
+
+
+THE PIG BROTHER
+
+Illustrated. 12mo. 40 cents _net_.
+
+A collection of the best of Mrs. Richards' short stories and verses
+for children of nine or ten.
+
+
+LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers 34 BEACON STREET :: :: :: :: ::
+BOSTON, MASS.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In My Nursery, by Laura E. Richards
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN MY NURSERY ***
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