“ Ah! Doggy, don't you think you should very faithful be,
For having such a loving friend to comfort you as me?
And when your leg is better, and you can run and play,
We'll have a scamper in the fields and see them making hay.
But, Doggy, you must promise (and mind your word you keep)
Not once to tease the little lambs, or run among the sheep;
And then the little yellow chicks that play upon the grass,
You must not even wag your tail to scare them as you pass.
Pussy sits beside the fire—
How can she be fair?
In comes little puppy-dog:
"Pussy, are you there? ”

“ It's time to get up in the earth below.
[138]
Who wakes first? A pale little maid,
All in her nightgown opens the door,
Peering round as if half afraid
Before she steps out on the wintry floor.
All in their nightgowns, snowdrops stand,
White little waifs in a lonely land.
Great King Sun with a smile looks down,—
"Where are your sisters? I want them, too!"
Each baby is hurrying into her gown,
Purple and saffron, orange and blue,
Great King Sun gives a louder call,—
"Good morning, Papa!" cry the babies all.
W. Graham Robertson.
A Mystery
Flowers from clods of clay and mud! ”

“ In a bird's nest rocked on high;
Birdie, birdie lined it;
Find it under birdie's wing,—
Soft birdie's feather;—
O the downy, downy thing!
O the summer weather!
Baby wants a lullaby;
Where shall sister find it?
In a soft cloud of the sky,
With white wool behind it;
Watch you may, but cannot guess
If the cloud has motion,
Such a perfect calm there is
In the airy ocean. ”

“ O, what a bright cradle 'twould be!
I would call to the stars
To keep out of the way,
Lest we should rock over their toes,
And there I would rock
Till the dawn of the day,
And see where the pretty moon goes.
And there we would stay
In the beautiful skies,
And through the bright clouds we would roam;
We would see the sun set,
And see the sun rise,
And on the next rainbow come home.
Eliza Lee Follen.
Lady Moon
Lady moon, lady moon,
Sailing so high!
Drop down to baby
From out the clear sky ”

“ The city mouse lives in a house;—
The garden mouse lives in a bower,
He's friendly with the frogs and toads,
And sees the pretty plants in flower.
The city mouse eats bread and cheese;—
The garden mouse eats what he can;
We will not grudge him seeds and stocks,
Poor little timid furry man.
Christina G. Rossetti.
The Robin to His Mate
Said Robin to his pretty mate,
"Bring here a little hay;
Lay here a stick and there a straw,
And bring a little clay.
"And we will build a little nest,
Wherein you soon shall lay
Your little eggs, so smooth, so blue;
Come, let us work away. ”

“ All, you will miss us, right well we know.
"Dear little lambs in your fleecy fold,
Mother will keep you from harm and cold;
Fondly we watched you in vale and glade,
Say, will you dream of our loving shade?"
Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went,
Winter had called them, and they were content;
Soon, fast asleep in their earthy beds,
The snow laid a coverlid over their heads.
George Cooper.
[152]
Little Jack Frost
Little Jack Frost went up the hill,
Watching the stars and the moon so still,
Watching the stars and the moon so bright,
And laughing aloud with all his might. ”

“ A Music Box
I am a little Music Box
Wound up and made to go,
And play my little living-tune
The best way that I know.
If I am naughty, cross, or rude
The music will go wrong,
My little works be tangled up,
And spoil the pretty song.
[212]
I must be very sweet and good
And happy all the day,
And then the little Music Box
In tune will always play.
Abbie Farwell Brown.
If Ever I See
If ever I see,
On bush or tree,
Young birds in their pretty nest,
I must not in play,
Steal the birds away,
To grieve their mother's breast. ”

“ A golden apple doth appear.
No doors there are to this stronghold,
Yet thieves break in and steal the gold.
Thirty white horses upon a red hill,
Now they tramp, now they champ, now they stand still.
Black within and red without;
Four corners round about.
[94]
Little Nan Etticoat,
In a white petticoat,
And a red nose;
The longer she stands,
The shorter she grows.
As round as an apple, as deep as a cup,
And all the King's horses can't pull it up.
Long legs, crooked thighs,
Little head, and no eyes.
Higher than a house, higher than a tree,
Oh, whatever can that be? ”

“ It was so delightful to re-read the well-loved rhymes of our own childhood and try to find others worthy to put beside them; so delicious to imagine the hundreds of young mothers who would meet their old favorites in these particular pages; and so inspiring to think of the thousands of new babies whose first hearing of nursery classics would be associated with this red-covered volume, that we found ourselves in a joyous mood which we hope will be contagious. ”

