Literature for Children Part 2

"p.u.s.s.y cat, p.u.s.s.y cat, what did you there?"

"I frightened a little mouse under a chair."

IV

Three mice went into a hole to spin; Puss pa.s.sed by and Puss looked in: "What are you doing, my little men?"

"Weaving coats for gentlemen."

"Please let me help you to wind off your threads."

"Ah, no, Mistress p.u.s.s.y, you'd bite off our heads."

V

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn, The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.

Where's the boy that looks after the sheep?

He's under the hayc.o.c.k, fast asleep.

"Will you wake him?" "No, not I; For if I do, he'll be sure to cry."

VI

Sleep, baby, sleep!

Our cottage vale is deep: The little lamb is on the green, With snowy fleece so soft and clean.

Sleep, baby, sleep!

Sleep, baby, sleep!

Thy rest shall angels keep: While on the gra.s.s the lamb shall feed, And never suffer want or need.

Sleep, baby, sleep!

VII

Hush thee, my babby, Lie still with thy daddy, Thy mammy has gone to the mill, To grind thee some wheat To get thee some meat, And so, my dear babby, lie still.

VIII

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town, Upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown, Rapping at the window, crying through the lock, "Are the children in their beds? now it's eight o'clock."

LITTLE BO-PEEP

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep, And can't tell where to find them; Leave them alone and they'll come home, And bring their tails behind them.

Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep, And dreamt she heard them bleating; But when she awoke she found it a joke, For still they all were fleeting.

Then up she took her little crook, Determined for to find them; She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed, For they'd left all their tails behind 'em.

--MOTHER GOOSE.

I SAW A s.h.i.+P A-SAILING

I saw a s.h.i.+p a-sailing, A-sailing on the sea; And, oh! it was all laden With pretty things for thee.

There were comfits in the cabin, And apples in the hold; The sails were made of silk, And the masts were made of gold.

The four-and-twenty sailors That stood between the decks Were four-and-twenty white mice, With chains about their necks.

The captain was a duck, With a packet on his back; And when the s.h.i.+p began to move, The captain said, "Quack! quack!"

--MOTHER GOOSE.

THREE HAPPY THOUGHT SONGS

I

The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

II

The rain is raining all around, It falls on field and tree, It rains on the umbrellas here, And on the s.h.i.+ps at sea.

III

Of speckled eggs the birdie sings And nests among the trees; The sailor sings of ropes and things In s.h.i.+ps upon the seas.

The children sing in far j.a.pan, The children sing in Spain; The organ with the organ man Is singing in the rain.

--ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.

BOATS SAIL ON THE RIVERS

Boats sail on the rivers, And s.h.i.+ps sail on the seas; But clouds that sail across the sky Are prettier far than these.

There are bridges on the rivers, As pretty as you please; But the bow that bridges heaven And overtops the trees, And builds a road from earth to sky, Is prettier far than these.

--CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI.

WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND?

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you; But when the leaves hang trembling The wind is pa.s.sing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I; But when the trees bow down their heads The wind is pa.s.sing by.

--CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI.

THE FRIENDLY COW

The friendly cow all red and white I love with all my heart; She gives me milk with all her might, To eat with apple tart.

She wanders lowing here and there, And yet she cannot stray, All in the pleasant open air, The pleasant light of day.