s: My bed is waiting cool and fresh, with linen smooth and fair,


s: And I must off to sleepsin-by, and not forget my prayer.


s: I know that, till to-morrow I shall see the sun arise,


s: No ugly dream shall fright my mind, no ugly sight my eyes,


s: But slumber hold me tightly till I waken in the dawn,


s: And hear the thrushes singing in the lilacs round the lawn.


s: The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out


s: Through the blinds and the windows and bars;


s: There were thousands of millions of stars.


s: There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,


s: As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,


s: And that glittered and winked in the dark.


s: The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,


s: These shone in the sky, and the pail by the wall,


s: They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,


s: But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,


s: The world is so full of a number of things,


s: I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.


s: Breaking the branches and crawling below,


s: Out through the breach in the wall of the garden,


s: Here is the mill with the humming of thunder,


s: Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,


s: Here is the sluice with the race running under--


s: Marvellous places, though handy to home!


s: Sounds of the village grow stiller and stiller,


s: Stiller the note of the birds on the hill;


s: Dusty and dim are the eyes of the miller,


s: Deaf are his ears with the moil of the mill.


s: Years may go by, and the wheel in the river


s: Wheel as it wheels for us, children, to-day,


s: Wheel and keep roaring and foaming for ever


s: Home from the Indies and home from the ocean,


s: Heroes and soldiers we all shall come home;


s: Still we shall find the old mill wheel in motion,


s: Turning and churning that river to foam.


s: You with the bean that I gave when we quarrelled,


s: Honoured and old and all gaily apparelled,


s: Here we shall meet and remember the past.


s: My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;


s: It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by;


s: For every night at tea-time and before you take your seat,


s: With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.


s: Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,


s: And my papa's a banker and as rich as he can be;


s: But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do,


s: O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you!


s: For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,


s: And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;


s: And O! before you hurry by with ladder and with light,


s: O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him to-night!


s: The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;


s: She shines on thieves on the garden wall,


s: On streets and fields and harbour quays,


s: And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.


s: The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,


s: The howling dog by the door of the house,


s: All love to be out by the light of the moon.


s: But all of the things that belong to the day


s: And flowers and children close their eyes


s: Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.


s: Faster than fairies, faster than witches,


s: And charging along like troops in a battle,


s: All through the meadows the horses and cattle:


s: All of the sights of the hill and the plain


s: Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,


s: And there is the green for stringing the daisies!


s: And here is a mill and there is a river:


s: Till the shining scythes went far and wide


s: And they piled them here in mountain tops


s: All round the house is the jet-black night:


s: It crawls in the corners, hiding from the light,


s: Now my little heart goes a-beating like a drum,


s: With the breath of the Bogie in my hair;


s: And all round the candle the crooked shadows come


s: The shadow of the balusters, the shadow of the lamp,


s: The shadow of the child that goes to bed--


s: All the wicked shadows coming, tramp, tramp, tramp,


s: When children are playing alone on the green,


s: In comes the playmate that never was seen.


s: When children are happy and lonely and good,


s: The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.


s: But he's sure to be present, abroad or at home,


s: When children are happy and playing alone.


s: He lies in the laurels, he runs on the grass,


s: He sings when you tinkle the musical glass;


s: Whene'er you are happy and cannot tell why


s: The Friend of the Children is sure to be by!


s: He loves to be little, he hates to be big,


s: 'T is he that inhabits the caves that you dig;


s: 'T is he when you play with your soldiers of tin


s: That sides with the Frenchmen and never can win.


s: 'T is he, when at night you go off to your bed,


s: Bids you go to your sleep and not trouble your head;


s: For wherever they're lying, in cupboard or shelf,


s: 'T is he will take care of your playthings himself!


s: O it's I that am the captain of a tidy little ship,


s: Of a ship that goes a-sailing on the pond;


s: And my ship it keeps a-turning all around and all about;


s: But when I'm a little older, I shall find the secret out


s: How to send my vessel sailing on beyond.


s: For I mean to grow as little as the dolly at the helm,


s: And with him beside to help me, it's a-sailing I shall go,


s: It's a-sailing on the water, when the jolly breezes blow,


s: For beside the dolly sailor, I'm to voyage and explore,


s: To land upon the island where no dolly was before,


s: And to fire the penny cannon in the bow.


s: These nuts, that I keep in the back of the nest


s: Where all my lead soldiers are lying at rest,


s: Were gathered in autumn by nursie and me


s: In a wood with a well by the side of the sea.


s: This whistle was made (and how clearly it sounds!)


s: By the side of a field at the end of the grounds.


s: Of a branch of a plane, with a knife of my own--


s: It was nursie who made it, and nursie alone!


s: The stone, with the white and the yellow and grey,


s: We discovered I cannot tell _how_ far away;


s: And I carried it back although weary and cold,


s: For though father denies it, I'm sure it is gold.


s: But of all of my treasures the last is the king,


s: For there's very few children possess such a thing;


s: And that is a chisel, both handle and blade,


s: Which a man who was really a carpenter made.


s: What are you able to build with your blocks?


s: Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,


s: But I can be happy and building at home.


s: Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea,


s: And a harbour as well where my vessels may ride.


s: Great is the palace with pillar and wall,


s: To where my toy vessels lie safe in the bay.


s: This one is sailing and that one is moored:


s: Hark to the song of the sailors on board!


s: And see on the steps of my palace, the kings


s: Coming and going with presents and things!


s: Now I have done with it, down let it go!


s: Block upon block lying scattered and free,


s: What is there left of my town by the sea?


s: The kirk and the palace, the ships and the men,


s: And as long as I live and where'er I may be,


s: I'll always remember my town by the sea.


s: There, in the night, where none can spy,


s: These are the hills, these are the woods,


s: More thick than rain he showers his rays.


s: He digs the flowers, green, red and blue,


s: But ris'n at length, with might and main,


s: And charged behind us through the gorse.


s: And all the thousand things that children are.


s: We watch the children, our successors, play.


s: While flowing fast away, leaves love behind.


s: Flows past our childhood's garden still;


s: The bones of antelope, the wings of albatross,


s: The junks and bangles, beads and screens,


s: These rhymes for old acquaintance' sake.


s: Then shall you discover that your name was printed down


s: By the English printers, long before, in London town.


s: In the great and busy city where the East and West are met,


s: All the little letters did the English printer set;


s: While you thought of nothing, and were still too young to play,


s: Foreign people thought of you in places far away.


s: Ay, and while you slept, a baby, over all the English lands


s: Other little children took the volume in their hands;


s: Other children questioned, in their homes across the seas:


s: Who was little Louis, won't you tell us, mother, please?


s: Now that you have spelt your lesson, lay it down and go and play,


s: Watching all the mighty whalebones, lying buried by the breeze,


s: Tiny sandy-pipers, and the huge Pacific seas.


s: And remember in your playing, as the sea-fog rolls to you,


s: Long ere you could read it, how I told you what to do;


s: And that while you thought of no one, nearly half the world away


s: Some one thought of Louis on the beach of Monterey!


s: _From the sick child, now well and old,_


s: _Take, nurse, the little book you hold!_


s: _And grant it, Heaven, that all who read_


s: _In the bright, fireside, nursery clime,_


s: Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing,


s: Three of us aboard in the basket on the lea.


s: Winds are in the air, they are blowing in the spring,


s: And waves are on the meadow like the waves there are at sea.


s: Where shall we adventure, to-day that we're afloat,


s: Wary of the weather and steering by a star?


s: Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat,


s: Hi! but here's a squadron a-rowing on the sea--


s: Cattle on the meadow a-charging with a roar!


s: Quick, and we'll escape them, they're as mad as they can be,


s: The wicket is the harbour and the garden is the shore.


s: Late in the night when the fires are out,


s: Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;


s: I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,


s: And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.


s: He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;


s: And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.


s: The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow--


s: Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;


s: For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,


s: And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.


s: He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,


s: And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.


s: He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;


s: I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!


s: One morning, very early, before the sun was up,


s: I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;


s: But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,


s: Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.


s: I woke before the morning, I was happy all the day,


s: I never said an ugly word, but smiled and stuck to play.


s: And now at last the sun is going down behind the wood,


s: And I am very happy, for I know that I've been good.


s: My bed is waiting cool and fresh, with linen smooth and fair,


s: And I must off to sleepsin-by, and not forget my prayer.


s: I know that, till to-morrow I shall see the sun arise,


s: No ugly dream shall fright my mind, no ugly sight my eyes,


s: But slumber hold me tightly till I waken in the dawn,


s: And hear the thrushes singing in the lilacs round the lawn.


s: The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out


s: Through the blinds and the windows and bars;


s: There were thousands of millions of stars.


s: There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,


s: As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,


s: And that glittered and winked in the dark.


s: The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,


s: These shone in the sky, and the pail by the wall


s: They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,


s: But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,


s: The world is so full of a number of things,


s: I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.


s: Breaking the branches and crawling below,


s: Out through the breach in the wall of the garden,


s: Here is the mill with the humming of thunder,


s: Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,


s: Here is the sluice with the race running under--


s: Marvellous places, though handy to home!


s: Sounds of the village grow stiller and stiller,


s: Stiller the note of the birds on the hill;


s: Dusty and dim are the eyes of the miller,


s: Deaf are his ears with the moil of the mill.


s: Years may go by, and the wheel in the river


s: Wheel as it wheels for us, children, to-day,


s: Wheel and keep roaring and foaming for ever


s: Home from the Indies and home from the ocean,


s: Heroes and soldiers we all shall come home;


s: Still we shall find the old mill wheel in motion,


s: Turning and churning that river to foam.


s: You with the bean that I gave when we quarrelled,


s: Honoured and old and all gaily apparelled,


s: Here we shall meet and remember the past.


s: My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;


s: It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by;


s: For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,


s: With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.


s: Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,


s: And my papa's a banker and as rich as he can be;


s: But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do,


s: O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you!


s: For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,


s: And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;


s: And O! before you hurry by with ladder and with light,


s: O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him to-night!


s: The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;


s: She shines on thieves on the garden wall,


s: On streets and fields and harbour quays,


s: And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.


s: The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,


s: The howling dog by the door of the house,


s: All love to be out by the light of the moon.


s: But all of the things that belong to the day


s: And flowers and children close their eyes


s: Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.


