Part 2
O TRILLIUM dear I am glad you are here, While March rains are pattering, Brooklets are clattering, Kinglets are chattering, And you, pretty thing, Are just smiling and dreaming of spring.
O shade-loving sprite, The cañon’s delight,-- Three petals wine-red, Three leaves broadly spread, You leap from your bed In joy, pretty thing, To sway in the breezes of spring.
BABY BLUE-EYES
BONNY baby blue-eyes Twinkling in the grass, Smiling on the sunny hill To see the children pass!
Of all the flowers of spring-time The fairest and the frailest! There’s gladness in your baby eyes,-- The purest and the palest!
WHO KNOWS ROSALIE?
WHO knows Rosalie? There goes Rosalie Out where her roses are growing! The dear little tot With her watering pot Where the daisies are nodding and blowing.
It’s six o’ the clock And the lily bells rock In the merry warm month of July; And Rosalie tells All the whispering bells Of the tear in the violet’s eye.
TO A WILD ROSE
DEAR little rose, so sweet and fair, You give your perfume to the air, You give your honey to the bee, And all the day long you smile at me.
O teach me, little rose, the way To smile at people all the day, To give from my heart-store the sweet To every one I chance to meet.
THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES
I WANT to go out in the woods and play That I am the queen of the fairies to-day; So I’ll gather some stars from the midnight sky (There are plenty to spare in the jewels on high) And I’ll have them set in a crown of gold; For a sceptre a tiger lily I’ll hold; A violet bed will be my throne And the beautiful world will be mine alone.
I’ll make one law my realm to bind, That everybody must just be kind And love all children and flowers and birds And always speak in gentle words. What a happy land will my kingdom be Where hopes are high and hearts are free!
QUIPS AND CRANKS
MY AUNTIE
HOW would you like to have for an auntie Kittie ka dink ka dee ka dantie? Kittie ka dink With frolicsome wink, Kittie ka dink With ruffles of pink, Kittie ka dink,-- Now what do you think Of Kittie ka dink for an auntie?
Kittie ka dink ka dee Is as bright as a bumble bee, Kittie ka dink ka dee, She dresses my dolls for me! Kittie ka dink ka dee,--
If you knew her I’m sure you’d agree That Kittie ka dink With frolicsome wink In ruffles of pink, Is the jolliest kind of an auntie!
[Illustration: Kittie ka dink]
THE BEAR HUNTER
IF I should meet a grizzly bear A-roaming from his mountain lair, I’d just get down on hands and knees And growl around among the trees.
Then if my growling didn’t scare That great ferocious grizzly bear, I’d sing a song and at my ease Just try my best the bear to please.
TRYING TO PLAY
O A gentleman dressed in a high top hat Rode on a hobby-horse just like that. “Mr. Man, Mr. Man, O what is the matter?” “Little boy, let me hear no more of your chatter.”
So he pranced and he kicked till his glasses fell off, And he puffed and he choked till it made him cough; Then he stopped and said in his solemn way, “My child, I was merely attempting to play.”
MAGGIE MULDOON
O DOWN at Milpitas there was an old hag Who drove to town with a bobtail nag. She rattled along in a rickety rig, With a red bandana to cover her wig.
When a wheel came off and she tumbled ka-flop, She hobbled away to the blacksmith shop; And the blacksmith said: “O Maggie Muldoon, If you’ll dance me a breakdown I’ll sing you a tune!”
THE BOOBITY BUMPKIN
A BOOBITY bumpity bumpkin Was sent to town with a pumpkin, But he stumbled and tripped As he hippity skipped, And smackety smash went the pumpkin!
FARMER JONES’S GOAT
OLD Farmer Jones had a frisky old goat That wore a long beard and a hairy black coat, With hoofs on its feet and horns on its head, And a sad hungry look on its face while it fed.
Now what do you think was its favorite caper? It would eat Farmer Jones’s weekly Saturday paper; But the diet was more than the goat could endure, So it fed upon sawdust and rags for a cure.
POOR MR. MIDAS
O POOR Mr. Midas did nothing but think Of the sound that his money made,--chink, chink, chink! He filled his pockets, he filled his shoes, But the more he gathered the less he could use.
It weighed on his mind till he scarce slept a wink, And then he would dream of the chink, chink, chink. He filled his boxes, he filled his bed, And so there was nothing to fill but his head.
THREE WISE MEN
THREE wise men sailed away on a bat, But the one who was bald forgot his hat; The one who made music forgot his fife, And the one who was married forgot his wife.
The bat flew straight to the Man in the Moon, And they said, “Kind sir, is it night or noon?” So the Man in the Moon his brain he racked And decided the three wise men were cracked.
A GOBBLER IN TROUBLE
O WHAT would the turkey gobbler do If he got the hiccoughs before he was through With his gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble?
