Child Songs of Cheer | Page 7

have children with them, no,
That would not do at all.
And I'll be "Mrs. Wilkinson,"
And you'll be "Mrs. Brown,"
And we
will call and call and call
On every one in town!
A VALENTINE TO CATHERINE
If you will be my True-Love,
I'll tell you what I'll do,
I'll ask a little
bluebird
To sing a song to you.
When first you see a violet
And softly pricking through
The
garden-bed come crocuses
And golden tulips, too,
Then watch! for he'll be coming,
The little bird of blue;
He'll sing,
"I love you, Sweetheart,
It's true, true, true!"
FIREFLIES
Look! Look down in the garden how
The firefly lights are flitting
now!
A million tiny sparks I know
Flash through the pinks and
golden-glow,
And I am very sure that all
Have come to light a fairy
ball,
And if I could stay up I'd see
How gay the fairy folks can be!
THE RAINY DAY
Let's sail all day, away, away
To the splendid Spanish Main
And
the sultry seas of the Caribbees
And skies that never rain!
As pirates bold with bags of gold
And cutlasses and things,
We'll
pack doubloons and silver spoons
In chests with iron rings.

And these we'll carry and secretly bury
In cannibal isles afar;
Like
Captain Kidd, when they're safely hid
We won't tell where they are.
Let's sail all day, away, away
To the splendid Spanish Main
And
the sultry seas of the Caribbees
--But at night sail home again!
THE FIRST RED-BIRD
I heard a song at daybreak,
So honey-sweet and clear,
The essence
of all joyous things
Seemed mingling in its cheer.
The frosty world about me
I searched with eager gaze,
But all was
slumber-bound and wrapped
In violet-tinted haze.
Then suddenly a sunbeam
Shot slanting o'er the hill,
And once
again from out the sky
I heard that honied trill.
And there upon a poplar,
Poised at its topmost height,
I saw a little
singer clad
In scarlet plumage bright.
The poplar branches quivered,
By dawn winds lightly blown,
And
like a breeze-swept poppy-flower
The red-bird rocked and shone.
The blue sky, and his feathers
Flashed o'er by golden light,
Oh, all
my heart with rapture thrilled,
It was so sweet a sight!
THE WEATHER-VANE
Turn, turn, when pelting rain
Rushes down the window-pane;
Turn,
turn, and turn again
When the sun shines, weather-vane!
Fie! Fie! to always be
Emblem of uncertainty!
Followed by the
restless sea,
Changeful moons may wax and wane,
Yet the moons
and sea-tides, too,
Constant are compared to you!
Fickle still you
must remain
Long as winds blow, weather-vane!

THE SWAN
Stately swan, so proud and white
Glistening in the morning light,

Come and tell me is it true
That a snow-white swan like you,

Guided by bright golden chains
In his beak for bridle reins,
Once
upon a time from far
Fabled lands where fairies are
Brought a
magic boat wherein
Rode the brave knight Lohengrin?
Stately swan, so proud and white
Glistening in the morning light,
If
you only wore a gold
Harness, like that swan of old,
And if trailing
in your wake
Sailing on the silver lake
Was a boat of magic and

You could float to fairy-land,
Then I'd jump in and begin
Traveling
like Lohengrin!
BABY'S BAKING
So, so, spade and hoe,
Little pile of sand;
See it turning into dough

In the baby's hand!
Little pie with crimpy crust,
Set it in the sun;
Sugar it with
powdered dust,
And bake it till it's done.
A SURE SIGN
When you see upon the walk
Circles newly made of chalk,
And
around them all the day
Little boys in eager play
Rolling marbles,
agates fine,
Banded, polished, red as wine,
Marbles crystal as the
dew,
Each with rainbows twisted through,
Marbles gay in painted
clay,
Flashing, twinkling in your way,
When the walk has
blossomed so,
Surely every one must know
None need wonder who
has heard
Robin, wren, or Peter-bird;
Sure the sign as song or wing,
It is spring!
ANOTHER SURE SIGN

When pink-cheeked on every hand
Little girls are seen to stand

Turning skipping ropes,--_swish-swash!_--
While their laughing
playmates run
Jumping over,--oh, what fun!--
_Swish-swash!
Swish-swash!_
Two and two now, see them dash!
_One, two, one,
two,_
Round they scamper, safely through,
_Swish-swash!_ such
merry skipping,
_One, two,_--some one is tripping!
Ah, she's out
now and must pay
Turning rope while others play!
See the bobbing
golden curls,
Little skirts in rhythmic swirls
Rising, falling, to the
beat
Of the little skipping feet!
When these pretty sights appear,
It
is surely very clear
April's here!
THE ROBIN'S BATH
A flash and flicker of dripping wings,
A wet red breast that glows

Bright as the newly opened bud
The first red poppy shows,
A
sparkle of flying rainbow drops,
A glint of golden sun
On ruffled
feathers, a snatch of song,
And the robin's bath is done.
THE FROSTED PANE
When I wakened, very early,
All my window-pane was pearly
With
a sparkling little picture traced in lines of shining white;
Some magician with a gleaming
Frosty brush, while I was dreaming,

Must have come and by the starlight worked through all the quiet
night.
He had painted frosty people,
And a frosty church and steeple,
And
a frosty bridge and river tumbling over frosty rocks;
Frosty mountain peaks that glimmered,
And fine frosty ferns that
shimmered,
And a frosty little pasture full of frosty little flocks.
It was all touched in so lightly
And it glittered, oh, so whitely,
That

I gazed and gazed in wonder at the