“ Apple seed and apple thorn;
Wire, brier, limber-lock,
Five geese in a flock,
Sit and sing by a spring,
O-u-t, and in again.
A Tea-Party
You see, merry Phillis, that dear little maid,
Has invited Belinda to tea;
Her nice little garden is shaded by trees,—
What pleasanter place could there be?
There's a cake full of plums, there are strawberries too,
And the table is set on the green;
I'm fond of a carpet all daisies and grass,—
Could a prettier picture be seen?
A blackbird (yes, blackbirds delight in warm weather,)
Is flitting from yonder high spray ”

“ Do not let the poetic instinct die of inanition; keep it alive in the child by feeding his youthful ardor, strengthening his insight, guarding the sensitiveness and delicacy of his early impressions, and cherishing the fancies that are indeed "the trailing clouds of glory" he brings with him "from God who is his home."
The rhythm of verse will charm his senses even in his baby days ”

“ Ride, baby, ride,
Pretty baby shall ride,
And have a little puppy-dog tied to her side,
And a little pussy-cat tied to the other,
And away she shall ride
To see her grandmother,
To see her grandmother,
To see her grandmother in London town.
See-saw sacradown,
Which is the way to London town?
One foot up, the other foot down,
That is the way to London town.
To market, to market,
To buy a plum bun;
Home again, home again,
Market is done.
Dance, little baby, dance up high,
Never mind, baby, mother is by;
Crow and caper, caper and crow,
There, little baby, there you go ”

“ Nothing is surer than that a certain gayety of heart and mind constitute the most wholesome [vii] climate for young children. "The baby whose mother has not charmed him in his cradle with rhyme and song has no enchanting dreams; he is not gay and he will never be a great musician," so runs the old Swiss saying.
Youthful mothers, beautifully and properly serious about their strange new duties and responsibilities, need not fear that Mother Goose is anything but healthful nonsense. ”

“ A meadow for the little lambs;
A honey hive for bees;
And pretty nests for singing birds
Among the leafy trees.
There's rest for all the little ones
In one place or another;
But who has half so sweet a place
As baby with her mother?
The little chickens cuddle close,
Beneath the old hen's wing;
"Peep! Peep!" they say; "we're not afraid
Of dark or any thing."
So, safe and sound, they nestle there,
The one beside the other;
But safer, happier, by far,
Is baby with her mother.
Mary F. Butts.
[227]
Good-Night
Little baby, lay your head
On your pretty cradle-bed ”

“ Every home, large or small, poor or rich, that has a child in it, is a Pinafore Palace, and we have borrowed the phrase from one of childhood's most whimsical and devoted poets-laureate, thinking no other words would so well express our meaning.
If the two main divisions of the book—"The Royal Baby" and "Little Prince and Princess"—should seem to you a trifle sentimental it will be because you forget for the moment the gayety [vi] and humor of the title with its delightful assumptions of regal dignity and state. ”

“ Some gave them plum-cake,
And sent them out of town.
Three wise men of Gotham,
Went to sea in a bowl;
If the bowl had been stronger,
My song had been longer.
There was a crooked man,
And he went a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence
Upon a crooked stile:
He bought a crooked cat,
That caught a crooked mouse—
And they all lived together
In a little crooked house.
Pussicat, wussicat, with a white foot,
When is your wedding? for I'll come to't. ”

“ Granted the Palace itself, everything else falls easily into line, and if you cannot readily concede the royal birth and bearing of your neighbor's child you will see nothing strange in thinking of your own nursling as little prince or princess, and so you will be able to accept gracefully the sobriquet of Queen Mother, which is yours by the same invincible logic! ”

“ What can you see in Baby-Land?
Little folks in white,
Downy heads,
Cradle-beds,
Faces pure and bright.
What do they do in Baby-Land?
Dream and wake and play,
Laugh and crow,
Shout and grow,
Jolly times have they.
What do they say in Baby-Land?
Why, the oddest things;
Might as well
Try to tell
What a birdie sings.
[232]
Who is the queen of Baby-Land?
Mother kind and sweet;
And her love,
Born above,
Guides the little feet.
George Cooper.
Lullaby
Baby wants a lullaby ”