I’m sure that he could never see through the joke If he started to gobble and stopped to choke In his gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble.
The puffed-out fool would grow red in the face, And the hens would laugh at their lord’s disgrace, At his gobble, hic! gobble, hic! gobble-gobble-gobble!
THE TALE OF A POOR LITTLE WORM
JUST listen to that, Rat-atat-tat! “’Tis a woodpecker,” whispered a worm. As he crouched in a cranny He called to his granny, “Hark hark, hark hark, Rap-a-tap on the bark, That noise makes me shiver and squirm!”
Then a long barbed tongue Right through him was flung, And down in the gizzard he wallowed; It made him grow pale Till he thought of the whale With Jonah inside, Then he shivered and cried: “’Tis a fatal mistake to be swallowed.”
RHYMES FOR TODDLERS
TO PUSSY WHITE
LITTLE white furrykins, Sly pussie purrykins, Snoozing all day by the grate Pinky-nosed kittie cat, Who wouldn’t pity that Snip of a mouse that you ate!
Hittlety skittlety, Mousie squeaked, “Mercy me!”-- Off went his head with a snap; Ere he knew what had jolted him, Kittie had bolted him And stretched herself out for a nap.
CHINA DOLLS
THERE are china cups and china dolls And Chinamen galore, All huddled in together In a little China store.
The china cups are pretty And the china dolls, O dear, I wish I had a hundred Sitting round me now, right here.
But the Chinaman that sells them, With his slits of eyes askew, And hair all braided down his back In such a funny queue!--
If all his dolls should grow and grow Until like him they grew, And I should have the care of them, O dear, what would I do?
DOLLIE’S LULLABY
DOLLIE’S in the cradle Falling fast asleep; Hush, little mamma, Run and take a peep.
Whisper low to dollie: “Dream of pleasant things, Fairies in the doll house A-dance in fairy rings;
“Fairies round the cradle Flying to and fro, Singing in the moonlight Fairy music low.”
Shut are dollie’s eyelids, Cover up her arm; Keep the little dollie dear Safe from every harm.
[Illustration: Covering Dollie in the cradle]
BABY LIFE
WHAT can little baby do? Clap his hands and coo and coo; Kick and roll and smile and grow,-- That is why we love him so!
[Illustration: Baby]
LITTLE BROTHER
LITTLE brother full of glee, With dainty hand and dimpled knee, Chubby little laughing boy, Father’s pride and Mother’s joy!
Ringlets gold on shapely head, Smiles that break ere tears have fled, Eyes of blue that open wide, Wondering at the world outside!
Merry spirit, sweetly wild, Why are you, my precious child, Dearer far than any other Loving sister’s little brother?
PLAYING HORSE
HORSE and cart and tinkling lines, Rattling under the passion vines; Up the road and down the lane And round the yard to the door again!
Babe is driver, snap the whip! Watch the turn and don’t you tip. Nero barks as the chickens scatter, Dust is flying and cart-wheels clatter.
Nell, the cook at the kitchen door, Wonders what the noise is for. Round the house on the run they go Till baby calls to the horsie,--“whoa!”
MY DONKEY
MY little Donkey is a dear, We call her Mistress Bunny, Her ears are very long and queer And her voice is O so funny,-- Haw-he, haw-he, haw-he!
I saddle her and bridle her And on her back I climb To ride around the Berkeley streets And have a happy time,-- Haw-he, haw-he, haw-he!
I tied her with a long, long rope Where she could eat the grass, But O my burro broke her rope And ran away, alas! Haw-he, haw-he, haw-he!
BABY IN THE BARNYARD
BABY with the big blue eyes, Tell me why you look so wise When you watch the kitties play, Or old Billy eating hay.
Do the horses talk to you, Baby with the eyes of blue? Can you tell me what they say When they look at you and neigh?
And the romping kitties, too, When they cry out, mew, mew, mew, Have they secrets, baby dear, Only meant for you to hear?
When the doggie says, bow-wow To the lazy muley-cow, And the cow replies, moo, moo, Are they talking still to you?
And the piggie in her pen, Grunting to the setting hen, Ugh, ugh, ugh, can baby tell What the piggie means to spell?
Lying in her bed at morn, Baby hears a lusty horn Sounding, rook-a-dook-a-doo! And baby laughs as if she knew.
Baby loves them, one and all, And she answers when they call; And they tell her wondrous tales Of the barnyard, hills and dales.
BABY’S GOOD-NIGHT
LITTLE eyes droop in the dim evening light; Wave your hand, little maiden, good-bye, good-night;
Throw a kiss to the doggie--he’s wagging his tail-- And wave to the muley-cow down in the dale.
Hark! hark! she is ringing good-night with her bell;-- Now toss to the kitties a sweet farewell.
