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diff --git a/9777.txt b/9777.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f083b61 --- /dev/null +++ b/9777.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2958 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Riley Child-Rhymes, by James Whitcomb Riley + +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: Riley Child-Rhymes + +Author: James Whitcomb Riley + +Posting Date: November 3, 2011 [EBook #9777] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 15, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RILEY CHILD-RHYMES *** + + + + +Produced by Maria Cecilia Lim and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells +abou--Frontispiece] + + + + +RILEY +CHILD-RHYMES + +James Whitcomb Riley + + +WITH HOOSIER PICTURES BY + +Will Vawter + + + + +Copyright 1890, 1896, 1898 and 1905 + + + + +WITH HALE AFFECTION AND ABIDING FAITH +THESE RHYMES AND PICTURES +ARE INSCRIBED +TO THE CHILDREN EVERYWHERE + + + + +_He owns the bird-songs of the hills-- +The laughter of the April rills; +And his are all the diamonds set +In Morning's dewy coronet,-- +And his the Dusk's first minted stars +That twinkle through the pasture-bars +And litter all the skies at night +With glittering scraps of silver light;-- +The rainbow's bar, from rim to rim, +In beaten gold, belongs to him._ + + + + +CONTENTS + +[Note from the transcriber: The Table of Contents below was taken from +the book and is an alphabetical list of the poems. A second Table of +Contents, listing the poems in the order they occur in this book, has +been provided by the transcriber.] + +AT AUNTY'S HOUSE + +BEAR STORY, THE + +BOY LIVES ON OUR FARM, THE + +BOYS' CANDIDATE, THE + +BUMBLEBEE, THE + +CIRCUS-DAY PARADE, THE + +CURLY LOCKS + +DAYS GONE BY, THE + +DOWN AROUND THE RIVER + +ENVOY + +FUNNY LITTLE FELLOW, THE + +GRANDFATHER SQUEERS + +HAPPY LITTLE CRIPPLE, THE + +HOME-MADE FAIRY-TALE, A + +IMPETUOUS RESOLVE, AN + +JOLLY MILLER, THE + +LIFE-LESSON, A + +LITTLE COAT, THE + +LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE + +LUGUBRIOUS WHING-WHANG, THE + +NAUGHTY CLAUDE + +NINE LITTLE GOBLINS, THE + +OLD AUNT MARY'S + +OLD HAY-MOW, THE + +OLD TRAMP, THE + +ON THE SUNNY SIDE + +OUR HIRED GIRL + +PET COON, THE + +PIXY PEOPLE, THE + +RAGGEDY MAN, THE + +RIDER OF THE KNEE, THE + +RUNAWAY BOY, THE + +SOUTH WIND AND THE SUN, THE + +SQUIRTGUN UNCLE MAKED ME, THE + +SUDDEN SHOWER, A + +TIME OF CLEARER TWITTERINGS + +WAITIN' FER THE CAT TO DIE + +WHO SANTY-CLAUS WUZ + +WINTER FANCIES + + + + +Contents (Listed in the Order They Appear) + +LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE + +THE RAGGEDY MAN + +CURLY LOCKS + +THE FUNNY LITTLE FELLOW + +THE HAPPY LITTLE CRIPPLE + +THE RIDER OF THE KNEE + +DOWN AROUND THE RIVER + +AT AUNTY'S HOUSE + +THE DAYS GONE BY + +THE BUMBLEBEE + +THE BOY LIVES ON OUR FARM + +THE SQUIRTGUN UNCLE MAKED ME + +THE OLD TRAMP + +OLD AUNT MARY'S + +WINTER FANCIES + +THE RUNAWAY BOY + +THE LITTLE COAT + +AN IMPETUOUS RESOLVE + +WHO SANTY-CLAUS WUZ + +THE NINE LITTLE GOBLINS + +TIME OF CLEARER TWITTERINGS + +THE CIRCUS-DAY PARADE + +THE LUGUBRIOUS WHING-WHANG + +WAITIN' FER THE CAT TO DIE + +NAUGHTY CLAUDE + +THE SOUTH WIND AND THE SUN + +THE JOLLY MILLER + +OUR HIRED GIRL + +THE BOYS' CANDIDATE + +THE PET COON + +THE OLD HAY-MOW + +ON THE SUNNY SIDE + +A SUDDEN SHOWER + +GRANDFATHER SQUEERS + +THE PIXY PEOPLE + +A LIFE-LESSON + +A HOME-MADE FAIRY-TALE + +THE BEAR STORY + +ENVOY + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +WITCH-TALES + +THEY WAS TWO GREAT BIG BLACK THINGS A-STANDIN' BY HER SIDE + +AN' WHEN THEY TURN'T THE KIVVERS DOWN + +LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE--TAILPIECE + +THE RAGGEDY MAN--TITLE + +HE SHOWED ME THE HOLE 'AT THE WUNKS IS GOT + +CURLY LOCKS--TITLE + +SIT ON A CUSHION AND SEW A FINE SEAM + +THE FUNNY LITTLE FELLOW--TITLE + +NEVER KNEW A BABY THAT WOULDN'T CROW FOR HIM + +THE HAPPY LITTLE CRIPPLE--TITLE + +AN' I PECK ON THE WINDER + +AN' COOKS A' EGG FER ME + +THE HAPPY LITTLE CRIPPLE--TAILPIECE + +THE RIDER OF THE KNEE + +DOWN AROUND THE RIVER--TITLE + +NOON-TIME AND JUNE-TIME DOWN AROUND THE RIVER + +DOWN AROUND THE RIVER--TAILPIECE + +AT AUNTY'S HOUSE--TITLE + +WE ET OUT ON THE PORCH + +THE DAYS GONE BY--TITLE + +IN THE ORCHARD + +THE BUMBLEBEE + +THE BOY LIVES ON OUR FARM--TITLE + +STAND UP LIKE HIM AN' DRIVE + +THE SQUIRTGUN UNCLE MAKED ME--TITLE + +THE SQUIRTGUN--TAILPIECE + +AN' NEN HE PEELED OFF THE BARK + +THE OLD TRAMP + +WE PATTER ALONG IN THE DUST AGAIN + +OLD AUNT MARY'S--TAILPIECE + +WINTER FANCIES--TITLE + +WINTER WITHOUT AND WARMTH WITHIN + +HERE IN MY ROOM I'M AS SNUGLY SHUT + +AN' A GREA'-BIG PIG WENT "BOOH!" + +HUG WITE CLOSE ROUND HER NECK + +THE LITTLE COAT + +THE LITTLE COAT--TAILPIECE + +AN IMPETUOUS RESOLVE--TITLE + +I'M GO' TO BE A BAKER + +A-SLINGIN' PIE-CRUST 'LONG THE ROAD + +WHO SANTY-CLAUS WUZ--TITLE + +AN' QUAR'L WITH HIS FROSTED HEELS + +WHO SANTY-CLAUS WUZ--TAILPIECE + +THE NINE LITTLE GOBLINS + +THE NINE LITTLE GOBLINS--TAILPIECE + +TIME OF CLEARER TWITTERINGS--TITLE + +WHERE THE SHELLBARK HICKORY TREE + +THE CIRCUS-DAY PARADE + +HOW THE CAGES JOLTED PAST + +AND, LAST OF ALL, THE CLOWN + +THE LUGUBRIOUS WHING-WHANG--TITLE + +WAITIN' FER THE CAT TO DIE--TITLE + +BAREFOOTED, HUNGRY, LEAN, ORNRY BOYS + +WHY YOU ROCK SO SLOW? + +NAUGHTY CLAUDE + +THE SOUTH WIND AND THE SUN--TITLE + +THIS PAIR OF MERRY FAYS + +THE JOLLY MILLER--TITLE + +THAT CAT O' YOURN I'D KILL HER + +WUZ PARCHIN' CORN FER THE RAGGEDY MAN + +THE BOYS' CANDIDATE + +THE PET COON--TITLE + +AN' NEN WHEN BILLY FIGHTED ME + +THE OLD HAY-MOW--TITLE + +IN OUR HAY-MOW WHERE I KEEP STORE + +ON THE SUNNY SIDE--TITLE + +AS A ROMPING BOY + +A SUDDEN SHOWER--TITLE + +SCHOOLGIRL FACES ... GLEAM FROM THE SHAWLS ABOUT THEIR HEADS + +A SUDDEN SHOWER--TAILPIECE + +GRANDFATHER SQUEERS--TITLE + +AND SMOKE LEAF-TOBACCO + +GRANDFATHER SQUEERS--TAILPIECE + +THE PIXY PEOPLE--TITLE + +WINGED ABOVE THE WALK + +A LIFE-LESSON--TITLE + +BUT HEAVEN HOLDS ALL FOR WHICH YOU SIGH + +A HOME-MADE FAIRY-TALE--TITLE + +A LITTLE DUDE-FAIRY + +ENVOY + + + + +RILEY CHILD-RHYMES + + + + +LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE + +[Illustration: They was two great big black things a-standin' by her side] + +Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay, +An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away, +An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep, +An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep; +An' all us other childern, when the supper things is done, +We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun +A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about, +An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you + Ef you + Don't + Watch + Out! + +Onc't they was a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,-- +So when he went to bed at night, away up stairs, +His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl, +An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wasn't there at all! +An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press, +An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess; +But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout:-- +An' the Gobble-uns'll git you + Ef you + Don't + Watch + Out! + +[Illustration: An' when they turn't the kivvers down] + +An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin, +An' make fun of ever'one, an' all her blood an' kin; +An' onc't, when they was "company," an' ole folks was there, +She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care! +An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide, +They was two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side, +An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about! +An' the Gobble-uns'll git you + Ef you + Don't + Watch + Out! + +An' little Orphant Annie says when the blaze is blue, +An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes _woo-oo!_ +An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray, +An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,-- +You better mind yer parents, an' yer teachers fond an' dear, +An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear, +An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about, +Er the Gobble-uns'll git you + Ef you + Don't + Watch + Out! + +[Illustration: Little Orphant Annie--Tailpiece] + + + + +THE RAGGEDY MAN + +[Illustration: The Raggedy Man--Title] + +O The Raggedy Man! He works fer Pa; +An' he's the goodest man ever you saw! +He comes to our house every day, +An' waters the horses, an' feeds 'em hay; +An' he opens the shed--an' we all ist laugh +When he drives out our little old wobble-ly calf; +An' nen--ef our hired girl says he can-- +He milks the cow fer 'Lizabuth Ann.-- + Aint he a' awful good Raggedy Man? + Raggedy! Raggedy! Raggedy Man! + +W'y, The Raggedy Man--he's ist so good +He splits the kindlin' an' chops the wood; +An' nen he spades in our garden, too, +An' does most things 'at _boys_ can't do!-- +He clumbed clean up in our big tree +An' shooked a' apple down fer me-- +An' nother'n', too, fer 'Lizabuth Ann-- +An' nother'n', too, fer The Raggedy Man.