s: Faster than fairies, faster than witches,


s: And charging along like troops in a battle,


s: All through the meadows the horses and cattle:


s: All of the sights of the hill and the plain


s: Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,


s: And there is the green for stringing the daisies!


s: And here is a mill and there is a river:


s: Till the shining scythes went far and wide


s: And they piled them here in mountain tops


s: All round the house is the jet-black night;


s: It crawls in the corners, hiding from the light,


s: Now my little heart goes a-beating like a drum,


s: With the breath of the Bogie in my hair;


s: And all round the candle the crooked shadows come


s: The shadow of the balusters, the shadow of the lamp,


s: The shadow of the child that goes to bed--


s: All the wicked shadows coming, tramp, tramp, tramp,


s: When children are playing alone on the green,


s: In comes the playmate that never was seen.


s: When children are happy and lonely and good,


s: The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.


s: But he's sure to be present, abroad or at home,


s: When children are happy and playing alone.


s: He lies in the laurels, he runs on the grass,


s: He sings when you tinkle the musical glass;


s: Whene'er you are happy and cannot tell why,


s: The Friend of the Children is sure to be by!


s: He loves to be little, he hates to be big,


s: 'T is he that inhabits the caves that you dig;


s: 'T is he when you play with your soldiers of tin


s: That sides with the Frenchmen and never can win.


s: 'T is he, when at night you go off to your bed,


s: Bids you go to your sleep and not trouble your head;


s: For wherever they're lying, in cupboard or shelf,


s: 'T is he will take care of your playthings himself!


s: O it's I that am the captain of a tidy little ship,


s: Of a ship that goes a-sailing on the pond;


s: And my ship it keeps a-turning all around and all about;


s: But when I'm a little older, I shall find the secret out


s: How to send my vessel sailing on beyond.


s: For I mean to grow as little as the dolly at the helm,


s: And with him beside to help me, it's a-sailing I shall go,


s: It's a-sailing on the water, when the jolly breezes blow


s: For beside the dolly sailor, I'm to voyage and explore,


s: To land upon the island where no dolly was before,


s: And to fire the penny cannon in the bow.


s: These nuts, that I keep in the back of the nest


s: Where all my lead soldiers are lying at rest,


s: Were gathered in autumn by nursie and me


s: In a wood with a well by the side of the sea.


s: This whistle we made (and how clearly it sounds!)


s: By the side of a field at the end of the grounds.


s: Of a branch of a plane, with a knife of my own,


s: It was nursie who made it, and nursie alone!


s: The stone, with the white and the yellow and grey,


s: We discovered I cannot tell _how_ far away;


s: And I carried it back although weary and cold,


s: For though father denies it, I'm sure it is gold.


s: But of all of my treasures the last is the king,


s: For there's very few children possess such a thing;


s: And that is a chisel, both handle and blade,


s: Which a man who was really a carpenter made.


s: What are you able to build with your blocks?


s: Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,


s: But I can be happy and building at home.


s: Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea,


s: And a harbour as well where my vessels may ride.


s: Great is the palace with pillar and wall,


s: To where my toy vessels lie safe in the bay.


s: This one is sailing and that one is moored:


s: Hark to the song of the sailors on board!


s: And see on the steps of my palace, the kings


s: Coming and going with presents and things!


s: Now I have done with it, down let it go!


s: Block upon block lying scattered and free,


s: What is there left of my town by the sea?


s: The kirk and the palace, the ships and the men


s: And as long as I live and where'er I may be,


s: I'll always remember my town by the sea.


s: There, in the night, where none can spy,


s: These are the hills, these are the woods,


s: More thick than rain he showers his rays.


s: He digs the flowers, green, red, and blue,


s: But ris'n at length, with might and main,


s: And charged behind us through the gorse.


s: And all the thousand things that children are.


s: We watch the children, our successors, play.


s: While flowing fast away, leaves love behind.


s: Flows past our childhood's garden still;


s: The bones of antelope, the wings of albatross,


s: The junks and bangles, beads and screens,


s: These rhymes for old acquaintance' sake.


s: Then shall you discover, that your name was printed down


s: By the English printers, long before, in London town.


s: In the great and busy city where the East and West are met,


s: All the little letters did the English printer set;


s: While you thought of nothing, and were still too young to play,


s: Foreign people thought of you in places far away.


s: Ay, and while you slept, a baby, over all the English lands


s: Other little children took the volume in their hands;


s: Other children questioned, in their homes across the seas:


s: Who was little Louis, won't you tell us, mother, please?


s: Now that you have spelt your lesson, lay it down and go and play,


s: Watching all the mighty whalebones, lying buried by the breeze,


s: Tiny sandy-pipers, and the huge Pacific seas.


s: And remember in your playing, as the sea-fog rolls to you,


s: Long ere you could read it, how I told you what to do;


s: And that while you thought of no one, nearly half the world away


s: Some one thought of Louis on the beach of Monterey!


s: So with Stevenson's own words the book is yours:


s: Flowers in the garden, meat in the hall,


s: I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,


s: And what can be the use of him is more than I can see,


s: He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;


s: And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.


s: The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow--


s: Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;


s: For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,


s: And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.


s: He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,


s: And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.


s: He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;


s: I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!


s: One morning, very early, before the sun was up,


s: I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;


s: But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,


s: Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.


s: Late in the night when the fires are out,


s: Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing.


s: Three of us aboard in the basket on the lea.


s: Winds are in the air, they are blowing in the spring.


s: And waves are on the meadow like the waves there are at sea.


s: Where shall we adventure, to-day that we're afloat,


s: Wary of the weather and steering by a star?


s: Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat,


s: Hi! but here's a squadron a-rowing on the sea--


s: Cattle on the meadow a-charging with a roar!


s: Quick, and we'll escape them, they're as mad as they can be.


s: The wicket is the harbor and the garden is the shore.


s: Among the bed-clothes, through the hills.


s: I woke before the morning, I was happy all the day,


s: I never said an ugly word, but smiled and stuck to play.


s: And now at last the sun is going down behind the wood,


s: And I am very happy, for I know that I've been good.


s: My bed is waiting cool and fresh, with linen smooth and fair.


s: And I must off to sleepsin-by, and not forget my prayer.


s: I know that, till tomorrow I shall see the sun arise,


s: No ugly dream shall fright my mind, no ugly sight my eyes.


s: But slumber hold me tightly till I waken in the dawn,


s: And hear the thrushes singing in the lilacs round the lawn.


s: The lights from the parlor and kitchen shone out


s: Through the blinds and the windows and bars;


s: There were thousands of millions of stars.


s: There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,


s: As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,


s: And that glistened and winked in the dark.


s: The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,


s: These shown in the sky, and the pail by the wall


s: They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,


s: But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,


s: Faster than fairies, faster than witches,


s: And charging along like troops in a battle,


s: All through the meadows the horses and cattle:


s: All of the sights of the hill and the plain


s: Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,--


s: And there is the green for stringing the daisies!


s: And here is a mill and there is a river:


s: Breaking the branches and crawling below,


s: Out through the breach in the wall of the garden,


s: Here is the mill with the humming of thunder,


s: Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,


s: Here is the sluice with the race running under--


s: Sounds of the village grow stiller and stiller,


s: Stiller the note of the birds on the hill;


s: Dusty and dim are the eyes of the miller,


s: Deaf are his ears with the moil of the mill.


s: Years may go by, and the wheel in the river


s: Wheel as it wheels for us, children, to-day,


s: Wheel and keep roaring and foaming for ever--


s: Home from the Indies and home from the ocean,


s: Heroes and soldiers we all shall come home;


s: Still we shall find the old mill wheel in motion,


s: Turning and churning that river to foam.


s: You with the bean that I gave when we quarreled,


s: Honored and old and all gaily appareled,


s: Here we shall meet and remember the past.


s: My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;


s: It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by;


s: For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,


s: With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.


s: Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,


s: And my papa's a banker and as rich as he can be;


s: But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do,


s: O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you!


s: For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,


s: And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;


s: And O, before you hurry by with ladder and with light,


s: O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him to-night!


s: The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;


s: She shines on thieves on the garden wall,


s: And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.


s: The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,


s: The howling dog by the door of the house,


s: All love to be out by the light of the moon.


s: But all of the things that belong to the day


s: And flowers and children close their eyes


s: Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.


s: Till the shining scythes went far and wide


s: And they piled them here in mountain-tops


s: All round the house is the jet-black night;


s: It crawls in the corners, hiding from the light,


s: Now my little heart goes a-beating like a drum,


s: And all round the candle the crooked shadows come,


s: The shadow of the balusters, the shadow of the lamp,


s: The shadow of the child that goes to bed--


s: All the wicked shadows coming, tramp, tramp, tramp,


s: Certain vowels, as _a_ and _e_, when obscured, are italicized.


s: _counterpane_ (koun´ t[~e]r p[=a]n´). A coverlet for a bed.


s: _Crow_ (kr[=o]). The name of a tribe of Indians.


s: _harbor_ (här´ b[~e]r). Station for rest and safety.


s: _haunted_ (hänt´ [)e]d). Frequented by ghosts.


s: _Malabar_ (m[)a]l´ a bär´). A district in British India.


s: _marten_ (mär´ t[)e]n). One of several species of swallows.


s: _martial_ (mär´ shal). Military; warlike; brave.


s: _Plough_ (plou). The group of stars commonly called the Dipper.


s: _prudent_ (pr[u:]´ dent). Cautious; careful; sensible.


s: _quays_ (k[=e]z). Wharfs; landing places.


s: _scythe_ (sïth). An instrument for mowing grass and grain.


s: _Sioux_ (s[=oo]). Certain tribes of Indians.


s: _sire_ (s[=i]r). Father; the head of the family.


s: _sweep_ (sw[=e]p). As found in "Travel," meaning chimney-sweep.


s: He talked so much of them and their ways,


s: He dreamed he was feeding five fat geese


s: He said it was wholesome food for geese,


s: But they said, "More wholesome than nice."


s: He dreamed that he set two geese to dance,


s: He said, "You look pretty and gay, my dears."


