Works

"MY dears, whatever are you at?
You ought to be at home;
I told you not to wet your feet -
I told you not to roam.

"Oh, dear! I'm sure you will be drowned!
I never saw such tricks...

"Who's afraid of a cat?" said he;
"I'm not afraid of a cat."
He was a bird who sat on a rail,
With five other birds, and this was his tale.
"I'm not afraid of a cat."
...

"Shake hands, shake hands my little girl,"
Said Mister Crab to Nell,
"I'm very glad to meet you dear,
I hope you are quite well.
I think it's very hot to-day,
I feel it in my shell."
...

I hear a Song
I think 'tis a thrush's.
He sings to the Wild Rose
See how she blushes!

"It's bedtime, bedtime, Cissy dear,
It's time to put away,
Your little Noah's ark dear
Until another day,
You know it isn't right at all
To tire yourself with play.
...

A BUNCH of Christmas Roses, dear,
To greet my fairest child,
I plucked them in my garden where
The drifting snow lay piled.

I cannot bring thee violets dear,
Or cowslips growing wild,...

IT'S Father's boat we're watching,
Away out on the sea,
She's named the Pretty Polly,
One hundred and ninety three,
Father called her the Polly,
After Mother and me.
...

There are days of summer sunshine,
Of warm and sunny weather,
When the hedge is full of hawthorn
And hills are glad with heather.

There are days of silent sadness,
Of frost, and snow, and rain,...

Bring Frost, bring Snow,
Come winter,
Bring us holly,
Bring joy at Christmas,
Off with Melancholy!

Sing hie, sing hey,
Sing ho,
Sing holly,
Sing hie for Christmas!...

Like clouds that flit across the sky,
So follow hopes and fears.
What in these clouds see you and me
Dear Sweetheart, smiles or tears?

This little airy fleecy wing,
That flits across the blue,...

Little Bo-peep has lost her Sheep,
(It's a secret to you I'm confiding.)
At the end of the shelf,
Where she put them herself,
Her Baa-lambs are safely hiding.
...

Only half an hour or so
Before nurse calls them to bed,
And the ruddy light of a cheerful fire
Shines over each curly head.

No trouble have they, no sorrow -
Their hearts are lighter than air,...

"You are a naughty pussy-cat,
I think it right to mention that,
To all who see your picture here,
'Twas you who broke my Bunny dear.

An hour ago, as you can tell,
I left him here, alive and well;...

The tiny crocus is so bold
It peeps its head above the mould,
Before the flowers awaken,
To say that spring is coming, dear,
With sunshine and that winter drear
Will soon be overtaken.

"I DON'T believe that Santa Claus will come to you and me,"
Said little crippled Nell, "a'cause, we are so poor you see;
And then I don't believe the 'chimbley's' wide enough for him,...

Polly's the mate of the Nancy Lee,
And Tom is the skipper bold,
They sail together
In rough wind and weather,
And they are the crew, all told.

In their taut and trim little boat they ride...

Once there lived, I'm not sure where,
May be Arcadee,
Sweet-Heart and his mistress fair,
Little He and She;

And they danced a measure light,
Danced in very glee.
Hand in hand, a pretty sight,...

"I HAVE a little Bunny with a coat as soft as down,
And nearly all of him is white except one bit of brown.
The first thing in the morning when I get out of bed,...

Shall I sing you a song, not short and not long,
Of a story-book fairy who hides all among
The covers and leaves of your pictures and prints,
And colors them all with such beautiful tints?
...