“ And Johnny's a drummer, and drums for the King.
Bye, baby bunting,
Daddy's gone a-hunting,
To get a little rabbit-skin,
To wrap his baby bunting in.
Hush thee, my babby,
Lie still with thy daddy,
[16] Thy mammy has gone to the mill,
To grind thee some wheat
To make thee some meat,
And so, my dear babby, lie still.
Sleep, baby, sleep!
Thy father watches the sheep ”

“ He that hath thriven
May lie till seven;
And he that by the plough would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive.
Cock crows in the morn,
To tell us to rise,
And he who lies late
Will never be wise. ”

“ Seven red roses blowing in a garden bed;
Seven white lilies, with honey bees inside them;
Seven round rainbows with clouds to divide them;
Seven pretty little girls with sugar on their lips;
Seven witty little boys, whom everybody tips;
Seven nice fathers, to call little maids joys;
Seven nice mothers, to kiss the little boys;
Seven nights running I dreamt it all plain;
With bread and jam for supper I could dream it all again!
William Brighty Rands.
[180]
The Dream of a Boy Who Lived at Nine-Elms
Nine grenadiers, with bayonets in their guns ”

“ Sleep is short, sleep is long,
Sweet is mother's bosom!
William Brighty Rands.
A Cradle Song
What does little birdie say
In her nest at peep of day?
Let me fly, says little birdie,
Mother, let me fly away.
Birdie, rest a little longer,
Till the little wings are stronger.
So she rests a little longer,
Then she flies away.
What does little baby say,
In her bed at peep of day?
Baby says, like little birdie,
Let me rise and fly away.
[234] Baby, sleep a little longer,
Till the little limbs are stronger.
If she sleeps a little longer,
Baby too shall fly away. ”

“ No greater love for a task nor happiness in doing it, no more ardent wish to please a child or meet a mother's need, ever went into a book than have been wrought into this volume and its three predecessors. We hope that it will find its way into the nurseries where wealth has provided every means of ministering to the young child's growth in body, mind, and soul ”

“ She holds a place all her own, and the years that have rolled over her head (some of the rhymes going back to the sixteenth century) only give her a firmer footing among the immortals. There are no real substitutes for her unique rhymes, neither can they be added to nor imitated; for the world nowadays is seemingly too sophisticated to frame just this sort of merry, light-hearted, irresponsible verse which has mellowed with the years. ”

“ The three little kittens they washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry;
O mother dear,
Do you not hear,
That we have washed our mittens?
Washed your mittens!
O, you're good kittens.
But I smell a rat close by:
Hush! Hush! mee-ow, mee-ow.
We smell a rat close by,
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
[85]
This is the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built. ”

“ Poor little thing,
And pussy-cat is not behind me;
So hop about pretty,
And drop down your wing,
And pick up some crumbs, and don't mind me.
Baby's Breakfast
Baby wants his breakfast,
Oh! what shall I do?
Said the cow, "I'll give him
Nice fresh milk—moo-oo!"
[35]
Said the hen "Cut-dah cut!
I have laid an egg
For the Baby's breakfast—
Take it now, I beg!"
And the buzzing bee said,
"Here is honey sweet.
Don't you think the Baby
Would like that to eat?"
Then the baker kindly
Brought the Baby's bread.
"Breakfast is all ready,"
Baby's mother said ”

“ Nor is your use of this "light literature of the infant scholar" in the nursery without purpose or value. You are developing ear, mind, and heart, and laying a foundation for a later love of the best things in poetry. Whatever else we [viii] may do or leave undone, if we wish to widen the spiritual horizon of our children let us not close the windows on the emotional and imaginative sides. "There is in every one of us a poet whom the man has outlived." ”

“ And Lilliput Land is (or ought to be) the freeest country in the universe. Its shining gates open wide at dawn, closing only at sunset, and toddling pilgrims with eager faces enter and wander about at will. Decked in velvet or clad in rags the friendly porter pays no heed, for the pinafores hide all class distinctions. ”

“ Four Pets
Pussy has a whiskered face,
Kitty has such pretty ways,
Doggie scampers when I call,
And has a heart to love us all.
The dog lies in his kennel,
And Puss purrs on the rug,
And baby perches on my knee
For me to love and hug.
Pat the dog and stroke the cat,
Each in its degree;
And cuddle and kiss my baby,
And baby dear kiss me.
Christina G. Rossetti.
A Puppy's Problem
When Midget was a puppy,
And to the farm was brought,
She found that there were many things
A puppy must be taught. ”