s: "What, tired!" he said, "with that nice pink sash,


s: Then he tried to teach them the way to sing--


s: He made them try to stand on their heads


s: Although they said the pain in their necks


s: They said they burned their wings and feet


s: He laughed, "Oh, nonsense! Now, my dears,


s: So he made a terrified goose jump through


s: While all the rest of the geese stood round


s: He woke up shrieking with fear and pain,


s: Of the frogs and the greyhounds, the rabbits and cats?


s: They rode it on bicycles, sixteen in all,


s: And the umpires were pugs, with cigars and high hats.


s: And the number of each kind of racer was four--


s: Four frogs dressed in green, four rabbits in brown,


s: Four greyhounds well brushed and with spotless shirt-fronts,


s: The four solemn puggies inspected them all


s: And weighed them as gravely as if they were dead.


s: "The rabbits must carry the dinners for all;


s: It's a fair handicap, as they're quickest," they said.


s: (I've heard that the rabbits were angry at this;


s: And I think that it's true, for they never were seen


s: Any more by the umpires, although the cats say


s: They frequently meet them at night on the green.)


s: And now they are ready, and "Go!" cried the first


s: Of the four solemn pugs as he lit his cigar.


s: "I shall act for the rabbits; you choose from the rest,


s: And carefully watch who first passes the bar."


s: "The cats shall be mine," says the fourth with a wag


s: Of his tightly curled tail as he sat on the grass.


s: "I speak for the frogs," said the third, "for I'm sure


s: They're cunning enough to let nobody pass."


s: "So the greyhounds are mine, then," says pug Number Two,


s: And he put his blue spectacles on, and he sighed,


s: "I know they'll not win, though they'll all do their best,


s: For nobody ever has taught them to ride."


s: The frogs came up first, with their legs straddled wide


s: On the bicycle handles, their arms folded tight;


s: Their umpire, the third little pug, gave a shout,


s: And pushed his hat back in his joy at the sight.


s: Then up came the greyhounds, and pug Number Two,


s: Though dissatisfied, felt that he could not ask more.


s: "But where are the rabbits?" said One with a groan.


s: With the others, but stayed to catch mice and to play;


s: And the rabbits rode off with the food to the woods,


s: We may live without poetry, music, and art;


s: We may live without conscience and live without heart;


s: We may live without friends; we may live without books;


s: But civilized man cannot live without _cooks_.


s: He may live without books--what is knowledge but grieving?


s: He may live without hope--what is hope but deceiving?


s: He may live without love--what is passion but pining?


s: But where is the man who can live without _dining_?


s: Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864,


s: Your logic and Greek, but there is nothing like feeding.


s: Upon singing and cookery, Bobby, of course,


s: Standing up for the latter Fine Art in full force.


s: Are these the _choice dishes_ the Doctor has sent us?


s: Heaven sends us good meats, but the Devil sends cooks.


s: "Du lit a la table, de la table au lit."--MOORE.


s: Though cooks are often men of pregnant wit,


s: Through niceness of their subject few have writ.


s: 'Tis a sage question, if the art of cooks


s: Is lodg'd by nature or attain'd by books?


s: That man will never frame a noble treat,


s: Whose whole dependence lies in some _receipt_.


s: Then by pure nature everything is spoil'd,--


s: She knows no more than stew'd, bak'd, roast, and boil'd.


s: When art and nature join, the effect will be,


s: Some nice _ragout_, or _charming fricasee_.


s: What earth and waters breed, or air inspires,


s: Man for his palate fits by torturing fires.


s: But, though my edge be not too nicely set,


s: May teach him when to buy, when season's pass'd,


s: What's stale, what choice, what plentiful, what waste,


s: And lead him through the various maze of taste.


s: Is what ingenious cooks the _relish_ call;


s: For when the market sends in loads of food,


s: They all are tasteless till _that_ makes them good.


s: To know for whom it is you would prepare.


s: You'd please a friend, or reconcile a brother,


s: Would mollify a judge, would cram a squire,


s: Or else some smiles from court you would desire;


s: Or would, perhaps, some hasty supper give,


s: To show the splendid state in which you live.


s: Must all your wines and all your meat be chose.


s: Tables should be like pictures to the sight,


s: Some dishes cast in shade, some spread in light;


s: Some at a distance brighten, some near hand,


s: Where ease may all their delicace command;


s: Some should be moved when broken, others last


s: Through the whole treat, incentive to the taste.


s: Up from the kitchen call'd his eldest son;


s: Though wise thyself (says he), though taught by me,


s: There are some certain things that don't excel,


s: Whom they distinguish as of middle size,


s: For pleading well at bar or turning books;


s: But this is not, my son, the fate of cooks,


s: From whose mysterious art true pleasure springs,


s: To stall of garters, and to throne of kings.


s: Or were they absent never would be miss'd,


s: Have made a well-wrought comedy be hiss'd;


s: Will be allow'd; but if not best, 'tis nought.


s: If you, perhaps, would try some dish unknown,


s: Which more peculiarly you'd make your own,


s: Like ancient sailors, still regard the coast,--


s: By venturing out too far you may be lost.


s: By roasting that which your forefathers boil'd,


s: And broiling what they roasted, much is spoil'd.


s: That cook to American palates is complete,


s: Whose savory hand gives turn to common meat.


s: Far from your parlor have your kitchen placed,


s: Dainties may in their working be disgraced.


s: In private draw your poultry, clean your tripe,


s: And from your eels their slimy substance wipe.


s: For they who like the thing abhor the sight.


s: 'Tis by his cleanliness a cook must please;


s: Were Horace, that great master, now alive,


s: A feast with wit and judgment he'd contrive,


s: As thus: Supposing that you would rehearse


s: He'd say, "Mend this and t'other line and this."


s: He'd bid you give it a new turn of face,


s: Or set some dish more curious in its place.


s: If you persist, he would not strive to move


s: Cooks garnish out some tables, some they fill,


s: Or in a prudent mixture show their skill.


s: Clog not your constant meals; for dishes few


s: Increase the appetite when choice and new.


s: E'en they who will extravagance profess,


s: Meat forced too much, untouch'd at table lies;


s: Few care for carving trifles in disguise,


s: Or that fantastic dish some call _surprise_.


s: When pleasures to the eye and palate meet,


s: That cook has render'd his great work complete;


s: His glory far, like _sirloin knighthood_[xi-1] flies


s: Immortal made, as _Kit-cat_ by his pies.


s: Next, let discretion moderate your cost,


s: And when you treat, three courses be the most.


s: Let never fresh machines your pastry try,


s: Then you may put _a dwarf into a pie_.[xi-2]


s: Crowd not your table; let your number be


s: Not more than seven, and never less than three.


s: 'Tis the _dessert_ that graces all the feast,


s: A thousand things well done, and one forgot,


s: Make your transparent sweetmeats truly nice


s: And let your various creams encircled be


s: With swelling fruit just ravish'd from the tree.


s: The feast now done, discourses are renewed,


s: The cheerful master, 'midst his jovial friends,


s: His glass to their best wishes recommends.


s: The grace cup follows: To the President's health


s: And to the country; Plenty, Peace, and Wealth!


s: Each man that pleases reassumes his place;


s: While at his gate, from such abundant store,


s: He showers his godlike blessings on the poor.


s: All things likely to be wanted should be in readiness,--sugars of


s: palatably, and being cheaper ought to be bought in turn; and when


s: The shank bones of mutton should be saved, and after soaking and


s: Sons of Apicius! say, can Europe's seas,


s: Compare with _turtle_, boast of land and wave?


s: _Turtle soup_, though it came to five guineas the bowl?


s: The day before you dress a turtle, chop the herbs, and make the


s: The _chicken broth_ was brought at nine;


s: His soup scientific,--his _fishes_ quite prime;


s: His patés superb, and his cutlets sublime.


s: And with the _savory fish_ indulge thy taste.


s: Your betters will despise you, if they see


s: Things that are far surpassing your degree;


s: Therefore beyond your substance never treat;


s: 'Tis plenty, in small fortune, to be neat;


s: A widow has cold pie, nurse gives you cake,


s: From generous merchants ham or _sturgeon_ take.


s: Red speckled trouts, the _salmon's_ silver jole,


s: And luscious scallops to allure the tastes


s: Wednesdays and Fridays, you'll observe from hence,


s: Days when our sins were doomed to abstinence.


s: Lobster sauce and rye bread should be eaten with boiled salmon.


s: But soon, like _lobster boil'd_, the morn


s: With brass or steel, that on the rocky shore


s: First broke the oozy _oyster's_ pearly coat,


s: And risk'd the living morsel down his throat.


s: _'Tis no one thing_; it is not fruit, nor root,


s: What will not luxury taste? Earth, sea, and air,


s: Are daily ransack'd for the bills of fare.


s: Thanks, my lord, for your _venison_; for finer or fatter


s: Never ranged in a forest or smoked in a platter.


s: The haunch was a picture for painters to study,


s: The fat was so white, and the lean was so ruddy.


s: The haunch of buck will take about three hours and three quarters


s: And now that I think on't, as I am a sinner!


s: We wanted this venison to make out the dinner.


s: What say you? a _pasty_! it shall and it must,


s: And my wife, little Kitty, is famous for crust.


s: "What the de'il, mon, a pasty!" re-echoed the Scot.


s: "Though splitting, I'll still keep a corner for that."


s: "We'll all keep a corner," the lady cried out;


s: "We will all keep a corner!" was echoed about.


s: And aye a rowth, a _roast beef_ and claret:


s: In short, dear, "a Dandy" describes what I mean,


s: And Bob's far the best of the gems I have seen,


s: But just knows the names of French dishes and cooks,


s: As dear Pa knows the titles and authors of books;


s: Whose names, think how quick! he already knows pat,


s: _A la braise_, petit patés, and--what d'ye call that


s: They inflict on potatoes? Oh! maître d'hotel.


s: I assure you, dear Dolly, he knows them as well


s: As if nothing but these all his life he had eat,


s: Though a bit of them Bobby has never touched yet.


s: I can scarce tell the difference, at least as to phrase,


s: Between _beef à la Psyché_ and _curls à la braise_.


s: Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.


s: Is there, then, that o'er his _French ragout_,


s: _Time was_, when John Bull little difference spied


s: 'Twixt the foe at his feet or the friend at his side;


s: When he found, such his humor in fighting and eating,


s: His foe, like _beefsteak_, the sweeter for beating.