-- + Aint he a' awful kind Raggedy Man? + Raggedy! Raggedy! Raggedy Man! + +[Illustration: He showed me the hole 'at the Wunks is got] + +An' The Raggedy Man, he knows most rhymes +An' tells 'em, ef I be good, sometimes: +Knows 'bout Giunts, an' Griffuns, an' Elves, +An' the Squidgicum-Squees 'at swallers therselves! +An', wite by the pump in our pasture-lot, +He showed me the hole 'at the Wunks is got, +'At lives 'way deep in the ground, an' can +Turn into me, er 'Lizabuth Ann! + Aint he a funny old Raggedy Man? + Raggedy! Raggedy! Raggedy Man! + +The Raggedy Man--one time when he +Wuz makin' a little bow-'n'-orry fer me, +Says "When _you're_ big like your Pa is, +Air you go' to keep a fine store like his-- +An' be a rich merchunt--an' wear fine clothes?-- +Er what _air_ you go' to be, goodness knows!" +An' nen he laughed at 'Lizabuth Ann, +An' I says "'M go' to be a Raggedy Man!-- + I'm ist go' to be a nice Raggedy Man!" + Raggedy! Raggedy! Raggedy Man! + + + + +CURLY LOCKS + +[Illustration: Curly Locks--Title] + +_Curly Locks! Curly Locks! wilt thou be mine? +Thou shalt not wash the dishes, nor yet feed the swine,-- +But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam, +And feast upon strawberries, sugar and cream._ + +Curly Locks! Curly Locks! wilt thou be mine? +The throb of my heart is in every line, +And the pulse of a passion as airy and glad +In its musical beat as the little Prince had! + +[Illustration: Sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam] + +Thou shalt not wash the dishes, nor yet feed the swine!-- +O I'll dapple thy hands with these kisses of mine +Till the pink of the nail of each finger shall be +As a little pet blush in full blossom for me. + +But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam, +And thou shalt have fabric as fair as a dream,-- +The red of my veins, and the white of my love, +And the gold of my joy for the braiding thereof. + +And feast upon strawberries, sugar and cream +From a service of silver, with jewels agleam,-- +At thy feet will I bide, at thy beck will I rise, +And twinkle my soul in the night of thine eyes! + +_Curly Locks! Curly Locks! wilt thou be mine? +Thou shalt not wash the dishes, nor yet feed the swine.-- +But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam, +And feast upon strawberries, sugar and cream._ + + + + +THE FUNNY LITTLE FELLOW + +[Illustration: The Funny Little Fellow--Title] + +'Twas a Funny Little Fellow + Of the very purest type, +For he had a heart as mellow + As an apple over-ripe; +And the brightest little twinkle + When a funny thing occurred, +And the lightest little tinkle + Of a laugh you ever heard! + +His smile was like the glitter + Of the sun in tropic lands, +And his talk a sweeter twitter + Than the swallow understands; +Hear him sing--and tell a story-- + Snap a joke--ignite a pun,-- +'Twas a capture--rapture--glory, + And explosion--all in one! + +Though he hadn't any money-- + That condiment which tends +To make a fellow "honey" + For the palate of his friends;-- +Sweet simples he compounded-- + Sovereign antidotes for sin +Or taint,--a faith unbounded + That his friends were genuine. + +He wasn't honored, may be-- + For his songs of praise were slim,-- +Yet I never knew a baby + That wouldn't crow for him; +I never knew a mother + But urged a kindly claim +Upon him as a brother, + At the mention of his name. + +[Illustration: Never knew a baby that wouldn't crow for him] + +The sick have ceased their sighing + And have even found the grace +Of a smile when they were dying + As they looked upon his face; +And I've seen his eyes of laughter + Melt in tears that only ran +As though, swift dancing after, + Came the Funny Little Man. + +He laughed away the sorrow, + And he laughed away the gloom +We are all so prone to borrow + From the darkness of the tomb; +And he laughed across the ocean + Of a happy life, and passed, +With a laugh of glad emotion, + Into Paradise at last. + +And I think the Angels knew him, + And had gathered to await +His coming, and run to him + Through the widely-opened Gate-- +With their faces gleaming sunny + For his laughter-loving sake, +And thinking, "What a funny + Little Angel he will make!" + + + + +THE HAPPY LITTLE CRIPPLE + +[Illustration: The Happy Little Cripple--Title] + +I'm thist a little cripple boy, an' never goin' to grow +An' get a great big man at all!--'cause Aunty told me so. +When I was thist a baby onc't, I falled out of the bed +An' got "The Curv'ture of the Spine"--'at's what the Doctor said. +I never had no Mother nen--fer my Pa runned away +An' dassn't come back here no more--'cause he was drunk one day +An' stobbed a man in thish-ere town, an' couldn't pay his fine! +An' nen my Ma she died--an' I got "Curv'ture of the Spine!" + +[Illustration: An' I peck on the winder] + +I'm nine years old! An' you can't guess how much I weigh, I bet!-- +Last birthday I weighed thirty-three!--An' I weigh thirty yet! +I'm awful little fer my size--I'm purt' nigh littler 'nan +Some babies is!--an' neighbers all calls me "The Little Man!" +An' Doc one time he laughed an' said: "I 'spect, first thing you know, +You'll have a little spike-tail coat an' travel with a show!" +An' nen I laughed--till I looked round an' Aunty was a-cryin'-- +Sometimes she acts like that, 'cause I got "Curv'ture of the Spine." + +I set--while Aunty's washin'--on my little long-leg stool, +An' watch the little boys an' girls a-skippin' by to school; +An' I peck on the winder, an' holler out an' say: +"Who wants to fight The Little Man 'at dares you all today?" +An', nen the boys climbs on the fence, an' little girls peeks through, +An' they all says: "Cause you're so big, you think we're 'feared o' you!" +An' nen they yell, an' shake their fist at me, like I shake mine-- +They're thist in fun, you know, 'cause I got "Curv'ture of the Spine!" + +At evening, when the ironin's done, an' Aunty's fixed the fire, +An' filled an' lit the lamp, an' trimmed the wick an' turned it higher, +An' fetched the wood all in fer night, an' locked the kitchen door, +An' stuffed the ole crack where the wind blows in up through the floor-- +She sets the kittle on the coals, an' biles an' makes the tea, +An' fries the liver an' the mush, an' cooks a egg fer me; +An' sometimes--when I cough so hard--her elderberry wine +Don't go so bad fer little boys with "Curv'ture of the Spine!" + +[Illustration: An' cooks a' egg fer me] + +But Aunty's all so childish-like on my account, you see, +I'm 'most afeard she'll be took down--an' 'at's what bothers me!-- +'Cause ef my good old Aunty ever would git sick an' die, +I don't know what she'd do in heaven--till _I_ come, by an' by:-- +Fer she's so ust to all my ways, an' ever'thing, you know, +An' no one there like me, to nuss an' worry over so!-- +'Cause all the little childerns there's so straight an' strong an' fine, +They's nary angel 'bout the place with "Curv'ture of the Spine!" + +[Illustration: The Happy Little Cripple--Tailpiece] + + + + +THE RIDER OF THE KNEE + +Knightly Rider of the Knee +Of Proud-prancing Unclery! +Gaily mount, and wave the sign +Of that mastery of thine. + +Pat thy steed and turn him free, +Knightly Rider of the Knee! +Sit thy charger as a throne-- +Lash him with thy laugh alone: + +Sting him only with the spur +Of such wit as may occur, +Knightly Rider of the Knee, +In thy shriek of ecstasy. + +Would, as now, we might endure, +Twain as one--thou miniature +Ruler, at the rein of me-- +Knightly Rider of the Knee! + +[Illustration: The Rider of the Knee] + + + + +DOWN AROUND THE RIVER + +[Illustration: Down Around the River--Title] + +Noon-time an' June-time, down around the river! +Have to furse with 'Lizey Ann--but lawzy! I fergive her! +Drives me off the place, an' says 'at all 'at she's a-wishin', +Land o' gracious! time'll come I'll git enough o' fishin'! +Little Dave, a-choppin' wood, never 'pears to notice; +Don't know where she's hid his hat, er keerin' where his coat is,-- +Specalatin', more'n like, he haint a-goin' to mind me, +An' guessin' where, say twelve o'clock, a feller'd likely find me! + +Noon-time an' June-time, down around the river! +Clean out o' sight o' home, an' skulkin' under kivver +Of the sycamores, jack-oaks, an' swamp-ash an' ellum-- +Idies all so jumbled up, you kin hardly tell 'em!-- +_Tired_, you know, but _lovin'_ it, an' smilin' jes' to think 'at +Any _sweeter_ tiredness you'd fairly want to _drink_ it! +Tired o' fishin'--tired o' fun--line out slack an' slacker-- +All you want in all the world's a little more tobacker! + +Hungry, but _a-hidin'_ it, er jes' a-not a-keerin':-- +Kingfisher gittin' up an' skootin' out o' hearin'; +Snipes on the t'other side, where the County Ditch is, +Wadin' up an' down the aidge like they'd rolled their britches! +Old turkle on the root kindo-sorto drappin' +Intoo th' worter like he don't know how it happen! +Worter, shade an' all so mixed, don't know which you'd orter +Say; th' _worter_ in the shadder--_shadder_ in the _worter!