V. POEMS

LITTLE ROBIN REDBREAST

Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a tree,

Up went Pussy-cat and down went he;

Down came Pussy-cat and away Robin ran;

Said littte Robin Redbreast, "Catch me if you can!"

Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a wall;

Pussy-cat jumped after him, and almost had a fall.

Little Robin chirped and sang, and what did Pussy say?

Pussy-cat said "Mew" and Robin jumped away.

FOR WANT OF A NAIL

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost,

For want of the shoe, the horse was lost,

For want of the horse, the rider was lost,

For want of the rider, the battle was lost,

For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost,

And all for the want of a horse-shoe nail.

J J J

Every thing looks very grey,

In rain, rain, rain,

I love to see it hit the ground

And then bounce up again.

J J J

Good, better, best,

Never rest,

Till good be better

And better best.

J J J

"Tick", the clock says,

"Tick, tick, tick",

What you have to do, do quick,

Time is gliding fast away

Let us act and act today.

J J J

The moments fly — a minute's gone,

The minutes fly — an hour is run,

The day is fled — the night is here,

Thus flies a week, a month, a year.

J J J

One, two, three, four,

Mary at the cottage door,

Five, six, seven, eight,

Eating cherries off a plate.

J J J

Hickory, Dickory Dock

The mouse ran up the clock,

The clock struck one,

The mouse ran down,

Hickory, Dickory Dock.

J J J

Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling, my son John,

Went to bed with his trousers on;

One shoe off and one shoe on,

Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling, my son John.

J J J

Hey diddle, diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed

To see such sport,

And dish ran away with the spoon.

J J J

Old Mother Hubboard

Went to the cupboard,

To get her poor doggy a bone;

But when she got there,

The cupboard was bare,

And so the poor doggy got none.

J J J

Goosey, goosey gander,

Where do you wander?

Upstairs and downstairs,

And in my lady's chamber,

Where I met an old man,

Who wouldn't say his prayers —

I took him by the left leg,

And threw him down the stairs.

J J J

Little boy blue,

Come blow your horn;

The sheep's in the meadow,

The cow's in the corn.

Where is the boy

Who looks after the sheep?

He's under the haystack, Fast asleep.

THE ARROW AND THE SONG (by H. W. Longfellow)

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where,

For so swiftly it flew, the sight

Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where,

For who has sight so keen and strong,

That it can follow the flight of a song?

Long, long afterwards in an oak

I found the arrow, still unbroke;

And the song, from beginning to end,

I found again in the heart of a friend.

TWILIGHT (by G. G. Byron)

It is the hour when from the boughs

The nightingale's high note is heard;

It is the hour when lover's vows

Seem sweet in every whispered word;

And gentle winds and waters near,

Make music to the lovely ear.

Each flower the dews have lightly wet,

And in the sky the stars are met

And on the wave is deeper blue,

And on the leaf a browner hue,

And in the heaven that clear obscure,

So softly dark, and darkly pure,

Which follows the decline of day,

As twilight melts beneath the moon away.

MY NATIVE LAND — GOOD NIGHT

"Adieu! adieu! my native shore

Fades over the waters blue;

The night winds sigh, the breakers roar,

And shrieks the wild sea-mew.

Yon[5] sun that sets upon the sea

We follow in his flight;

Farewell awile to him and thee,

My native Land — good night!

> (by Percy B. Shelley)

It was a winter such as when birds die In the deep forests; and the fishes lie Stiffened in the translucent ice, which makes Even the mud and slime of the warm lakes

A wrinkled clod as hard as brick; and when Among their children comfortable men

Gather about great fires, and yet feel cold;

Alas, then for the homeless beggar old.

INTO MY HEART AN AIR THAT KILLS (by Alfred Edward Housman)

Into my heart an air that kills From yon far country blows; What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those?

That is the land of lost content,

I see it shining plain,

The happy highways where I went

And cannot come again.

MY HEART'S IN THE HIGHLANDS (by Robert Burns)

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer,

A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe —

My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go!

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,

The birth-place of valour, the country of worth!

Whenever I wander, wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Farewell to the mountains high cover'd with snow,

Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;

Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,

Farewell to the torrents a'nd loud-pouring floods!

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here;

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe,

My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go!

A RED, RED ROSE (by Robert Burns)

O, my luve[6] is like a red, red rose,

That's newly sprung in June;

O, my luve is like the melodie,[7]

That's sweetly play'd in tune

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,[8]

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.[9]

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear.

And the rocks melt wi' the sun;[10]

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life[11] shall run.

And fare-thee-weel,[12] my only luve!

And fare-thee-weel a while!

And I will come again, my luve,

Tho'[13] it were ten thousand mile!