s: If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well,


s: Cut the steaks off a rump or the ribs of a fore quarter. Have the


s: If it is a large haggis, it will take at least two hours boiling.


s: The British fleet, which now commands the main,


s: Might glorious wreaths of victory obtain,


s: Would they take time, would they with leisure work,


s: With care would _salt their beef_, and cure their pork.


s: There is no dish, but what _our_ cooks have made


s: Then send us but two dishes nicely dressed,--


s: And bothered, my dear, 'twixt that troublesome boy's


s: (Bob's) cookery language, and Madame Le Roi's.


s: What with fillets of roses and _fillets of veal_,


s: Things garni with lace, and things garni with eel,


s: One's hair and one's cutlets both en papillote,


s: And a thousand more things I shall ne'er have by rote.


s: And the dish set before them,--O dish well devised!--


s: Was what Old Mother Glasse calls "_a calf's head surprised_."


s: seasoned with a little cayenne and salt.


s: Long as, by bayonets protected, we Watties


s: May have our full fling at their _salmis_ and patés.


s: Two cloves,--I make my language brief,--


s: Then take your duck, nor let the strings


s: Tastes from his friends of _fowl_ and fish,


s: Tells all their names, lays down the law,


s: But man, cursed man, on _turkeys_ preys,


s: Make a stuffing of bread, salt, pepper, nutmeg, lemon-peel, a few


s: "I'll make him minced meat; 'tis my trade."


s: In good roast beef my landlord sticks his knife,


s: The _capon_ fat delights his dainty wife.


s: A hundred dainties smoke upon his board;


s: Earth, air, and ocean ransack'd for the feast,


s: But hang it, to poets, who seldom can eat,


s: Your very good _mutton's_ a very good treat.


s: Or urged thereunto by the woes he endured,


s: The way to be _smoked_, is the way to be _cured_.


s: By the _Westphalian ham_ or Belgic beef.


s: Scarsdale his bottle, Darby his _ham pie_.


s: Little birds fly about with the _true pheasant taint_,


s: And the geese are all born with the liver[56-*] complaint.


s: Put into every bird an oyster, or a little butter mixed with some


s: And as for your juries--who would not set o'er them


s: A jury of tasters, with _woodcocks_ before them?


s: "It tastes of the _bird_, however," said the old woman, "and she


s: Poor Roger Fowler, who'd a generous mind,


s: Nor would submit to have his hand confined,


s: But aimed at all,--yet never could excel


s: What his own _forced meat balls_ would be.


s: Boy, tell the cook I love all nicknackeries,


s: Fricasees, _vol au vents_, puffs, and gimcrackeries.


s: _De Beringhen._ In the next room there's a delicious pâté, let's


s: Seducing young pâtés, as ever could cozen


s: One out of one's appetite, down by the dozen.


s: Where so ready all nature its cookery yields,


s: _Macaroni au Parmesan_ grows in the fields.


s: What will not _Luxury taste_? _Earth_, sea and air


s: Are daily ransacked for the bill of fare.


s: Muse, sing the man that did to Paris go,


s: That he might taste their soups and _mushrooms_ know.


s: I'll taste your tempting toasted cheese,


s: Broiled ham, and nice _mushroom'd ketchup_.


s: Who praises, in this _sauce enamor'd_ age,


s: Calm, healthful temperance, like an Indian sage?


s: "Live bullion," says merciless Bob, "which I think


s: Would, if coined with a little _mint sauce_, be delicious."


s: Our fathers most admired their _sauces sweet_,


s: And often asked for sugar _with their meat_.


s: Cranberry sauce is eaten with roast fowl, turkey, &c.


s: Collecting slender stores; the sun-dried grape,


s: Or _capers_ from the rock, that prompt the taste


s: Grateful and salutary Spring! the _plants_


s: Which crown thy numerous gardens, and invite


s: To health and temperance, in the simple meal,


s: Unstain'd with murder, undefil'd with blood,


s: For this, the _bulbous esculents_ their roots


s: With sweetness fill; for this, with cooling juice


s: The green herb spreads its _leaves_; and opening _buds_


s: And _flowers_ and _seeds_ with various flavors tempts


s: Th' ensanguined palate from its savage feast.


s: This branch of cookery requires the most vigilant attention.


s: Two large potatoes, pressed through kitchen sieve,


s: Smoothness and softness to the _salad_ give;


s: Distrust the condiment that bites too soon;


s: But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault,


s: Four times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown,


s: And twice with vinegar procured from town;


s: True flavor needs it, and your poet begs


s: And, scarce suspected, animate the whole;


s: And, lastly, in the flavored compound toss


s: O great and glorious! O herbaceous treat!


s: 'Twould tempt the dying anchorite to eat,


s: Back to the world he'd turn his weary soul,


s: And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl.


s: The things we eat, by various juice control


s: The narrowness or largeness of our soul.


s: _Onions_ will make e'en heirs or widows weep;


s: The tender lettuce brings on softer sleep.


s: Might well with bright allusions store me;


s: Leeks to the Welsh, to Dutchmen butter's dear;


s: Of Irish swains, _potatoes_ is the cheer.


s: You may afterwards place a napkin, folded up to the size of the


s: (Studious in everything to please thy taste);


s: (For I remembered you were fond of those).


s: Let them be well washed and brushed, not scraped. If young spring


s: _Herbs_ too she knew, and well of each could speak


s: That in her garden sipp'd the silvery dew,


s: Where no vain flower disclosed a gaudy streak,


s: But herbs, for use and physic, not a few


s: Of gray renown, within those borders grew,--


s: The _tufted basil_, _pun-provoking thyme_,


s: Fresh _balm_, and _marigold_ of cheerful hue,


s: The _lowly gill_, that never dares to climb,


s: And more I fain would sing, disdaining here to rhyme.


s: What lord of old would bid his cook prepare


s: _Mangoes_, potargo, champignons, caviare!


s: Lives in a cell, and eats from week to week


s: A meal of _pickled cabbage_ and ox cheek.


s: 'Mongst salts essential, _sugar_ wins the palm,


s: For taste, for color, and for various use.


s: O'er all thy works let cleanliness preside,


s: Thick mantles o'er the boiling wave, do thou


s: _Jelly_ and ven'son all his thoughts employ.


s: The board was spread with fruits and wine;


s: With grapes of gold, like those that shine


s: Take the stones and stalks from two pounds of clear, fine, ripe


s: And the _sun's child_, the _mail'd anana_, yields


s: His _regal apple_ to the ravish'd taste.


s: Though many, I own, are the evils they've brought us,


s: Though R**al*y's here on her very last legs;


s: Yet who can help loving the land that has taught us


s: Six hundred and eighty-five ways to dress _eggs_!


s: But, after all, what would you have me do,


s: When, out of twenty, I can please not two?


s: One likes the pheasant's wing, and one the leg;


s: The vulgar boil, the learned _poach an egg_;


s: Hard task to hit the palate of such guests,


s: When Oldfield loves what Dartineuf detests.


s: But her ambition never reached to roast.


s: Go work, hunt, exercise (he thus begun),


s: _Fried eggs_, and herbs, and olives, still we see:


s: Put half a handful of breadcrumbs into a saucepan, with a small


s: And now that's all over, I'm pretty well, thank you.


s: It should be touched as little as possible with the hands.


s: You that from pliant _paste_ would fabrics raise,


s: Expecting thence to gain immortal praise,


s: Your knuckles try, and let your sinews know


s: Their power to knead, and give the form to dough;


s: From thence of course the figure will arise,


s: And elegance adorn the surface of your pies.


s: Unless some _sweetness_ at the bottom lie,


s: Who cares for all the crinkling of the pie!


s: Fruit pies with lids should have loaf sugar grated over them.


s: He'd neither grant the question nor deny,


s: Pleading for tarts, his thoughts were on _mince pie_.


s: My poor endeavors view with gracious eye,


s: To make these lines above a _Christmas pie_.


s: All you who to feasting and mirth are inclined,


s: Come, here is good news for to pleasure your mind.


s: Old Christmas is come, for to keep open house:


s: He scorns to be guilty of starving a mouse.


s: Then come, boys, and welcome, for diet the chief,--


s: _Plum pudding_, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast beef.


s: The cooks shall be busied, by day and by night,


s: In roasting and _boiling_, for taste and delight.


s: Provision is making for beer, ale, and wine,


s: For all that are willing or ready to dine.


s: Meantime goes the caterer to fetch in _the chief_,--


s: In _that_ Ned--trust him--had his finger.


s: Where London's column, pointing to the skies,


s: Like a tall bully, lifts the head and lies,


s: A plain, good man, and Balaam was his name;


s: Religious, punctual, frugal, and so forth,


s: His word would pass for more than he was worth;


s: One solid dish his week-day meal affords,


s: And _apple pudding_ solemnized the Lord's.


s: But man, more fickle, the bold license claims,


s: In different realms, to give thee different names.


s: _Thee_, the soft nations round the warm Levant


s: Polanta call; the French, of course, Polante.


s: To hear the Pennsylvanians call thee _mush_!


s: All spurious appellations, void of truth;


s: I've better known thee from my earliest youth:


s: Thy name is _Hasty Pudding_! Thus our sires


s: Were wont to greet thee from the fuming fires;


s: And while they argued in thy just defence,


s: With logic clear, they thus explained the sense:


s: "In _haste_ the boiling caldron, o'er the blaze,


s: Receives and cooks the ready-powdered maize;


s: In haste 'tis served, and then in equal _haste_,


s: With cooling milk, we make the sweet repast.


s: No carving to be done, no knife to grate


s: The tender ear, and wound the stony plate;


s: But the smooth spoon, just fitted to the lip,


s: And taught with art the yielding mass to dip,


s: By frequent journeys to the bowl well stored,


s: Performs the _hasty_ honors of the board."


s: Such is thy name, significant and clear,--


s: But most to me, whose heart and palate chaste


s: Beneath the smoking sirloin, stretch'd immense


s: From side to side; in which with desperate knife


s: They deep incisions make, and talk the while


s: Into the _pudding_ plunged at intervals,


s: Sir Balaam now, he lives like other folks;


s: He takes his chirping, and cracks his jokes.


s: Live like yourself, was soon my lady's word;


s: And lo! _suet pudding_ was seen upon the board.