Good-night to the birds, in the branches asleep, Good-night to the stars that twinkle and peep;
Good-night to the horn of the moon in the west, And toddle away to your warm little nest.
[Illustration: Wave your hand, little maiden, good-bye, good-night]
DOGS
I HAVE many little doggie friends; There’s Jip who wags at both his ends, And Buddie like a ball of silk, Who laps the cream and sniffs at milk, And Judie with her rubber ball Who never minds me when I call, And Rab who runs before the horse,-- I love to hear him bark, of course, ’Cept sometimes he most barks in two, And then I wish he’d stop, don’t you?
MY ANIMALS
HAVE you seen my little animals Shut in a paper house?-- There’s a donkey and a camel With a kittie and a mouse;
There’s a doggie and an elephant, A lion and a bear, All huddled in together, And they never seem to care!
O I’m very, very hungry And I think I’d like to eat The donkey and the lion And the elephant for meat;
They are all made out of crackers, And if Mamma says I may, I’ll eat a half a bag of them And give the rest away.
[Illustration: Boy with bag of acrackers]
BROWN BABY BALLADS
SIX LITTLE ESKIMO
SIX jolly little Eskimo Lived in the land of ice and snow. They played with their ivory dolls all night In a stuffy igloo with a smoky oil light. I wouldn’t live in a smoky igloo, Would you?
They dressed in seal-skin from hood to heel; I wonder how such a suit would feel! They chewed their blubber and smacked their lips And wiggled their toes and finger tips, But I wouldn’t like such food to chew, Would you?
And when they were tired of eating and play Their mammas stowed them safely away In the big white skin of a polar bear. Six little black heads in a row were there, But I wouldn’t like to be one of that crew, Would you?
[Illustration: Little Eskimo dressed in seal-skin]
PICCANINNY LULLABY
BAH low mah littl’ honey, Bah low, littl’ piccaninny boy, Shoo, shoo, littl’ coon, mah sonny, Stop yoh winkin’ at yoh mammy, littl’ joy.
Sh! Sh! de wind comes creepin’, Now cuddle close to mammy--so--so. Quit yoh fussin’, don’ yoh know it’s time foh sleepin’ When de moon peeks in an’ tells yoh, littl’ Joe?
Go to sleep, shut yoh eyes, littl’ coon Or de Voodoo come an’ fetch yoh right away; Carry yoh cleah up into de moon, An’ den what would yoh poh old mammy say?
THE MEXICAN BABIES
THE Mexican babies are chubby and gay; Each family has ten or a dozen, And all in the town are related, they say, From a first to a twentieth cousin.
The house is adobe, the floor is of dirt; In the patio sheltered and sunny The babies can toddle with never a shirt While their mammas can sing without money.
If the little black-headed brown baby should cry, Or madre grow sick of his prattle, His tears in an instant his sister can dry With the end of a snake for a rattle.
Their little black dogs are a sight to behold, All hairless and wrinkled as mummies; With blankets about them to keep out the cold, And the babies about them for chummies.
How happy these imps from the day they are born,-- They toddle and tumble in tatters; Their faces are dirty, their clothes are all torn, But nobody thinks that it matters.
THE LITTLE PIUTE
UP in Winnemucca in Piute land, Where the hot sun falls on the sage-brush sand, A little papoose in a basket lay, Fat as a badger and ready for play.
Mahali was proud of the way he grew Upon acorn soup and on pine-nut stew; She caught him a lizard and let it wiggle, Which set him off in a Piute giggle.
But the brush hut is lonely, for father’s not there; In ghost-land he’s hunting the bison and bear. Soon you will follow; alas--too soon, As your clan moves on toward the setting moon!
THE HONOLULU BOY
COCOANUT milk and poi, Cocoanut curds and fish, For the Honolulu boy,-- What more could a baby wish?
Taro and yams and chicken,-- Baby shall have a feast,-- Bones of the pig for pickin’, Fat little face well greased!
A sleep in the house of grasses, A swim in the cool lagoon, A kiss as the trade wind passes, And a low Kanaka tune!
A SAMOA SLEEPY-SONG
LIE on your mat, little tama, and sleep; The pigeon has gone to its rest in the palm; I see the bright moon through the ifi trees peep, And the sleepy waves sing on the coral reef calm.
Sing to my tama, soft waves of the sea; Some day he’ll ride in his rocking canoe,-- Ride on your laughing crests, happy and free, Joyous to roll on your rollicking blue.
Sleep, little tama, the bats flutter low, The breeze through the breadfruit-tree sighs to the star; And out on the water, with torches aglow, Your father and brother are fishing afar.
Tina will tuck the siapo around; Sleep, little chief, for the spirits are nigh! Fish-gods and wind-gods, and gods of the ground Watch my brown baby as round him they fly!
[Illustration: Lie on your mat, little tama, and sleep]