_ + +Somebody hollerin'--'way around the bend in +Upper Fork--where yer eye kin jes' ketch the endin' +Of the shiney wedge o' wake some muss-rat's a-makin' +With that pesky nose o' his! Then a sniff o' bacon, +Corn-bred an' 'dock-greens--an' little Dave a-shinnin' +'Crost the rocks an' mussel-shells, a-limpin' an' a-grinnin', +With yer dinner fer ye, an' a blessin' from the giver, +Noon-time an' June-time down around the river! + +[Illustration: Noon-time and June-time down around the river] + +[Illustration: Down Around The River--Tailpiece] + + + + +AT AUNTY'S HOUSE + +[Illustration: At Aunty's House--Title] + +One time, when we'z at Aunty's house-- + 'Way in the country!--where +They's ist but woods--an' pigs, an' cows-- + An' all's out-doors an' air!-- +An' orchurd-swing; an' churry-trees-- +An' _churries_ in 'em!--Yes, an' these-- +Here red-head birds steals all they please, + An' tetch 'em ef you dare!-- +W'y, wunst, one time, when we wuz there, + _We et out on the porch!_ + +[Illustration: We et out on the porch] + +Wite where the cellar-door wuz shut + The table wuz; an' I +Let Aunty set by me an' cut + My vittuls up--an' pie. +'Tuz awful funny!--I could see +The red-heads in the churry-tree; +An' bee-hives, where you got to be + So keerful, goin' by;-- +An' "Comp'ny" there an' all!--an' we-- + _We et out on the porch!_ + +An' I ist et _p'surves_ an' things + 'At Ma don't 'low me to-- +An' _chickun-gizzurds_--(don't like _wings_ + Like _Parunts_ does! do _you?_) +An' all the time, the wind blowed there, +An' I could feel it in my hair, +An' ist smell clover _ever'_where!-- + An' a' old red-head flew +Purt' nigh wite over my high-chair, + _When we et on the porch!_ + + + + +THE DAYS GONE BY + +[Illustration: The Days Gone By--Title] + +O the days gone by! O the days gone by! +The apples in the orchard, and the pathway through the rye; +The chirrup of the robin, and the whistle of the quail +As he piped across the meadows sweet as any nightingale; +When the bloom was on the clover, and the blue was in the sky, +And my happy heart brimmed over, in the days gone by. + +[Illustration: In the orchard] + +In the days gone by, when my naked feet were tripped +By the honeysuckle tangles where the water-lilies dipped, +And the ripples of the river lipped the moss along the brink, +Where the placid-eyed and lazy-footed cattle came to drink, +And the tilting snipe stood fearless of the truant's wayward cry +And the splashing of the swimmer, in the days gone by. + +O the days gone by! O the days gone by! +The music of the laughing lip, the lustre of the eye; +The childish faith in fairies, and Aladdin's magic ring-- +The simple, soul-reposing, glad belief in everything,-- +When life was like a story, holding neither sob nor sigh, +In the golden olden glory of the days gone by. + + + + +THE BUMBLEBEE + +You better not fool with a Bumblebee!-- +Ef you don't think they can sting--you'll see! +They're lazy to look at, an' kindo' go +Buzzin' an' bummin' aroun' so slow, +An' ac' so slouchy an' all fagged out, +Danglin' their legs as they drone about +The hollyhawks 'at they can't climb in +'Ithout ist a-tumble-un out agin! +Wunst I watched one climb clean 'way +In a jim'son-blossom, I did, one day,-- +An' I ist grabbed it--an' nen let go-- +An' "_Ooh-ooh! Honey! I told ye so!_" +Says The Raggedy Man; an' he ist run +An' pullt out the stinger, an' don't laugh none, +An' says: "They _has_ ben folks, I guess, +'At thought I wuz predjudust, more er less,-- +Yit I still muntain 'at a Bumblebee +Wears out his welcome too quick fer me!" + +[Illustration: The Bumblebee] + + + + +THE BOY LIVES ON OUR FARM + +[Illustration: The Boy Lives on Our Farm--Title] + +The boy lives on our Farm, he's not + Afeard o' horses none! +An' he can make 'em lope, er trot, + Er rack, er pace, er run. +Sometimes he drives two horses, when + He comes to town an' brings +A wagon-full o' 'taters nen, + An' roastin'-ears an' things. + +Two horses is "a team," he says, + An' when you drive er hitch, +The right-un's a "near-horse," I guess + Er "off"--I don't know which-- +The Boy lives on our Farm, he told + Me, too, 'at he can see, +By lookin' at their teeth, how old + A horse is, to a T! + +I'd be the gladdest boy alive + Ef I knowed much as that, +An' could stand up like him an' drive, + An' ist push back my hat, +Like he comes skallyhootin' through + Our alley, with one arm +A-wavin' Fare-ye-well! to you-- + The Boy lives on our Farm! + +[Illustration: Stand up like him an' drive] + + + + +THE SQUIRTGUN UNCLE MAKED ME + +[Illustration: The Squirtgun Uncle Maked Me--Title] + +Uncle Sidney, when he wuz here, + Maked me a squirtgun out o' some +Elder-bushes 'at growed out near +Where wuz the brickyard--'way out clear + To where the toll-gate come! + +So when we walked back home again, + He maked it, out in our woodhouse where +Wuz the old workbench, an' the old jack-plane, +An' the old 'pokeshave, an' the tools all lay'n' + Ist like he wants 'em there. + +He sawed it first with the old hand-saw; + An' nen he peeled off the bark, an' got +Some glass an' scraped it; an' told 'bout Pa, +When _he_ wuz a boy an' fooled his Ma, + An' the whippin' 'at he caught. + +Nen Uncle Sidney, he took an' filed + A' old arn ramrod; an' one o' the ends +He screwed fast into the vise; an' smiled, +Thinkin', he said, o' when he wuz a child, + 'Fore him an' Pa wuz mens. + +He punched out the peth, an' nen he put + A plug in the end with a hole notched through; +Nen took the old drawey-knife an' cut +An' maked a handle 'at shoved clean shut + But ist where yer hand held to. + +An' he wropt th'uther end with some string an' white + Piece o' the sleeve of a' old tored shirt; +An' nen he showed me to hold it tight, +An' suck in the water an' work it right + An' it 'ud ist squirt an' squirt! + +[Illustration: The Squirtgun--Tailpiece] + +[Illustration: An' nen he peeled off the bark] + + + + +THE OLD TRAMP + +[Illustration: The Old Tramp.] + +A Old Tramp slep' in our stable wunst, + An' The Raggedy Man he caught +An' roust him up, an' chased him off + Clean out through our back lot! + +An' th' Old Tramp hollered back an' said,-- + "You're a _purty_ man!--_You_ air!-- +With a pair o' eyes like two fried eggs, + An' a nose like a Bartlutt pear!" + + + + +OLD AUNT MARY'S + +Wasn't it pleasant, O brother mine, +In those old days of the lost sunshine +Of youth--when the Saturday's chores were through, +And the "Sunday's wood" in the kitchen, too, +And we went visiting, "me and you," + Out to Old Aunt Mary's? + +It all comes back so clear to-day! +Though I am as bald as you are gray-- +Out by the barn-lot, and down the lane, +We patter along in the dust again, +As light as the tips of the drops of the rain, + Out to Old Aunt Mary's! + +We cross the pasture, and through the wood +Where the old gray snag of the poplar stood, +Where the hammering "red-heads" hopped awry, +And the buzzard "raised" in the "clearing" sky +And lolled and circled, as we went by + Out to Old Aunt Mary's. + +And then in the dust of the road again; +And the teams we met, and the countrymen; +And the long highway, with sunshine spread +As thick as butter on country bread, +Our cares behind, and our hearts ahead + Out to Old Aunt Mary's. + +[Illustration: We patter along in the dust again] + +Why, I see her now in the open door, +Where the little gourds grew up the sides and o'er +The clapboard roof!--And her face--ah, me! +Wasn't it good for a boy to see-- +And wasn't it good for a boy to be + Out to Old Aunt Mary's? + +And O my brother, so far away, +This is to tell you she waits to-day +To welcome us:--Aunt Mary fell +Asleep this morning, whispering, "Tell +The boys to come!" And all is well + Out to Old Aunt Mary's. + +[Illustration: Old Aunt Mary's--Tailpiece] + + + + +WINTER FANCIES + +[Illustration: Winter Fancies--Title] + +I + + Winter without + And warmth within; + The winds may shout + And the storm begin; + The snows may pack + At the window pane, + And the skies grow black, + And the sun remain + Hidden away + The livelong day-- +But here--in here is the warmth of May! + +[Illustration: Winter without and warmth within] + +II + + Swoop your spitefullest + Up the flue, + Wild Winds--do! +What in the world do I care for you? + O delightfullest + Weather of all, + Howl and squall, +And shake the trees till the last leaves fall! + +III + + The joy one feels, + In an easy chair, + Cocking his heels + In the dancing air +That wreathes the rim of a roaring stove +Whose heat loves better than hearts can love, + Will not permit + The coldest day + To drive away +The fire in his blood, and the bliss of it! + +IV + +Then blow, Winds, blow! + And rave and shriek, +And snarl and snow + Till your breath grows weak-- +While here in my room + I'm as snugly shut +As a glad little worm + In the heart of a nut! + +[Illustration: Here in my room I'm as snugly shut] + + + + +THE RUNAWAY BOY + +Wunst I sassed my Pa, an' he +Won't stand that, an' punished me,-- +Nen when he was gone that day, +I slipped out an' runned away. + +I tooked all my copper-cents, +An' clumbed over our back fence +In the jimpson-weeds 'at growed +Ever'where all down the road. + +Nen I got out there, an' nen +I runned some--an' runned again +When I met a man 'at led +A big cow 'at shooked her head. + +I went down a long, long lane +Where was little pigs a-play'n'; +An' a grea'-big pig went "Booh!" +An' jumped up, an' skeered me too. + +Nen I scampered past, an' they +Was somebody hollered "Hey!" +An' I ist looked ever'where, +An' they was nobody there. + +I _Want_ to, but I'm 'fraid to try +To go back.... An' by-an'-by +Somepin' hurts my throat inside-- +An' I want my Ma--an' cried. + +Nen a grea'-big girl come through +Where's a gate, an' telled me who +Am I? an' ef I tell where +My home's at she'll show me there. + +But I couldn't ist but tell +What's my _name_; an' she says well, +An' she tooked me up an' says +_She_ know where I live, she guess. + +[Illustration: An' a grea'-big pig went "Booh!"] + +Nen she telled me hug wite close +Round her neck!