s: And of new milk enough the same to drown;


s: Of raisins of the sun, stoned, ounces eight;


s: Of currants, cleanly picked, an equal weight;


s: Of suet, finely sliced, an ounce at least;


s: And six eggs, newly taken from the nest:


s: Season this mixture well with salt and spice;


s: 'Twill make a pudding far exceeding rice;


s: And you may safely feed on it like farmers,


s: If you want a good pudding, mind what you are taught:


s: Take eggs, six in number, when bought for a groat;


s: The fruit with which Eve her husband did cozen,


s: Well pared and well chopped, take at least half a dozen;


s: Six ounces of bread--let the cook eat the crust--


s: And crumble the soft as fine as the dust;


s: Six ounces of currants from the stalks you must sort,


s: Lest they husk out your teeth, and spoil all the sport;


s: Six ounces of sugar won't make it too sweet,


s: And some salt and some nutmeg will make it complete.


s: Three hours let it boil, without any flutter,


s: And Adam won't like it without sugar and butter.


s: _Charlotte_, from rennet apples first did frame


s: Though common grown, yet with white sugar stewed,


s: And butter'd right, its goodness is allowed.


s: _Pudding_, that might have pleased a dean;


s: Of biscuits, _sweetmeats_, nuts, and fruits.


s: After dreaming some hours of the land of Cocaigne,


s: That Elysium of all that is friand and nice,


s: Where for hail they have bonbons, and claret for rain,


s: And the skaters in winter show off on _cream ice_.


s: Here _ice, like crystal firm_, and never lost,


s: Stir in the almond gradually, while the cream is freezing.


s: Pudding our parson eats, the squire loves hare,


s: But _whipped cream_ is my Buxoma's fare,


s: While she loves _whipped cream_, capon ne'er shall be,


s: Nor hare, nor beef, nor pudding, food for me.


s: Makes a noble dessert, where the dinner's roast beef.


s: On choicest melons and sweet grapes they dine.


s: But nicer cates, her dainty's boasted fare,


s: Whisk for one hour the whites of two eggs, together with two


s: Mixt with the rustic throng, see ruddy maids,


s: Some taught with dextrous hand to twirl the wheel,


s: To raise from _leavened wheat the kneaded loaf_.


s: Like the _loaf_ in the Tub's pleasant tale,


s: It comprised every flavor, was all and was each,


s: Was grape and was pineapple, nectarine and peach.


s: Of wine she never tasted through the year,


s: But white and black was all her homely cheer,


s: _Brown bread_ and milk (but first she skimmed her bowls),


s: And rasher of singed bacon on the coals.


s: And broad, by the sweet hand of neatness clean'd,


s: Meanwhile, in decent order ranged appear,


s: The milky treasure, strain'd thro' filtering lawn,


s: Sweet slumber shaken from her opening lids,


s: There, from the surface of expanded bowls


s: She skims the floating cream, and to her churn


s: Commits the rich consistence; nor disdains,


s: Though soft her hand, though delicate her frame,


s: The country housewife's humble name and praise.


s: The unctuous particles; with gentler strokes


s: And artful, soon they coalesce; at length


s: Cool water pouring from the limpid spring


s: Into a smooth glazed vessel, deep and wide,


s: She gathers the loose fragments to a heap,


s: Which in the cleansing wave, well wrought and press'd,


s: The sprinkled seasoning, and of pats or pounds


s: The fair impression, the neat shape assumes.


s: From the dried stomach drawn of suckling calf,


s: Her spreading hands bear down the gathering curd,


s: Which hard and harder grows, till, clear and thin,


s: Stir it quick,--clash, clatter, clatter!


s: No smoke around its white curls throwing;


s: The griddle's black face shines more brightly.


s: 'Tis done! Now on the white plate lay it:


s: Some talk of hoecake, fair Virginia's pride!


s: Rich _Johnny cake_ this mouth has often tried;


s: Both please me well, their virtues much the same;


s: Alike their fabric, as allied their fame.


s: Friend, I am a shrewd observer, and will guess


s: What cakes you doat on for your favorite mess.


s: With all her haughty looks, the time I've seen


s: When the proud damsel has more humble been;


s: When with nice airs she hoist the _pancake_ round,


s: And dropt it, hapless fair! upon the ground.


s: To three tablespoonfuls of flour add six well-beaten eggs, three


s: _Plum-cake_ is seen o'er smaller pastry ware,


s: And here each season do _those cakes_ abide,


s: Whose honored names the inventive city own,


s: Rendering through Britain's isle Salopia's praises known.


s: In vain the circled loaves attempt to lie


s: Concealed in flaskets from my curious eye;


s: In vain the cheeses, offspring of the pail,


s: Or _honeyed cakes_, which gods themselves regale.


s: Though I've consulted Holinshed and Stow,


s: Who, to refresh the attendants to a grave,


s: Burnt claret first or _Naples biscuit_ gave.


s: Whence oft with sugared cates she doth 'em greet,


s: And _gingerbread_, if rare, now certes doubly sweet.


s: The cream provided, the _biscuits_ piled.


s: And all the et ceteras which thereto belongs.


s: Some nuts, some apples, some that think they make


s: However, you shall home with me tonight,


s: Forget your cares, and revel in delight;


s: Some _cracknels_, and the remnant of a chine.


s: Treat here, ye shepherds blithe! your damsels sweet,


s: For pies and _cheesecakes_ are for damsels meet.


s: And good the _bride cake_ and the priest.


s: She'll take one, though, and thank you for it.


s: Where _cakes_ luxuriant pile the spacious dish,


s: And purple nectar glads the festive hour,


s: The guest, without a want, without a wish,


s: Can yield no room to music's soothing power.


s: Mountown! the Muses' most delicious theme,


s: The rasp and strawberries in Bordeaux drown,


s: Thy white wine, sugar, milk, together club,


s: Not all thy plate, how formed soe'er it be,


s: Can please my palate like a bowl of thee.


s: O, Peggy, Peggy! when thou goest to brew,


s: That what you're now going to make is _drink_;


s: Consider who must drink that drink, and then


s: What 'tis to have the praise of _honest_ men;


s: For surely, Peggy, while that drink does last,


s: 'Tis Peggy will be _toasted or disgraced_.


s: Then if thy _ale_ in glass thou wouldst confine,


s: To make its sparkling rays in beauty shine,


s: Lest a white substance to the surface fly,


s: And floating there disturb the curious eye;


s: But this great maxim must be understood,


s: "_Be sure, nay very sure, thy cork be good_."


s: That nymph that _brewed and bottled ale so well_!


s: 'Tis said that the gods, on Olympus of old,


s: (And who the bright legend profanes with a doubt!)


s: One night, 'mid their revels, by Bacchus were told,


s: That his last butt of nectar had somehow run out.


s: But determined to send round the goblet once more,


s: In composing a draught, which till drinking were o'er,


s: Should cast every wine ever drank in the shade.


s: Grave Ceres herself blithely yielded her corn,


s: And the spirit that lives in each amber-hued grain,


s: And which first had its birth from the dews of the morn,


s: Was taught to steal out in bright dew-drops again.


s: Pomona, whose choicest of fruits on the board


s: Were scattered profusely, in every one's reach,


s: When called on a tribute to cull from the hoard,


s: Express'd the mild juice of the delicate peach.


s: The liquids were mingled, while Venus looked on,


s: With glances so fraught with sweet magical power,


s: That the honey of Hybla, e'en when they were gone,


s: Has never been missed in the draught from that hour.


s: Flora then from her bosom of fragrancy shook,


s: And with roseate fingers pressed down in the bowl,


s: All dripping and fresh as it came from the brook,


s: The _herb_ whose aroma should flavor the whole.


s: The draught was delicious, each god did exclaim,


s: Though something yet wanting they all did bewail;


s: But _juleps_ the drink of immortals became,


s: When Jove himself added a handful of hail.


s: "_I DON'T_ believe that Santa Claus will come to you and me,"


s: Said little crippled Nell, "a'cause, we are so poor you see;


s: And then I don't believe the 'chimbley's' wide enough for him,


s: I don't know if by chimney or if by stair he crept,


s: But sure enough he visited the room where Nelly slept.


s: He brought a golden orange, and a monkey red and blue,


s: That climbed a little wooden stick in a way I couldn't do.


s: He hung them in Nell's stocking, and Nan was right, be sure,


s: That Santa Claus loves every one however rich or poor.


s: "_I HAVE_ a little Bunny with a coat as soft as down,


s: And nearly all of him is white except one bit of brown.


s: The first thing in the morning when I get out of bed,


s: I wonder if my Bunny's still safe in his little shed.


s: And than the next thing that I do I dare say you have guessed;


s: It's to go at once and see him, when I am washed and dressed.


s: And every day I see him I like him more and more,


s: And each day he is bigger than he was the day before.


s: I feed him in the morning with bran and bits of bread,


s: And every night I take some straw to make his little bed.


s: What with carrots in the morning and turnip-tops for tea,


s: If a bunny can be happy, I'm sure he ought to be.


s: Then when it's nearly bedtime I go down to his shed,


s: And say 'Good night you Bunny' before I go to bed.


s: I think there's only one thing that would make me happy quite,


s: If I could take my Bunny dear with me to bed at night?"


s: "Oh, dear! I'm sure you will be drowned!


s: "Please, ma'am," said he, "I think we're ducks;


s: With five other birds, and this was his tale.


s: A cat and her kits came down on the scene,


s: "You've made a mistake, Mister Cat," said he;


s: In their taut and trim little boat they ride


s: Though you may search the whole world round.


s: If you put a thing carefully, safely away,


s: You're sure not to find it when wanted next day.


s: To bless like showers your summer flowers


s: _Shall_ I sing you a song, not short and not long,


s: Of a story-book fairy who hides all among


s: The covers and leaves of your pictures and prints,


s: And colors them all with such beautiful tints?


s: First he kisses the girls with the fairest of curls


s: Then they blush like red roses and each head whirls.


s: In each little eye drops a bit of blue sky,


s: And colors each frock with a wonderful dye.


s: His breathing I ween is the wonderful sheen,


s: That clothes trees and meadows with loveliest green,


s: The buttercups bold, it need hardly be told,


s: Are gilded by him with the finest of gold.


s: It is he I suppose who paints the red rose,


s: And the rest of the flowers which every one knows,


s: And the same red will do (or a similar hue),


s: For Robin and little Red Riding Hood too.


s: He's awake it is said when you are abed,


s: For the picture-book doggies and cats must be fed,


s: To the picture-book children some stories he'll tell,


s: And sometimes he'll read them their verses as well.


s: The moment you open your picture book he


s: Is away out of sight as quick as can be,


s: For fairy law says that a fairy must die


s: "_Shake_ hands, shake hands my little girl,"


s: "I can't shake hands with you," said Nell,


s: To the teachers who are persuaded of this truth, the present


s: Forget-me-not                    _Anon._


s: Who Stole the Bird's Nest?       _Anon._


s: At Little Virgil's Window        _Edwin Markham_


s: The Day's Eye                    _Anon._


s: The Blue-bird's Song             _Anon._


s: Song from "Pippa Passes"         _Robert Browning_


s: Don't Give Up                    _Phoebe Cary_


s: Psalm XXIII                      _Bible_


s: A Child's Thought of God         _Mrs. Browning_


s: From My Arm-chair                _Longfellow_


s: Paul Revere's Ride               _Longfellow_


s: Psalm CXXI                       _Bible_


s: To a Water-fowl                  _William C. Bryant_


s: What makes the light in them sparkle and spin?


s: What makes your forehead so smooth and high?


s: What makes your cheek like a warm, white rose?


s: I saw something better than any one know.


s: Whence that three-corner'd smile of bliss?


s: Feet, whence did you come, you darling things?


s: From the same box as the cherubs' wings.


s: In the heart of a seed, buried deep, so deep,


s: "Wake," said the sunshine, "and creep to the light."


s: "Wake," said the voice of the rain-drops bright.


s: What the wonderful outside world might be.


s: Thy mother is shaking the dreamland tree,


s: The little stars are the lambs, I guess;


s: A silver boat and all afloat upon a rosy sea.


s: The moon afloat is the bonny boat, the sunset is the sea.


s: So the strong one said, "We will eat the bread,


s: Pulled one of the rugs from one of the bugs,


s: But he that was frozen and starved, at last


s: And share what comes of beds and crumbs,


s: One more grass-blade push through the mould,


s: While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.


s: Father will come to his babe in the nest,


s: Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep.


s: There, where the mirror is glancing dim,


s: Rock slow, more slow in the dusky light,


s: Dear little passenger, say "Good-night."


s: I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,


s: And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.


s: He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;


s: And I see him jump before me when I jump into my bed.


s: The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow--


s: Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;


s: For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India-rubber ball,


s: And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.


s: He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,


s: And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.


s: He stays so close beside me, he's a coward, you can see;


s: I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!


s: One morning, very early, before the sun was up,


s: I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;


s: But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,


s: Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.


s: Just as morn was fading amid her misty rings,


s: And every stocking was stuffed with childhood's precious things,


s: Old Kris Kringle looked round and saw on the elm tree bough


s: High hung, an oriole's nest, lonely and empty now.


s: "Quite like a stocking," he laughed, "hung up there in the tree,


s: I didn't suppose the birds expected a visit from me."


s: Then old Kris Kringle who loves a joke as well as the best,


s: Dropped a handful of snowflakes into the oriole's empty nest.


s: They took some honey, and plenty of money


s: Oh, let us be married--too long we have tarried--


s: "Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling


s: So they took it away, and were married next day


s: They dined upon mince and slices of quince,


s: And hand in hand on the edge of the sand


s: When to the flowers so beautiful the Father gave a name


s: Back came a little blue-eyed one, all timidly it came;


s: And, standing at the Father's feet and gazing in His face


s: It said, in low and trembling tones and with a modest grace,


s: "Dear God, the name Thou gavest me, alas, I have forgot."


s: The Father kindly looked Him down and said, "Forget-me-not."


s: Lots of little things these hands can do.


s: I just wait here in the tall green grass


s: And what do you do when your hair is white


s: But while they held their hands outstretched


s: The daisies white are nursery maids with frills upon their caps;


s: And daisy buds are little babes they tend upon their laps.


s: Sing "Heigh-ho!" while the winds sweep low,


s: Both nurses and babies are nodding JUST SO.


s: The daisy babies never cry, the nurses never scold;


s: They never crush the dainty frills about their cheeks of gold;


s: The daisies love the golden sun, upon the clear blue sky,


s: He gazes kindly down on them and winks his jolly eye;


s: There surely is a gold mine somewhere underneath the grass,


s: For dandelions are popping out in every place you pass.


s: But if you want to gather some you'd better not delay,


s: For the gold will turn to silver soon and all will blow away.


s: There are three green eggs in a small brown pocket,


s: And the breeze will swing and the gale will rock it,


s: Till three little birds on the thin edge teeter,


s: And our God be glad and our world be sweeter.


s: There's no dew left on the daisies and clover,


s: I've said my "seven times" over and over,


s: The lambs play always, they know no better--


s: O moon! in the night I have seen you sailing


s: You were bright, ah bright! but your light is failing,--


s: You moon, have you done something wrong in heaven,


s: I hope, if you have, you will soon be forgiven,


s: O brave marshmary buds, rich and yellow,


s: And show me your nest with the young ones in it,--


s: I am old! you may trust me, linnet, linnet,--


s: God bless the little stockings all over the land to-night


s: Hung in the choicest corners, in the glory of crimson light.


s: The tiny scarlet stockings, with a hole in the heel and toe,


s: Worn by the wonderful journeys that the darlings have to go.


s: And Heaven pity the children, wherever their homes may be,


s: Who wake at the first gray dawning, an empty stocking to see.


s: Have you ever heard the wind go "Yoooooo"?


s: It seems to chill you through and through


s: 'Tis the voice of the wind that broods outside


s: And the night would say in its ghostly way:


s: With the blankets pulled up round my head,


s: And the voice would say in its meaningful way:


s: Suppose that when you've been bad some day,


s: For the wind will moan in its ruefulest tone:


s: Little white snowdrop, I pray you arise:


s: Bright yellow crocus, come, open your eyes:


s: Summer is coming and springtime is here.


s: "Come, little leaves," said the wind one day;


s: "Come over the meadows with me, and play,


s: Soon the leaves heard the wind's loud call,


s: Over the brown fields they danced and flew,


s: Singing the soft little songs they knew.


s: Dancing and flying, the little leaves went;


s: Winter had called them, and they were content.


s: The snow laid a white blanket over their heads.


s: "Good morrow" cried he, "Mr. Bumble Bee,


s: "We people that work," said the bee with a jerk,


s: Only insects like you, who have nothing to do


s: There's a time to be sad and a time to be glad,


s: For men to make money, for you to make honey,


s: Her cheeks were so red and so white, dears,


s: And I cried for her more than a week, dears,


s: Folks say she is terribly changed, dears,


s: And her arms trodden off by the cows, dears,


s: Yet for old time's sake, she is still to me


s: "I thank you, sir," and "If you please."


s: How she danced, my grandma danced; long ago--


s: How she slowly leaned and rose--long ago.


s: (Girls and boys she means of course) "long ago."


s: From "Along the Way," copyright 1879 by Mary Mapes Dodge,


s: "Where are you going?" "What do you wish?"


s: And the wind that sped them all night long


s: So cried the stars to the fishermen three--


s: Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe


s: And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed


s: But I can name you the fishermen three--


s: And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies


s: Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three--


s: Eugene Field. Reprinted by permission of the publishers,


s: She is planning, planning, planning still


s: And these were the simple words she sung


s: And she paused to hear, for she could but know


s: For the charm with its youth will disappear;


s: For the harboring smile will fade and flee;


s: But touch thou the chin with an impress deep,


s: And my baby the angel's seal shall keep."


s: copyright 1879-1881 by Charles Scribner's Sons.


s: Was resting near this buttercup who wished she was a daisy.


s: For daisies grow so slim and tall! She always had a passion


s: For wearing frills about her neck in just the daisies' fashion.


s: And buttercups must always be the same old tiresome color;


s: I'd rather be my honest self, than any made-up daisy.


s: Look bravely up into the sky and be content with knowing


s: How to get them here, I could make a flag


s: I would cut a piece from the evening sky


s: Then "Hurrah for the Flag!" our country's flag,


s: They drive home the cows from the pasture,


s: Where the quail whistles loud in the wheat-fields,


s: They find, in the thick, waving grasses,


s: Where the scarlet-lipped strawberry grows.


s: They know where the fruit hangs the thickest


s: They wave from the tall, rocking tree-tops


s: Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful World,


s: With the wonderful water around you curled,


s: And the wonderful grass upon your breast--


s: And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree,


s: It walks on the water, and whirls the mills,


s: And talks to itself on the tops of the hills.


s: With the wheatfields that nod and the rivers that flow,


s: With cities and gardens, and cliffs, and isles,


s: And people upon you for thousands of miles?


s: Ah, you are so great, and I am so small,


s: I tremble to think of you, World, at all;


s: And yet, when I said my prayers, to-day,


s: "You are more than the earth, though you are such a dot:


s: You can love and think, and the Earth can not!"


s: "Their graves are green, they may be seen,"


s: "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door,


s: "And when the ground was white with snow


s: Among the bedclothes, through the hills;


s: There's a merry brown thrush sitting up in the tree,


s: "He's singing to me! He's singing to me!"


s: And what does he say, little girl, little boy?


s: And the brown thrush keeps singing, "A nest do you see,


s: And five eggs hid by me in the juniper tree?


s: Don't meddle! Don't touch! little girl, little boy,


s: So the merry brown thrush sings away in the tree,


s: And he sings all the day, little girl, little boy,


s: It sails through winter and summer night.


s: Oh, tell me, little children, have you seen her--


s: Oh, her eyes are blue as corn-flowers 'mid the corn,


s: And her cheeks are rosy red as skies of morn.


s: Oh, buy the baby's blossoms if you meet her,


s: And stay with gentle looks and words to greet her;


s: She'll gaze at you and smile and clasp your hand,


s: But not one word of yours can understand.


s: "Nikolina!" Swift she turns if any call her,


s: As she stands among the poppies, hardly taller;


s: Breaking off their flaming scarlet cups for you,


s: With spikes of slender larkspur, brightly blue.