--an' off she goes +Skippin' up the street! An' nen +Purty soon I'm home again. + +An' my Ma, when she kissed me, +Kissed the _big girl_ too, an' _she_ +Kissed me--ef I p'omise _shore_ +I won't run away no more! + +[Illustration: Hug wite close round her neck] + + + + +THE LITTLE COAT + +Here's his ragged "roundabout"; +Turn the pockets inside out: +See; his pen-knife, lost to use, +Rusted shut with apple-juice; +Here, with marbles, top and string, +Is his deadly "devil-sling," +With its rubber, limp at last +As the sparrows of the past! +Beeswax--buckles--leather straps-- +Bullets, and a box of caps,-- +Not a thing of all, I guess, +But betrays some waywardness-- +E'en these tickets, blue and red, +For the Bible-verses said-- +Such as this his mem'ry kept-- + "Jesus wept." + +[Illustration: The Little Coat] + +Here's a fishing hook-and-line, +Tangled up with wire and twine, +And dead angle-worms, and some +Slugs of lead and chewing-gum, +Blent with scents that can but come +From the oil of rhodium. +Here--a soiled, yet dainty note, +That some little sweetheart wrote, +Dotting,--"Vine grows round the stump," +And--"My sweetest sugar lump!" +Wrapped in this--a padlock key +Where he's filed a touch-hole--see! +And some powder in a quill +Corked up with a liver pill; +And a spongy little chunk + Of "punk." + +Here's the little coat--but O! +Where is he we've censured so! +Don't you hear us calling, dear? +Back! come back, and never fear.-- +You may wander where you will, +Over orchard, field and hill; +You may kill the birds, or do +Anything that pleases you! +Ah, this empty coat of his! +Every tatter worth a kiss; +Every stain as pure instead +As the white stars overhead: +And the pockets--homes were they +Of the little hands that play +Now no more--but, absent, thus + Beckon us. + +[Illustration: The Little Coat--Tailpiece] + + + + +AN IMPETUOUS RESOLVE + +[Illustration: An Impetuous Resolve--Title] + +When little Dickie Swope's a man, + He's go' to be a Sailor; +An' little Hamey Tincher, he's + A-go' to be a Tailor: +Bud Mitchell, he's a-go' to be + A stylish Carriage-Maker; +An' when _I_ grow a grea'-big man, + I'm go' to be a Baker! + +An' Dick'll buy his sailor-suit + O' Hame; and Hame'll take it +An' buy as fine a double-rigg + As ever Bud can make it: +An' nen all three'll drive roun' fer me + An' we'll drive off togevver, +A-slingin' pie-crust 'long the road + Ferever an' ferever! + +[Illustration: I'm go' to be a baker] + +[Illustration: A-slingin' pie-crust 'long the road] + + + + +WHO SANTY-CLAUS WUZ + +[Illustration: Who Santy-Claus Wuz--Title] + +Jes' a little bit o' feller--I remember still-- +Ust to almost cry fer Christmas, like a youngster will. +Fourth o' July's nothin' to it!--New Year's ain't a smell! +Easter-Sunday--Circus-day--jes' all dead in the shell! +Lawzy, though! at night, you know, to set around an' hear +The old folks work the story off about the sledge an' deer, +An' "Santy" skootin' round the roof, all wrapt in fur an' fuzz-- +Long afore + I knowed who + "Santy-Claus" wuz! + +Ust to wait, an' set up late, a week er two ahead; +Couldn't hardly keep awake, ner wouldn't go to bed; +Kittle stewin' on the fire, an' Mother settin' here +Darnin' socks, an' rockin' in the skreeky rockin'-cheer; +Pap gap', an' wonder where it wuz the money went, +An' quar'l with his frosted heels, an' spill his liniment; +An' me a-dreamin' sleigh-bells when the clock 'ud whir an' buzz, +Long afore + I knowed who + "Santy-Claus" wuz! + +Size the fire-place up an' figger how "Ole Santy" could +Manage to come down the chimbly, like they said he would; +Wisht 'at I could hide an' see him--wunderd what he'd say +Ef he ketched a feller layin' fer him thataway! +But I _bet_ on him, an' _liked_ him, same as ef he had +Turned to pat me on the back an' say, "Look here, my lad, +Here's my pack,--jes' he'p yourse'f, like all good boys does!" +Long afore + I knowed who + "Santy-Claus" wuz! + +[Illustration: An' quar'l with his frosted heels] + +Wisht that yarn was true about him, as it 'peared to be-- +Truth made out o' lies like that-un's good enough fer me!-- +Wisht I still wuz so confidin' I could jes' go wild +Over hangin' up my stockin's, like the little child +Climbin' in my lap to-night, an' beggin' me to tell +'Bout them reindeers, and "Old Santy" that she loves so well +I'm half sorry fer this little-girl-sweetheart of his-- +Long afore + She knows who + "Santy-Claus" is! + +[Illustration: Who Santy-Claus Wuz--Tailpiece] + + + + +THE NINE LITTLE GOBLINS + +They all climbed up on a high board-fence-- + Nine little Goblins, with green-glass eyes-- +Nine little Goblins that had no sense, + And couldn't tell coppers from cold mince pies; + And they all climbed up on the fence, and sat-- + And I asked them what they were staring at. + +And the first one said, as he scratched his head + With a queer little arm that reached out of his ear +And rasped its claws in his hair so red-- + "This is what this little arm is fer!" + And he scratched and stared, and the next one said, + "How on earth do _you_ scratch your head?" + +And he laughed like the screech of a rusty hinge-- + Laughed and laughed till his face grew black; +And when he choked, with a final twinge + Of his stifling laughter, he thumped his back + With a fist that grew on the end of his tail + Till the breath came back to his lips so pale. + +[Illustration: The Nine Little Goblins] + +And the third little Goblin leered round at me-- + And there were no lids on his eyes at all-- +And he clucked one eye, and he says, says he, + "What is the style of your socks this fall?" + And he clapped his heels--and I sighed to see + That he had hands where his feet should be. + +Then a bald-faced Goblin, gray and grim, + Bowed his head, and I saw him slip +His eyebrows off, as I looked at him, + And paste them over his upper lip; + And then he moaned in remorseful pain-- + "Would--Ah, would I'd me brows again!" + +And then the whole of the Goblin band + Rocked on the fence-top to and fro, +And clung, in a long row, hand in hand, + Singing the songs that they used to know-- + Singing the songs that their grandsires sung + In the goo-goo days of the Goblin-tongue. + +And ever they kept their green-glass eyes + Fixed on me with a stony stare-- +Till my own grew glazed with a dread surmise, + And my hat whooped up on my lifted hair, + And I felt the heart in my breast snap to + As you've heard the lid of a snuff-box do. + +And they sang "You're asleep! There is no board-fence, + And never a Goblin with green-glass eyes!-- +'Tis only a vision the mind invents + After a supper of cold mince-pies,-- +And you're doomed to dream this way," they said,-- +"_And you sha'n't wake up till you're clean plum dead!_" + +[Illustration: The Nine Little Goblins--Tailpiece] + + + + +TIME OF CLEARER TWITTERINGS + +[Illustration: Time of Clearer Twitterings--Title] + +I. + +Time of crisp and tawny leaves, +And of tarnished harvest sheaves, +And of dusty grasses--weeds-- +Thistles, with their tufted seeds +Voyaging the Autumn breeze +Like as fairy argosies: +Time of quicker flash of wings, +And of clearer twitterings +In the grove, or deeper shade +Of the tangled everglade,-- +Where the spotted water-snake +Coils him in the sunniest brake; +And the bittern, as in fright, +Darts, in sudden, slanting flight, +Southward, while the startled crane +Films his eyes in dreams again. + +II + +Down along the dwindled creek +We go loitering. We speak +Only with old questionings +Of the dear remembered things +Of the days of long ago, +When the stream seemed thus and so +In our boyish eyes:--The bank +Greener then, through rank on rank +Of the mottled sycamores, +Touching tops across the shores: +Here, the hazel thicket stood-- +There, the almost pathless wood +Where the shellbark hickory tree +Rained its wealth on you and me. +Autumn! as you loved us then, +Take us to your heart again! + +III + +Season halest of the year! +How the zestful atmosphere +Nettles blood and brain, and smites +Into life the old delights +We have tasted in our youth, +And our graver years, forsooth! +How again the boyish heart +Leaps to see the chipmunk start +From the brush and sleek the sun +Very beauty, as he runs! +How again a subtle hint +Of crushed pennyroyal or mint, +Sends us on our knees, as when +We were truant boys of ten-- +Brown marauders of the wood, +Merrier than Robin Hood! + +[Illustration: Where the shellbark hickory tree] + +IV + +Ah! will any minstrel say, +In his sweetest roundelay, +What is sweeter, after all, +Than black haws, in early Fall-- +Fruit so sweet the frost first sat, +Dainty-toothed, and nibbled at! +And will any poet sing +Of a lusher, richer thing +Than a ripe May-apple, rolled +Like a pulpy lump of gold +Under thumb and finger-tips, +And poured molten through the lips? +Go, ye bards of classic themes, +Pipe your songs by classic streams! +I would twang the redbird's wings +In the thicket while he sings! + + + + +THE CIRCUS-DAY PARADE + +Oh, the Circus-Day parade! How the bugles played and played! +And how the glossy horses tossed their flossy manes, and neighed, +As the rattle and the rhyme of the tenor-drummer's time +Filled all the hungry hearts of us with melody sublime! + +How the grand band-wagon shone with a splendor all its own, +And glittered with a glory that our dreams had never known! +And how the boys behind, high and low of every kind, +Marched in unconscious capture, with a rapture undefined! + +How the horsemen, two and two, with their plumes of white and blue, +And crimson, gold and purple, nodding by at me and you. +Waved the banners that they bore, as the Knights in days of yore, +Till our glad eyes gleamed and glistened like the spangles that they wore! + +[Illustration: The Circus-Day Parade] + +How the graceless-graceful stride of the elephant was eyed, +And the capers of the little horse that cantered at his side! +How the shambling camels, tame to the plaudits of their fame, +With listless eyes came silent, masticating as they came. + +[Illustration: How the cages jolted past] + +How the cages jolted past, with each wagon battened fast, +And the mystery within it only hinted of at last +From the little grated square in the rear, and nosing there +The snout of some strange animal that sniffed the outer air! + +And, last of all, The Clown, making mirth for all the town, +With his lips curved ever upward and his eyebrows ever down, +And his chief attention paid to the little mule that played +A tattoo on the dashboard with his heels, in the parade. + +Oh! the Circus-Day parade! How the bugles played and played! +And how the glossy horses tossed their flossy manes and neighed. +As the rattle and the rhyme of the tenor-drummer's time +Filled all the hungry hearts of us with melody sublime! + +[Illustration: And, last of all, the clown] + + + + +THE LUGUBRIOUS WHING-WHANG + +[Illustration: The Lugubrious Whing-Whang--Title] + +The rhyme o' The Raggedy Man's 'at's best +Is Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs,-- +'Cause that-un's the strangest of all o' the rest, +An' the worst to learn, an' the last one guessed, +An' the funniest one, an' the foolishest.-- + Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs! + +I don't know what in the world it means-- + Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!-- +An' nen when I _tell_ him I don't, he leans +Like he was a-grindin' on some machines +An' says: Ef I _don't_, w'y, I don't know _beans!_ + Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs!-- + +Out on the margin of Moonshine Land, + Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs! +Out where the Whing-Whang loves to stand, +Writing his name with his tail in the sand, +And swiping it out with his oogerish hand; + Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs! + +Is it the gibber of Gungs or Keeks? + Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs! +Or what _is_ the sound that the Whing-Whang seeks?-- +Crouching low by the winding creeks +And holding his breath for weeks and weeks! + Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs! + +Aroint him the wraithest of wraithly things! + Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs! +'Tis a fair Whing-Whangess, with phosphor rings +And bridal-jewels of fangs and stings; +And she sits and as sadly and softly sings +As the mildewed whir of her own dead wings,-- + Tickle me, Dear, + Tickle me here, + Tickle me, Love, in these Lonesome Ribs! + + + + +WAITIN' FER THE CAT TO DIE + +[Illustration: Waitin' Fer The Cat to Die--Title] + +Lawzy! don't I rickollect + That-'air old swing in the lane! +Right and proper, I expect, + Old times _can't_ come back again; +But I want to state, ef they +_Could_ come back, and I could say +What _my_ pick 'ud be, i jing! +I'd say, Gimme the old swing +'Nunder the old locus'-trees +On the old place, ef you please!-- +Danglin' there with half-shet eye, +Waitin' fer the cat to die! + +I'd say, Gimme the old gang + Of barefooted, hungry, lean, +Ornry boys you want to hang + When you're growed up twic't as mean! +The old gyarden-patch, the old +Truants, and the stuff we stol'd! +The old stompin'-groun', where we +Wore the grass off, wild and free +As the swoop of the old swing, +Where we ust to climb and cling, +And twist roun', and fight, and lie-- +Waitin' fer the cat to die! + +'Pears like I 'most allus could + Swing the highest of the crowd-- +Jes sail up there tel I stood + Downside-up, and screech out loud,-- +Ketch my breath, and jes drap back +Fer to let the old swing slack, +Yit my tow-head dippin' still +In the green boughs, and the chill +Up my backbone taperin' down, +With my shadder on the ground' +Slow and slower trailin' by-- +Waitin' fer the cat to die! + +[Illustration: Barefooted, hungry, lean, ornry boys] + +Now my daughter's little Jane's + Got a kind o' baby-swing +On the porch, so's when it rains + She kin play there--little thing! +And I'd limped out t'other day +With my old cheer this-a-way, +Swingin' _her_ and rockin' too, +Thinkin' how _I_ ust to do +At _her_ age, when suddently, +"Hey, Gran'pap!" she says to me, +"Why you rock so slow?" ... Says I, +"Waitin' fer the cat to die!" + +[Illustration: Why you rock so slow?] + + + + +NAUGHTY CLAUDE + +[Illustration: Naughty Claude] + +When Little Claude was naughty wunst + At dinner-time, an' said +He won't say "_Thank you_" to his Ma, + She maked him go to bed +An' stay two hours an' not git up,-- + So when the clock struck Two, +Nen Claude says,--"Thank you, Mr. Clock, + I'm much obleeged to you!" + + + + +THE SOUTH WIND AND THE SUN + +[Illustration: The South Wind and The Sun--Title] + + O the South Wind and the Sun + How each loved the other one-- +Full of fancy--full of folly-- + Full of jollity and fun! + How they romped and ran about, + Like two boys when school is out, +With glowing face, and lisping lip, + Low laugh, and lifted shout! + + And the South Wind--he was dressed + With a ribbon round his breast +That floated, flapped and fluttered + In a riotous unrest; + And a drapery of mist, + From the shoulder and the wrist +Flowing backward with the motion + Of the waving hand he kissed. + + And the Sun had on a crown + Wrought of gilded thistledown, +And a scarf of velvet vapor, + And a raveled-rainbow gown; + And his tinsel-tangled hair, + Tossed and lost upon the air, +With glossier and flossier + Than any anywhere. + + And the South Wind's eyes were two + Little dancing drops of dew, +As he puffed his cheeks, and pursed his lips, + And blew and blew and blew! + And the Sun's--like diamond-stone, + Brighter yet than ever known, +As he knit his brows and held his breath, + And shone and shone and shone! + + And this pair of merry fays + Wandered through the summer days; +Arm-in-arm they went together + Over heights of morning haze-- + Over slanting slopes of lawn + They went on and on and on, +Where the daisies looked like star-tracks + Trailing up and down the dawn. + + And where'er they found the top + Of a wheat-stalk droop and lop, +They chucked it underneath the chin + And praised the lavish crop, + Till it lifted with the pride + Of the heads it grew beside, +And then the South Wind and the Sun + Went onward satisfied. + + Over meadow-lands they tripped, + Where the dandelions dipped +In crimson foam of clover bloom + And dripped and dripped and dripped! + And they clinched the bumble-stings, + Gauming honey on their wings, +And bundling them in lily-bells, + With maudlin murmurings. + + And the humming-bird, that hung + Like a jewel up among +The tilted honeysuckle horns, + They mesmerized and swung + In the palpitating air, + Drowsed with odors strange and rare, +And, with whispered laughter, slipped away, + And left him hanging there. + + And they braided blades of grass + Where the truant had to pass; +And they wriggled through the rushes + And the reeds of the morass, + Where they danced, in rapture sweet, + O'er the leaves that laid a street +Of undulant mosaic for + The touches of their feet. + + By the brook with mossy brink, + Where the cattle came to drink, +They trilled and piped and whistled + With the thrush and bobolink, + Till the kine, in listless pause, + Switched their tails in mute applause, +With lifted heads, and dreamy eyes, + And bubble-dripping jaws. + + And where the melons grew, + Streaked with yellow, green and blue, +These jolly sprites went wandering + Through spangled paths of dew; + And the melons, here and there, + They made love to, everywhere, +Turning their pink souls to crimson + With caresses fond and fair. + +[Illustration: This pair of merry fays] + + Over orchard walls they went, + Where the fruited boughs were bent +Till they brushed the sward beneath them + Where the shine and shadow blent; + And the great green pear they shook + Till the sallow hue forsook +Its features, and the gleam of gold + Laughed out in every look. + + And they stroked the downy cheek + Of the peach, and smoothed it sleek, +And flushed it into splendor; + And, with many an elfish freak, + Gave the russet's rust a wipe-- + Prankt the rambo with a stripe, +And the winesap blushed its reddest + As they spanked the pippins ripe. + + Through the woven ambuscade + That the twining vines had made, +They found the grapes, in clusters, + Drinking up the shine and shade-- + Plumpt, like tiny skins of wine, + With a vintage so divine +That the tongue of Fancy tingled + With the tang of muscadine. + + And the golden-banded bees, + Droning o'er the flowery leas, +They bridled, reined, and rode away + Across the fragrant breeze, + Till in hollow oak and elm + They had groomed and stabled them +In waxen stalls that oozed with dews + Of rose and lily-stem. + + Where the dusty highway leads, + High above the wayside weeds, +They sowed the air with butterflies + Like blooming flower-seeds, + Till the dull grasshopper sprung + Half a man's-height up, and hung +Tranced in the heat, with whirring wings, + And sung and sung and sung! + + And they loitered, hand in hand, + Where the snipe along the sand +Of the river ran to meet them + As the ripple meets the land, + Till the dragonfly, in light + Gauzy armor, burnished bright, +Came tilting down the waters + In a wild, bewildered flight. + + And they heard the kildee's call, + And afar, the waterfall, +But the rustle of a falling leaf + They heard above it all; + And the trailing willow crept + Deeper in the tide that swept +The leafy shallop to the shore, + And wept and wept and wept! + + And the fairy vessel veered + From its moorings--tacked and steered +For the center of the current-- + Sailed away and disappeared: + And the burthen that it bore + From the long-enchanted shore-- +"Alas! the South Wind and the Sun!" + I murmur evermore. + + For the South Wind and the Sun, + Each so loves the other one, +For all his jolly folly, + And frivolity and fun, + That our love for them they weigh + As their fickle fancies may, +And when at last we love them most, + They laugh and sail away. + + + + +THE JOLLY MILLER + +[Illustration: The Jolly Miller--Title] + +[Restored Romaunt.] + +It was a Jolly Miller lived on the River Dee; +He looked upon his piller, and there he found a flea: + "O Mr. Flea! you have bit' me, + And you shall shorely die!" + So he scrunched his bones against the stones-- + And there he let him lie! + +Twas then the Jolly Miller he laughed and told his wife, +And _she_ laughed fit to kill her, and dropped her carvin'-knife!-- + "O Mr. Flea!" "Ho-ho!" "Tee-hee!" + They _both_ laughed fit to kill, + Until the sound did almost drownd + The rumble of the mill! + +_"Laugh on, my Jolly Miller! and Missus Miller, too!-- +But there's a weeping-willer will soon wave over you!"_ + The voice was all so awful small-- + So very small and slim!-- + He durst' infer that it was her, + Ner her infer 'twas him! + +[Illustration: That cat o' yourn I'd kill her] + +That night the Jolly Miller, says he, "It's Wifey dear, +That cat o' yourn, I'd kill her!--her actions is so queer,-- + She rubbin' 'ginst the grindstone-legs, + And yowlin' at the sky-- + And I 'low the moon haint greener + Than the yaller of her eye!" + +And as the Jolly Miller went chuckle-un to bed, +Was _Somepin_ jerked his piller from underneath his head! + "O Wife," says he, on-easi-lee, + "Fetch here that lantern there!" + But _Somepin_ moans in thunder tones, + "_You tetch it ef you dare!_" + +'Twas then the Jolly Miller he trimbled and he quailed-- +And his wife choked until her breath come back, 'n' she _wailed!_ + And "_O!"_ cried she, "it is _the Flea_, + All white and pale and wann-- + He's got you in his clutches, and + _He's bigger than a man!_" + +"_Ho! ho! my Jolly Miller," (fer 'twas the Flea, fer shore!) +"I reckon you'll not rack my bones ner scrunch 'em any more!_" + And then _the Ghost_ he grabbed him clos't, + With many a ghastly smile, + And from the doorstep stooped and hopped + About four hundred mile! + + + + +OUR HIRED GIRL + +Our hired girl, she's 'Lizabuth Ann; + An' she can cook best things to eat! +She ist puts dough in our pie-pan, + An' pours in somepin' 'at's good and sweet, +An' nen she salts it all on top +With cinnamon; an' nen she'll stop + An' stoop an' slide it, ist as slow, +In th' old cook-stove, so's 'twon't slop + An' git all spilled; nen bakes it, so + It's custard pie, first thing you know! + An' nen she'll say: + "Clear out o' my way! + They's time fer work, an' time fer play!-- + Take yer dough, an' run, Child; run! + Er I cain't git no cookin' done!" + +When our hired girl 'tends like she's mad, + An' says folks got to walk the chalk +When _she's_ around, er wisht they had, + I play out on our porch an' talk +To th' Raggedy Man 'at mows our lawn; +An' he says "_Whew!"_ an' nen leans on + His old crook-scythe, and blinks his eyes +An' sniffs all around an' says,--"I swawn! + Ef my old nose don't tell me lies, + It 'pears like I smell custard-pies!" + An' nen _he'll_ say,-- + "'Clear out' o' my way! + They's time fer work an' time fer play! + Take yer dough, an' run, Child; run! + Er _she_ cain't git no cookin' done!'" + +[Illustration: Wuz parchin' corn fer the raggedy man] + +Wunst our hired girl, one time when she + Got the supper, an' we all et, +An' it was night, an' Ma an' me + An' Pa went wher' the "Social" met,-- +An' nen when we come home, an' see +A light in the kitchen-door, an' we + Heerd a maccordeum, Pa says "Lan'-- +O'Gracious! who can _her_ beau be?" + An' I marched in, an' 'Lizabuth Ann + Wuz parchin' corn fer the Raggedy Man! + _Better_ say + "Clear out o' the way! + They's time fer work, an' time fer play! + Take the hint, an' run, Child; run! + Er we cain't git no _courtin_' done!'" + + + + +THE BOYS' CANDIDATE + +[Illustration: The Boys' Candidate] + +Las' time 'at Uncle Sidney come, +He bringed a watermelon home-- + An' half the boys in town, +Come taggin' after him.--An' he +Says, when we et it,--_"Gracious me! + 'S the boy-house fell down?"_ + + + + +THE PET COON + +[Illustration: The Pet Coon--Title] + +Noey Bixler ketched him, and fetched him in to me + When he's ist a little teenty-weenty baby-coon +'Bout as big as little pups, an' tied him to a tree; + An' Pa gived Noey fifty cents, when he come home at noon. +Nen he buyed a chain fer him, an' little collar, too, + An' sawed a hole in a' old tub an' turnt it upside-down; +An' little feller'd stay in there and won't come out fer you-- + 'Tendin' like he's kindo' skeered o' boys 'at lives in town. + +_Now_ he aint afeard a bit! he's ist so fat an' tame, + We on'y chain him up at night, to save the little chicks. +Holler "Greedy! Greedy!" to him, an' he knows his name, + An' here he'll come a-waddle-un, up fer any tricks! +He'll climb up my leg, he will, an' waller in my lap, + An' poke his little black paws 'way in my pockets where +They's beechnuts, er chinkypins, er any little scrap + Of anything, 'at's good to eat--an' _he_ don't care! + +An' he's as spunky as you please, an' don't like dogs at all.-- + Billy Miller's black-an'-tan tackled him one day, +An' "Greedy" he ist kindo' doubled all up like a ball, + An' Billy's dog he gived a yelp er two an' runned away! +An' nen when Billy fighted me, an' hit me with a bone, + An' Ma she purt'nigh ketched him as he dodged an' skooted thro' +The fence, she says, "You better let my little boy alone, + Er 'Greedy,' next he whips yer dog, shall whip you, too!" + +[Illustration: An' nen when Billy fighted me] + + + + +THE OLD HAY-MOW + +[Illustration: The Old Hay-Mow--Title] + +The Old Hay-mow's the place to play +Fer boys, when it's a rainy day! +I good-'eal ruther be up there +Than down in town, er anywhere! + +When I play in our stable-loft, +The good old hay's so dry an' soft, +An' feels so fine, an' smells so sweet, +I 'most ferget to go an' eat. + +[Illustration: In our hay-mow where I keep store] + +An' one time wunst I _did_ ferget +To go 'tel dinner was all et,-- +An' they had short-cake--an'--Bud he +Hogged up the piece Ma saved fer me! + +Nen I won't let him play no more +In our hay-mow where I keep store +An' got hen-eggs to sell,--an' shoo +The cackle-un old hen out, too! + +An' nen, when Aunty she was here +A-visitun from Rensselaer, +An' bringed my little cousin,--_he_ +Can come up there an' play with me. + +But, after while--when Bud he bets +'At I can't turn no summersetts,-- +I let him come up, ef he can +Ac' ha'f-way like a gentleman! + + + + +ON THE SUNNY SIDE + +[Illustration: On The Sunny Side--Title] + +Hi and whoop-hooray, boys! + Sing a song of cheer! +Here's a holiday, boys, + Lasting half a year! +Round the world, and half is + Shadow we have tried; +Now we're where the laugh is,-- + On the sunny side! + +Pigeons coo and mutter, + Strutting high aloof +Where the sunbeans flutter + Through the stable roof. +Hear the chickens cheep, boys, + And the hen with pride +Clucking them to sleep, boys, + On the sunny side! + +[Illustration: As a romping boy] + +Hear the clacking guinea; + Hear the cattle moo; +Hear the horses whinny, + Looking out at you! +On the hitching-block, boys, + Grandly satisfied, +See the old peacock, boys, + On the sunny side! + +Robins in the peach-tree; + Bluebirds in the pear; +Blossoms over each tree + In the orchard there! +All the world's in joy, boys, + Glad and glorified +As a romping boy, boys, + On the sunny side! + +Where's a heart as mellow? + Where's a soul as free? +Where is any fellow + We would rather be? +Just ourselves or none, boys, + World around and wide, +Laughing in the sun, boys, + On the sunny side! + + + + +A SUDDEN SHOWER + +[Illustration: A Sudden Shower--Title] + +Barefooted boys scud up the street + Or skurry under sheltering sheds; +And schoolgirl faces, pale and sweet, + Gleam from the shawls about their heads. + +Doors bang; and mother-voices call + From alien homes; and rusty gates +Are slammed; and high above it all, + The thunder grim reverberates. + +And then, abrupt,--the rain! the rain!-- + The earth lies gasping; and the eyes +Behind the streaming window-pane + Smile at the trouble of the skies. + +[Illustration: Schoolgirl faces ... gleam from the shawls about their +heads] + +The highway smokes; sharp echoes ring; + The cattle bawl and cowbells clank; +And into town comes galloping + The farmer's horse, with streaming flank. + +The swallow dips beneath the eaves, + And flirts his plumes and folds his wings; +And under the catawba leaves + The caterpillar curls and clings. + +The bumble-bee is pelted down + The wet stem of the hollyhock; +And sullenly, in spattered brown, + The cricket leaps the garden walk. + +Within, the baby claps his hands + And crows with rapture strange and vague; +Without, beneath the rosebush stands + A dripping rooster on one leg. + +[Illustration: A Sudden Shower--Tailpiece] + + + + +GRANDFATHER SQUEERS + +[Illustration: Grandfather Squeers--Title] + +"My grandfather Squeers," said The Raggedy Man, +As he solemnly lighted his pipe and began-- + +"The most indestructible man, for his years, +And the grandest on earth, was my grandfather Squeers! + +"He said, when he rounded his three-score-and-ten, +'I've the hang of it now and can do it again!' + +"He had frozen his heels so repeatedly, he +Could tell by them just what the weather would be; + +"And would laugh and declare, 'while the _Almanac_ would +Most falsely prognosticate, _he_ never could!' + +"Such a hale constitution had grandfather Squeers +That, 'though he'd used '_navy_' for sixty odd years, + +"He still chewed a dime's-worth six days of the week, +While the seventh he passed with a chew in each cheek: + +"Then my grandfather Squeers had a singular knack +Of sitting around on the small of his back, + +"With his legs like a letter Y stretched o'er the grate +Wherein 'twas his custom to ex-pec-tor-ate. + +"He was fond of tobacco in _manifold_ ways, +And would sit on the door-step, of sunshiny days, + +"And smoke leaf-tobacco he'd raised strictly for +The pipe he'd used all through The Mexican War." + +And The Raggedy Man said, refilling the bowl +Of his own pipe and leisurely picking a coal + +From the stove with his finger and thumb, "You can see +What a tee-nacious habit he's fastened on me! + +"And my grandfather Squeers took a special delight +In pruning his corns every Saturday night + +"With a horn-handled razor, whose edge he excused +By saying 'twas one that his grandfather used; + +"And, though deeply etched in the haft of the same +Was the ever-euphonious Wostenholm's name, + +"'Twas my grandfather's custom to boast of the blade +As 'A Seth Thomas razor--the best ever made!' + +"No Old Settlers' Meeting, or Pioneers' Fair, +Was complete without grandfather Squeers in the chair + +"To lead off the programme by telling folks how +'He used to shoot deer where the Court-House stands now'-- + +[Illustration: And smoke leaf-tobacco] + +"How 'he felt, of a truth, to live over the past, +When the country was wild and unbroken and vast, + +"'That the little log cabin was just plenty fine +For himself, his companion, and fambly of nine!-- + +"'When they didn't have even a pump, or a tin, +But drunk surface-water, year out and year in, + +"'From the old-fashioned gourd that was sweeter, by odds, +Than the goblets of gold at the lips of the gods!'" + +Then The Raggedy Man paused to plaintively say +It was clockin' along to'rds the close of the day-- + +And he'd _ought_ to get back to his work on the lawn,-- +Then dreamily blubbered his pipe and went on: + +"His teeth were imperfect--my grandfather owned +That he couldn't eat oysters unless they were 'boned'; + +"And his eyes were so weak, and so feeble of sight, +He couldn't sleep with them unless, every night, + +"He put on his spectacles--all he possessed,-- +Three pairs--with his goggles on top of the rest. + +"And my grandfather always, retiring at night, +Blew down the lamp-chimney to put out the light; + +"Then he'd curl up on edge like a shaving, in bed, +And puff and smoke pipes in his sleep, it is said: + +"And would snore oftentimes as the legends relate, +Till his folks were wrought up to a terrible state,-- + +"Then he'd snort, and rear up, and roll over; and there, +In the subsequent hush they could hear him chew air. + +"And so glaringly bald was the top of his head +That many's the time he has musingly said, + +"As his eyes journeyed o'er its reflex in the glass,-- +'I must set out a few signs of _Keep Off the Grass!_' + +"So remarkably deaf was my grandfather Squeers +That he had to wear lightning-rods over his ears + +"To even hear thunder--and oftentimes then +He was forced to request it to thunder again." + +[Illustration: Grandfather Squeers--Tailpiece] + + + + +THE PIXY PEOPLE + +[Illustration: The Pixy People--Title] + +It was just a very + Merry fairy dream!-- +All the woods were airy + With the gloom and gleam; +Crickets in the clover + Clattered clear and strong, +And the bees droned over + Their old honey-song. + +In the mossy passes, + Saucy grasshoppers +Leapt about the grasses + And the thistle-burs; +And the whispered chuckle + Of the katydid +Shook the honeysuckle + Blossoms where he hid. + +Through the breezy mazes + Of the lazy June, +Drowsy with the hazes + Of the dreamy noon, +Little Pixy people + Winged above the walk, +Pouring from the steeple + Of a mullein-stalk. + +One--a gallant fellow-- + Evidently King,-- +Wore a plume of yellow + In a jewelled ring +On a pansy bonnet, + Gold and white and blue, +With the dew still on it, + And the fragrance, too. + +One--a dainty lady,-- + Evidently Queen,-- +Wore a gown of shady + Moonshine and green, +With a lace of gleaming + Starlight that sent +All the dewdrops dreaming + Everywhere she went. + +[Illustration: Winged above the walk] + +One wore a waistcoat + Of roseleaves, out and in, +And one wore a faced-coat + Of tiger-lily-skin; +And one wore a neat coat + Of palest galingale; +And one a tiny street-coat, + And one a swallow-tail. + +And Ho! sang the King of them, + And Hey! sang the Queen; +And round and round the ring of them + Went dancing o'er the green; +And Hey! sang the Queen of them, + And Ho! sang the King-- +And all that I had seen of them + --Wasn't anything! + +It was just a very + Merry fairy dream!-- +All the woods were airy + With the gloom and gleam; +Crickets in the clover + Clattered clear and strong, +And the bees droned over + Their old honey-song! + + + + +A LIFE-LESSON + +[Illustration: A Life-Lesson--Title] + +There! little girl; don't cry! + They have broken your doll, I know; + And your tea-set blue, + And your play-house, too, + Are things of the long ago; + But childish troubles will soon pass by.-- + There! little girl; don't cry! + +There! little girl; don't cry! + They have broken your slate, I know; + And the glad, wild ways + Of your school-girl days + Are things of the long ago; + But life and love will soon come by.-- + There! little girl; don't cry! + +There! little girl; don't cry! + They have broken your heart, I know; + And the rainbow gleams + Of your youthful dreams + Are things of the long ago; + But Heaven holds all for which you sigh.-- + There! little girl; don't cry! + +[Illustration: But Heaven hold all for which you sigh] + + + + +A HOME-MADE FAIRY-TALE + +[Illustration: A Home-made Fairy-Tale--Title] + +Bud, come here to your Uncle a spell, +And I'll tell you something you mustn't tell-- +For it's a secret and shore-nuff true, +And maybe I oughtn't to tell it to you!-- +But out in the garden, under the shade +Of the apple-trees where we romped and played +Till the moon was up, and you thought I'd gone +Fast asleep.--That was all put on! +For I was a-watchin' something queer +Goin' on there in the grass, my dear! +'Way down deep in it, there I see +A little dude-Fairy who winked at me, +And snapped his fingers, and laughed as low +And fine as the whine of a mus-kee-to! +I kept still--watchin' him closer--and +I noticed a little guitar in his hand, +Which he leant 'ginst a little dead bee--and laid +His cigarette down on a clean grass-blade; +And then climbed up on the shell of a snail-- +Carefully dusting his swallowtail-- +And pulling up, by a waxed web-thread, +This little guitar, you remember, I said! +And there he trinkled and trilled a tune-- +"My Love, so Fair, Tans in the Moon!" +Till presently, out of the clover-top +He seemed to be singing to, came k'pop! +The purtiest, daintiest Fairy face +In all this world, or any place! +Then the little ser'nader waved his hand, +As much as to say, "We'll excuse _you_!" and +I heard, as I squinted my eyelids to, +A kiss like the drip of a drop of dew! + +[Illustration: A Little Dude-Fairy] + + + + +THE BEAR STORY + +THAT ALEX "IST MAKED UP HIS-OWN-SE'F" + +W'y, wunst they wuz a Little Boy went out +In the woods to shoot a Bear. So, he went out +'Way in the grea'-big woods--he did.--An' he +Wuz goin' along--an' goin' along, you know, +An' purty soon he heerd somepin' go "_Wooh!"_-- +Ist thataway--"_Woo-ooh!"_ An' he wuz _skeered_, +He wuz. An' so he runned an' clumbed a tree-- +A grea'-big tree, he did,--a sicka-_more_ tree. +An' nen he heerd it ag'in: an' he looked round, +An' _'t'uz a Bear!--a grea'-big shore-nuff Bear!_-- +No: 't'uz _two_ Bears, it wuz--two grea'-big Bears-- +_One_ of 'em wuz--ist _one's_ a _grea'-big_ Bear.-- +But they ist _boff_ went "_Wooh!_"--An' here _they_ come +To climb the tree an' git the Little Boy +An' eat him up! + + An' nen the Little Boy +He 'uz skeered worse'n ever! An' here come +The grea'-big Bear a-climbin' th' tree to git +The Little Boy an' eat him up--Oh, _no!_-- +It 'uzn't the _Big_ Bear 'at clumb the tree-- +It 'uz the _Little_ Bear. So here _he_ come +Climbin' the tree--an' climbin' the tree! Nen when +He git wite _clos't_ to the Little Boy, w'y nen +The Little Boy he ist pulled up his gun +An' _shot_ the Bear, he did, an' killed him dead! +An' nen the Bear he falled clean on down out +The tree--away clean to the ground, he did-- +_Spling-splung!_ he falled _plum_ down, an' killed him, too! +An' lit wite side o' where the _Big_ Bear's at. + +An' nen the Big Bear's awful mad, you bet!-- +'Cause--'cause the Little Boy he shot his gun +An' killed the _Little_ Bear.--'Cause the _Big_ Bear +He--he 'uz the Little Bear's Papa.--An' so here +_He_ come to climb the big old tree an' git +The Little Boy an' eat him up! An' when +The Little Boy he saw the _grea'-big Bear_ +A-comin', he uz badder skeered, he wuz, +Than _any_ time! An' so he think he'll climb +Up _higher_--'way up higher in the tree +Than the old _Bear_ kin climb, you know.--But he-- +He _can't_ climb higher 'an old _Bears_ kin climb,-- +'Cause Bears kin climb up higher in the trees +Than any little Boys in all the Wo-r-r-ld! + +An' so here come the grea'-big-Bear, he did,-- +A-climbin' up--an' up the tree, to git +The Little Boy an' eat him up! An' so +The Little Boy he clumbed on higher, an' higher, +An' higher up the tree--an' higher--an' higher-- +An' higher'n iss-here _house_ is!--An' here come +Th' old Bear--clos'ter to him all the time!-- +An' nen--first thing you know,--when th' old Big Bear +Wuz wite clos't to him--nen the Little Boy +Ist jabbed his gun wite in the old Bear's mouf +An' shot an' killed him dead!--No; I _fergot_,-- +He didn't shoot the grea'-big Bear at all-- +'Cause _they 'uz no load in the gun_, you know-- +'Cause when he shot the _Little_ Bear, w'y, nen +No load 'uz anymore nen _in_ the gun! + +But th' Little Boy clumbed _higher_ up, he did-- +He clumbed _lots_ higher--an' on up _higher_--an' higher +An' _higher_--tel he ist _can't_ climb no higher, +'Cause nen the limbs 'uz all so little, 'way +Up in the teeny-weeny tip-top of +The tree, they'd break down wiv him ef he don't +Be keerful! So he stop an' think: An' nen +He look around--An' here come th' old Bear! + +An' so the Little Boy make up his mind +He's got to ist git out o' there _some_ way!-- +'Cause here come the old Bear!--so clos't, his bref's +Purt 'nigh so's he kin feel how hot it is +Ag'inst his bare feet--ist like old "Ring's" bref +When he's ben out a-huntin' an's all tired. +So when th' old Bear's so clos't--the Little Boy +Ist gives a grea'-big jump fer '_nother_ tree-- +No!--no he don't do that!--I tell you what +The Little Boy does:--W'y, nen--w'y, he--Oh, _yes_-- +The Little Boy _he finds a hole up there +'At's in the tree_--an' climbs in there an' _hides_-- +An' _nen_ th' old Bear can't find the Little Boy +At all!--But, purty soon th' old Bear finds +The Little Boy's _gun_ 'at's up there--'cause the _gun_ +It's too _tall_ to tooked wiv him in the hole. +So, when the old Bear fin' the _gun_, he knows +The Little Boy's ist _hid_ 'round _somers_ there,-- +An' th' old Bear 'gins to snuff an' sniff around, +An' sniff an' snuff around--so's he kin find +Out where the Little Boy's hid at.--An' nen--nen-- +Oh, _yes!_--W'y, purty soon the old Bear climbs +'Way out on a big limb--a grea'-long limb,-- +An' nen the Little Boy climbs out the hole +An' takes his ax an' chops the limb off!... Nen +The old Bear falls _k-splunge!_ clean to the ground +An' bust an' kill hisse'f plum dead, he did! + +An' nen the Little Boy he git his gun +An' 'menced a-climbin' down the tree ag'in-- +No!--no, he _didn't_ git his _gun_--'cause when +The _Bear_ falled, nen the _gun_ falled, too--An' broked +It all to pieces, too!--An' _nicest_ gun!-- +His Pa ist buyed it!--An' the Little Boy +Ist cried, he did; an' went on climbin' down +The tree--an' climbin' down--an' climbin' down!-- +_An'-sir!_ when he 'uz purt'-nigh down,--w'y, nen +_The old Bear he jumped up ag'in_--an' he +Ain't dead at all--ist _'tendin'_ thataway, +So he kin git the Little Boy an' eat +Him up! But the Little Boy he 'uz too smart +To climb clean _down_ the tree.--An' the old Bear +He can't climb _up_ the tree no more--'cause when +He fell, he broke one of his--he broke _all_ +His legs!--an' nen he _couldn't_ climb! But he +Ist won't go'way an' let the Little Boy +Come down out of the tree. An' the old Bear +Ist growls 'round there, he does--ist growls an' goes +"_Wooh!--woo-ooh!"_ all the time! An' Little Boy +He haf to stay up in the tree--all night-- +An' 'thout no _supper_ neether!--On'y they +Wuz _apples_ on the tree!--An' Little Boy +Et apples--ist all night--an' cried--an' cried! +Nen when 'tuz morning th' old Bear went _"Wooh!"_ +Ag'in, an' try to climb up in the tree +An' git the Little Boy.--But he _can't_ +Climb t'save his _soul_, he can't!--An' _oh!_ he's _mad!_-- +He ist tear up the ground! an' go _"Woo-ooh!"_ +An'--_Oh, yes!_--purty soon, when morning's come +All _light_--so's you kin _see_, you know,--w'y, nen +The old Bear finds the Little Boy's _gun_, you know, +'At's on the ground.--(An' it ain't broke at all-- +I ist _said_ that!) An' so the old Bear think +He'll take the gun an' _shoot_ the Little Boy:-- +But _Bears they_ don't know much 'bout shootin' guns; +So when he go to shoot the Little Boy, +The old Bear got the _other_ end the gun +Ag'in' his shoulder, 'stid o' _th' other_ end-- +So when he try to shoot the Little Boy, +It shot _the Bear_, it did--an' killed him dead! +An' nen the Little Boy clumb down the tree +An' chopped his old woolly head off:--Yes, an' killed +The _other_ Bear ag'in, he did--an' killed +All _boff_ the bears, he did--an' tuk 'em home +An' _cooked_ 'em, too, an' _et_ 'em! + --An' that's all. + +[Illustration: ENVOY] + + + + +ENVOY + +Many pleasures of youth have been buoyantly sung-- + And, borne on the winds of delight, may they beat +With their palpitant wings at the hearts of the Young, + And in bosoms of Age find as warm a retreat!-- +Yet sweetest of all of the musical throng, + Though least of the numbers that upward aspire, +Is the one rising now into wavering song, + As I sit in the silence and gaze in the fire. + +'Tis a Winter long dead that beleaguers my door + And muffles his steps in the snows of the past: +And I see, in the embers I'm dreaming before, + Lost faces of love as they looked on me last:-- +The round, laughing eyes of the desk-mate of old + Gleam out for a moment with truant desire-- +Then fade and are lost in a City of Gold, + As I sit in the silence and gaze in the fire. + +And then comes the face, peering back in my own, + Of a shy little girl, with her lids drooping low, +As she faltering tells, in a far-away tone, + The ghost of a story of long, long ago.-- +Then her dewy blue eyes they are lifted again; + But I see their glad light slowly fail and expire, +As I reach and cry to her in vain, all in vain!-- + As I sit in the silence and gaze in the fire. + +Then the face of a Mother looks back, through the mist + Of tears that are welling; and, lucent with light, +I see the dear smile of the lips I have kissed + As she knelt by my cradle at morning and night; +And my arms are outheld, with a yearning too wild + For any but God in His love to inspire, +As she pleads at the foot of His throne for her child,-- + As I sit in the silence and gaze in the fire. + +O pathos of rapture! O glorious pain! + My heart is a blossom of joy over-run +With a shower of tears, as a lily with rain + That weeps in the shadow and laughs in the sun. +The blight of the frost may descend on the tree, + And the leaf and the flower may fall and expire, +But ever and ever love blossoms for me, + As I sit in the silence and gaze in the fire. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Riley Child-Rhymes, by James Whitcomb Riley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RILEY CHILD-RHYMES *** + +***** This file should be named 9777.txt or 9777.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/7/7/9777/ + +Produced by Maria Cecilia Lim and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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