s: In her little garden many a flower is growing--


s: Red, gold and purple, in the soft wind blowing;


s: But the child that stands amid the blossoms gay


s: Is sweeter, quainter, brighter, lovelier even than they.


s: Slowly she's learning English words to try


s: "Lock the dairy door!" Oh, hark, the cock is crowing proudly!


s: "Lock the dairy door!" and all the hens are cackling loudly.


s: Up and down the garden walks where all the flowers are blowing,


s: Out about the golden fields where tall the wheat is growing,


s: Through the barn and up the road, they cackle and they clatter;


s: Cry the children, "Hear the hens! Why, what can be the matter?"


s: Sounds his shout both far and near, imperious and victorious.


s: I that tell you, never heard the first part of the history.


s: But if you listen, dear, next time the cock crows proudly


s: "Lock the dairy door!" you'll hear him tell the biddies loudly:


s: And the former called the latter "Little Prig."


s: Talents differ; all is well and wisely put:


s: Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)


s: Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,


s: And saw, within the moonlight in his room,


s: Making it rich and like a lily in bloom,


s: Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,


s: And to the presence in the room he said,


s: "What writest thou?" The vision raised its head,


s: And, with a look made of all sweet accord,


s: Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."


s: "And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"


s: But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,


s: Write me as one who loves his fellow-men."


s: The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night


s: It came again, with a great wakening light,


s: And showed the names whom love of God had blest;


s: And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.


s: Blow, bugle, blow! set the wild echoes flying;


s: Blow, bugle; answer, echoes--dying, dying, dying!


s: Blow! let us hear the purple glens replying;


s: And answer, echoes, answer--dying, dying, dying.


s: The little toy dog is covered with dust,


s: And the little toy soldier is red with rust,


s: Time was when the little toy dog was new,


s: And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue


s: "Now, don't you go till I come," he said;


s: Oh, the years are many, the years are long,


s: Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand,


s: And they wonder, as waiting these long years through,


s: Since he kissed them and put them there.


s: Eugene Field. Reprinted by permission of the publishers,


s: The wind that through the pine trees sung


s: While through the window, frosty-starred,


s: "Oh, see!" she cried, "The poor blue-jays!


s: Come, black old crow; come, poor blue-jay,


s: The scattered driftwood, bleached and  dry.


s: The wild waves reach their hands for it,


s: The wild wind raves, the tide runs high,


s: Stanch friends are we, well-tried and strong,


s: Still sits the school-house by the road,


s: But childish troubles will soon pass by.


s: But heaven holds all for which you sigh.


s: From "Afterwhiles," copyrighted 1887, by Bowen-Merrill


s: Co. Must not be reprinted without permission from the


s: You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,


s: It sounds to him like her mother's voice,


s: And, with his hard, rough hand, he wipes


s: Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,


s: Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,


s: If such there breathe, go, mark him well;


s: To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,


s: That floats on high o'er vales and hills,


s: Though, from him, all that's glory shines.


s: Slides down by thrills, through all things made,


s: "Who kissed you through the dark, dear guesser?"


s: Only because the spreading chestnut tree


s: The affluent foliage of its branches made


s: There by the blacksmith's forge, beside the street,


s: Enticed the bees, until it seemed alive,


s: And when the winds of autumn, with a shout,


s: The shining chestnuts, bursting from the sheath,


s: And now some fragments of its branches bare,


s: Have, by a hearth-stone found a home at last,


s: The Danish king could not in all his pride


s: And the shrill hammers on the anvil beat


s: And thus, dear children, have ye made for me


s: And to my more than three-score years and ten


s: The heart hath its own memory, like the mind


s: The precious keepsakes, into which is wrought


s: Only your love and your remembrance could


s: And make these branches, leafless now so long,


s: Sing that life and joy are waking and that


s: Sing the happy, happy tumult of the slowly bright'ning Spring;


s: Fill the air with the sweet tidings till the frosty echoes ring.


s: Along the eaves, the icicles no longer cling;


s: And the crocus in the garden lifts its bright face to the sun;


s: And in the meadow, softly the brooks begin to run;


s: In the joyous Easter morning, for hopes are blossoming,


s: And as earth her shroud of snow from off her breast doth fling,


s: So may we cast our fetters off in God's eternal Spring;


s: So may we find release at last from sorrow and from pain,


s: Soon may we find our childhood's calm, delicious dawn again.


s: Sweet are your eyes, O little ones, that look with smiling grace,


s: Sing, sing in happy chorus, with happy voices tell


s: Checking the field lark's rippling notes--


s: I ride on the hills, I forgive, I forget


s: All the terror and pain of a chafing chain.


s: Grind on, O cities, grind! I leave you a blur behind.


s: Here the world's heaped gold is a pile of sand.


s: Let them weary and work in their narrow walls;


s: My body's a bough in the wind,--my heart a bird.


s: By permission from Edwin Markham's "Joy of the Hills


s: and Other Poems," copyright by Doubleday & McClure, New


s: And honey-bees, blacken the clover-beds;


s: I will out in the old of the blossoming mould,


s: That the lips of the blossom more pure and meek


s: Then sing in the hedgerow green, O thrush,


s: Sing loud, sing clear, that the King may hear,


s: Spake full well, in language quaint and olden,


s: When he called the flowers so blue and golden


s: Stars that in earth's firmament do shine.


s: Stars they are wherein we read our history,


s: Yet not wrapped about with awful mystery,


s: Like the burning stars that they beheld.


s: Wondrous truths and manifold as wondrous,


s: But not less in the bright flowerets under us


s: Written all over this great world of ours


s: In these stars of earth, these golden flowers.


s: Sees, alike in stars and flowers, a part


s: Which is throbbing in his brain and heart.


s: Gorgeous flowerets in the sunlight shining,


s: Tremulous leaves, with soft and silver lining;


s: Brilliant hopes, all woven in gorgeous tissues,


s: Large desires with most uncertain issues,


s: These in flowers and men are more than seeming,


s: Workings are they of the selfsame powers,


s: Some like stars to tell us Spring is born:


s: Others, their blue eyes with tears o'erflowing,


s: But in arms of brave old Autumn's wearing,


s: Of sequestered pool in woodland valleys,


s: Where the slaves of nature stoop to drink;


s: In ancestral homes whose crumbling towers,


s: Tell us of the ancient Games of Flowers.


s: In all places, then, and in all seasons,


s: Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings;


s: Teaching us, by most persuasive reasons,


s: Sweet, sweet, sweet! Oh, happy that I am!


s: (Listen to the meadow-larks, across the fields that sing!)


s: Sweet, sweet, sweet! O subtle breath of balm,


s: O winds that blow, O buds that grow, O rapture of the spring!


s: Sweet, sweet, sweet! O skies, serene and blue,


s: That shut the velvet pastures in, that fold the mountain's crest!


s: The vessels ride a golden tide, upon a sea at rest.


s: Sweet, sweet, sweet! Who prates of care and pain?


s: Who says that life is sorrowful? O life so glad, so fleet!


s: Ah! he who lives the noblest life finds life the noblest gain,


s: The tears of pain a tender rain to make its waters sweet.


s: Sweet, sweet, sweet! O happy world that is!


s: Dear heart, I hear across the fields my mateling pipe and call


s: Sweet, sweet, sweet! O world so full of bliss,


s: For life is love, the world is love, and love is over all!


s: But oh, for the touch of a vanished hand,


s: But the tender grace of a day that is dead


s: They sailed and sailed, as the winds might blow,


s: Now speak, brave Adm'r'l; speak and say"--


s: They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate:


s: And peered through darkness. Ah, that night


s: In a recent critical article, in the London _Athenæum_


s: is the sentence: "In point of power, workmanship and


s: feeling, among all the poems written by Americans, we are


s: inclined to give first place to the 'Port of Ships' (or


s: That shall soothe this restless feeling,


s: And the night shall be filled with music,


s: The breaking waves dashed high on a stern and rock-bound coast,


s: And the woods against a stormy sky their giant branches tossed;


s: And the heavy night hung dark the hills and waters o'er,


s: Not as the conqueror comes, they the true-hearted, came;


s: Amidst the storm they sang, and the stars heard, and the sea;


s: There were men with hoary hair amidst that pilgrim band;


s: Little thinks, in the field, yon red-cloaked clown,


s: The heifer that lows in the upland farm,


s: Stops his horse, and lists with delight,


s: Whilst his files sweep round yon Alpine height;


s: Thy life to thy neighbor's creed has lent.


s: I thought the sparrow's note from heaven,


s: I brought him home, in his nest, at even,


s: He sings the song, but it cheers not now,


s: With the sun and the sand and the wild uproar.


s: Was woven still by the snow-white quire.


s: Like the bird from the woodlands to the cage;


s: I leave it behind with the games of youth."


s: Pine-cones and acorns lay on the ground.


s: On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five;


s: He said to his friend, "If the British march


s: Of the North Church tower as a signal light--


s: Through every Middlesex village and farm,


s: For the country folk to be up and to arm."


s: Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar


s: Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,


s: And a huge black hulk that was magnified


s: Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street,


s: The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,


s: And the measured tread of the grenadiers


s: Marching down to their boats on the shore.


s: Then he climbed to the tower of the church,


s: Up the wooden stairs with stealthy tread,


s: And startled the pigeons from their perch,


s: On the sombre rafters, that round him made


s: On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere


s: Now gazed at the landscape far and near,


s: And turned and tightened his saddle girth;


s: The belfry-tower of the old North Church,


s: As it rose above the graves on the hill,


s: Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.


s: And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height


s: He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,


s: But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight


s: A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,


s: And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark


s: Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fleet;


s: That was all! And yet through the gloom and the light,


s: The fate of a nation was riding that night.


s: When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.


s: And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,


s: At the bloody work they would look upon.


s: When he came to the bridge in Concord town.


s: And the twitter of the birds among the trees,


s: And felt the breath of the morning breeze


s: And so through the night went his cry of alarm


s: A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,


s: And a word that shall echo forever more!


s: For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,


s: In the hour of darkness and peril and need,


s: The people will waken and listen to hear


s: And the midnight message of Paul Revere.


s: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;


s: I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;


s: They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps;


s: I have read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:


s: I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;


s: "As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;


s: Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel;


s: He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;


s: He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat;


s: Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant, my feet!


s: In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea,


s: With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;


s: As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,


s: When the Norn-mother saw the Whirl-wind Hour,


s: Greatening and darkening as it hurried on,


s: She bent the strenuous heavens and came down


s: She took the tried clay of the common road,


s: Clay warm yet with the genial heat of earth,


s: Dashed through it all a strain of prophecy:


s: Then mixed a laughter with the serious stuff,


s: A man that matched the mountains and compelled


s: The color of the ground was in him, the red Earth


s: The tang and odor of the primal things--


s: The rectitude and patience of the rocks:


s: The gladness of the wind that shakes the corn;


s: The courage of the bird that dares the sea;


s: The justice of the rain that loves all leaves;


s: The pity of the snow that hides all scars;


s: The loving kindness of the wayside well;


s: That gives as freely to the shrinking weed


s: As to the great oak flaring to the wind--


s: To the grave's low hill as to the Matterhorn


s: With the fine stroke and gesture of a king.


s: He built the rail pile as he built the State,


s: Pouring his splendid strength through every blow,


s: The conscience of him testing every blow,


s: So came the captain with the mighty heart;


s: And when the step of earthquake shook the house,


s: Wrenching the rafters from their ancient hold,


s: He held the ridge-pole up and spiked again


s: The rafters of the Home. He held his place--


s: Held the long purpose like a growing tree--


s: Held on through blame and faltered not at praise.


s: And when he fell in whirlwind, he went down


s: As when a kingly cedar green with boughs


s: Goes down with a great shout upon the hills.


s: Copyrighted by Doubleday & McClure. Reprinted by


s: This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:


s: There spread a cloud of dust along a plain


s: And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged


s: A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords


s: Shocked upon swords and shields, a prince's banner


s: Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.


s: And thought: "Had I a sword of keener steel--


s: That blue blade that the king's son bears--but this


s: Blunt thing!" He snapped and flung it from his hand,


s: And lowering crept away and left the field.


s: Then came the king's son wounded, sore bestead,


s: And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,


s: Hilt buried in the dry and trodden sand,


s: And ran and snatched it, and with battle shout


s: And saved a great cause on that heroic day.


s: There is ever a song somewhere, my dear;


s: There's the song of the lark when the skies are clear,


s: And the song of the thrush when the skies are gray.


s: And the bluebird trills in the orchard tree;


s: And in and out, when the eaves drip rain,


s: The swallows are twittering ceaselessly.


s: There is ever a song somewhere, my dear.


s: There is ever a song that our hearts may hear--


s: There is ever a song somewhere, my dear--


s: There is ever a song somewhere, my dear,


s: In the mid-night black, or the mid-day blue;


s: And the cricket chirps the whole night through.


s: The buds may blow, and the fruit may grow,


s: And the autumn leaves drop crisp and sear;


s: But whether the sun, or the rain, or the snow,


s: From "Afterwhiles," copyrighted 1887, by Bowen-Merrill


s: Co. Must not be reprinted without permission from the


s: From the throat of the overflowing spout.


s: Like a leopard's tawny and spotted hide,


s: From birth to death, from death to birth;


s: From earth to heaven, from heaven to earth,


s: By the rude bridge that arched the flood,


s: And fired the shot heard round the world.


s: Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.


s: On this green bank, by this soft stream,


s: When, like our sires, our sons are gone.


s: While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,


s: Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue


s: Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,


s: As, darkly seen against the crimson sky,


s: Or where the rocking billows rise and sink


s: Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,


s: At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere,


s: Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,


s: Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,


s: And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend


s: Hath swallow'd up thy form; yet, on my heart,


s: Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,


s: Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,


s: In the long way that I must tread alone,


s: The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,


s: The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,


s: The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,


s: And leaves the world to darkness and to me.


s: Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,


s: And all the air a solemn stillness holds,


s: Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,


s: And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds:


s: The moping owl does to the moon complain


s: Of such as, wand'ring near her secret bow'r,


s: Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,


s: Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,


s: The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.


s: The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,


s: The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,


s: The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,


s: No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.


s: For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,


s: No children run to lisp their sire's return,


s: Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.


s: Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,


s: Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke:


s: How jocund did they drive their team afield!


s: How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!


s: Let not ambition mock their useful toil,


s: Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile,


s: The short and simple annals of the poor.


s: The boast of heraldry; the pomp of pow'r,


s: And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,


s: The paths of glory lead but to the grave.


s: Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault,


s: If mem'ry o'er their tomb no trophies raise,


s: Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,


s: The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.


s: Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?


s: Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust,


s: Or flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of death?


s: Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;


s: Hands, that the rod of empire might have swayed,


s: But knowledge to their eyes her ample page,


s: Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll;


s: Chill penury repress'd their noble rage,


s: And froze the genial current of the soul.


s: The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:


s: Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,


s: And waste its sweetness on the desert air,


s: Some village Hampden, that with dauntless breast


s: The little tyrant of his fields withstood,


s: Some mute, inglorious Milton here may rest,


s: Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.


s: Th' applause of list'ning senates to command,


s: The threats of pain and ruin to despise,


s: And read their hist'ry in a nation's eyes


s: Their lot forbade: nor circumscrib'd alone


s: Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd:


s: Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,


s: The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,


s: To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,


s: With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.


s: Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,


s: Their sober wishes never learned to stray;


s: Along the cool, sequester'd vale of life


s: They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.


s: Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect


s: With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,


s: Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd Muse,


s: This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd,


s: Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,


s: Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?


s: On some fond breast the parting soul relies,


s: Some pious drops the closing eye requires;


s: Ev'n from the tomb the voice of nature cries,


s: Ev'n in our ashes live their wonted fires.


s: For thee, who, mindful of th' unhonor'd Dead,


s: Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;


s: Some kindred spirit shall enquire thy fate,


s: "Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn


s: Brushing with hasty steps the dews away,


s: "There at the foot of yonder nodding beech,


s: That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,


s: His listless length at noontide would he stretch,


s: "Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,


s: Mutt'ring his wayward fancies he would rove;


s: Now drooping, woeful-wan, like one forlorn,


s: Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.


s: "One morn I missed him on the custom'd hill,


s: Along the heath, and near his fav'rite tree;


s: Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he.


s: "The next, with dirges due in sad array,


s: Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne--


s: Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,


s: Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn."


s: Here rests his head upon the lap of earth


s: Fair science frown'd not on his humble birth,


s: Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,


s: Heav'n did a recompense as largely send:


s: He gain'd from heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.


s: Or draw his frailties from their dread abode


s: (There they alike in trembling hope repose)


s: But we build the ladder by which we rise


s: From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,


s: And we mount to its summit round by round.


s: That a noble deed is a step toward God--


s: We rise by things that are 'neath our feet;


s: By what we have mastered of good and gain;


s: By the pride deposed and the passion slain,


s: And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet.


s: We hope, we aspire, we resolve, we trust,


s: When the morning calls us to life and light,


s: But our hearts grow weary, and, ere the night,


s: We hope, we resolve, we aspire, we pray,


s: And we think that we mount the air on wings


s: While our feet still cling to the heavy clay.


s: We may borrow the wings to find the way--


s: We may hope, and resolve, and aspire, and pray,


s: But our feet must rise, or we fall again.


s: From the weary earth to the sapphire walls;


s: But the dream departs, and the vision falls,


s: And the sleeper wakes on his pillow of stone.


s: Heaven is not reached at a single bound:


s: But we build the ladder by which we rise


s: From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,


s: And we mount to its summit round by round.


s: copyright 1879-1881 by Charles Scribner's Sons.


s: Washed in the blood of the brave and the blooming,


s: Snatched from the altars of insolent foes,


s: Burning with star-fires, but never consuming,


s: Flashed its broad ribbons of lily and rose.


s: Vainly the prophets of Baal would rend it,


s: Vainly his worshipers pray for its fall;


s: Thousands have died for it, millions defend it,


s: Justice that reddens the sky with her terrors,


s: Mercy that comes with her white-handed train,


s: Soothing all passions, redeeming all errors,


s: Sheathing the saber and breaking the chain.


s: Bearing the rainbow of hope to the nations


s: Torn from the storm-cloud and flung to the breeze!


s: God bless the flag and its loyal defenders


s: While its broad folds o'er the battle-fields wave,


s: Till the dim star-wreaths rekindle its splendors


s: Washed from its stains in the blood of the brave!


s: Yea, that is life: Make this forenoon sublime,


s: This afternoon a psalm, this night a prayer,


s: And Time is conquered and thy crown is won.


s: I heard the trailing garments of the Night


s: I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light


s: I felt her presence, by its spell of might,


s: The calm, majestic presence of the Night,


s: I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight,


s: That fill the haunted chambers of the Night,


s: From the cool cisterns of the midnight air


s: The fountain of perpetual peace flows there--


s: Thou layest thy finger on the lips of Care,


s: Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer!


s: The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair,


s: Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.


s: The friends thou hast and their adoption tried,


s: Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel;


s: But do not dull thy palm with entertainment


s: Bear it that the opposer may beware of thee.


s: Give every man thine ear; but few thine voice;


s: Take each man's censure; but reserve thy judgment.


s: But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy;


s: And they in France, of the best rank and station,


s: Are of a most select and generous chief in that.


s: For a loan oft loses both itself and friend.


s: And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.


s: This above all--to thine own self be true,


s: And it must follow, as the night the day,


s: Thou can'st not then be false to any man.


s: Communion with her visible forms, she speaks


s: She has a voice of gladness, and a smile


s: Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts


s: Of the last bitter hour come like a blight


s: Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,


s: And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,


s: Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart--


s: To Nature's teachings, while from all around--


s: Earth and her waters, and the depths of air--


s: Comes a still voice--Yet a few days, and thee


s: In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground,


s: Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears,


s: Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist


s: Thy image.  Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim


s: Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,


s: And, lost each human trace, surrendering up


s: And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain


s: Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak


s: Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould.


s: Shalt thou retire alone--nor couldst thou wish


s: Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down


s: With patriarchs of the infant world--with kings,


s: The powerful of the earth--the wise, the good,


s: Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past,


s: Book-ribbed and ancient as the sun--the vales


s: Stretching in pensive quietness between;


s: That make the meadows green; and, poured round all,


s: Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun,


s: The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,


s: Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread


s: The globe are but a handful to the tribes


s: That slumber in its bosom. Take the wings


s: Of morning--and the Barcan desert pierce,


s: Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound,