London Town | Page 5

sad and lone??Ah yes! when London's sleeping,?If monuments can dream,?It longs for Egypt's palm-trees,?And Nile's slow murmuring stream.
[Illustration: Cleopatra's Needle]
The Chestnut Woman
"All hot! all hot! come buy!?Ten a penny is the price,?And if you my chestnuts try,?You'll declare they're very nice.?See how brightly burns my fire!?Hear the chestnuts hiss and crack!?Better nuts you can't desire?Than these beauties, big and black.
"All hot!--if you are cold,?Have a pennyworth of heat,?Something nice and warm to hold,?Something nice and warm to eat.?Munch your chestnuts up, and then,?If your toes want warming too,?Say, 'I'll have another ten,?Just to warm me through and through."
So the cheerful chestnut dame?To each chilly passer calls,?As she roasts above the flame?Fine round nuts like floury balls.?Hungry children soon draw near,?If a penny they have got,?And with warmth and food to cheer,?_They_ become "all hot! all hot!"
The 5th of November
The fifth of November they bid you remember,?These bright little boys with the funny old Guy.?In his chair up and down he'll be borne through the town, Then burned in a bonfire he'll be by-and-by.
All those who remember the fifth of November?Some money will give to the boys with the Guy.?If all gave a penny, I wonder how many?Wheels, crackers, and squibs they'd be able to buy?
Guy Fawkes Day
In the Children's Hospital
Little sick Tommy,?What trouble he's had--?Medicine and blisters!?His cough was _so_ bad!
Now he is better:?He soon will be well,?And go back to Mother,?With stories to tell,
Of softly reclining?On pillows of down,--?Of Mary his nurse?In her pretty blue gown,
Of the doctor so gentle,?The other sick boys,?And oh! a whole shopful?Of beautiful toys!
The Happy Family
Here's my Happy Family,?Little folks, as you may see:?Cats who fight, but just in fun,?Mice who up the flag-staff run,?Paroquet, canaries too,--
Now, my dears, 'twixt me and you,?Girls and boys who scold and tease,?Might a lesson learn from these?Birds and beasts who all agree?In my Happy Family.
The Crossing Sweeper
He is weak and old, and he feels the cold,?But a nice clean path he keeps,?For passengers all, both great and small,?As the mud to each side he sweeps.?The people stare, in London Town,?At his turban rare, and his face so brown,?But the poor old Hindoo does not mind,?So long as a coin for him they find.?And he nods and smiles, as he sweeps away,?As if to the passer-by he'd say,--?"Think of your shining boots and shoes,?And a copper to me you can't refuse.?For each penny I get I sweep the faster--?Ah! thank you,
Thank you,
Kind young master!"
PUNCH AND JUDY
Have you a penny? well then, stay!?Haven't you any? don't go away!?Punch holds receptions all through the day,?Squeaking aloud to gather a crowd,?Scolding at Toby, beating his Wife,?Frightening the Constable out of his life,?And making jokes in a terrible passion,?As is Mr. Punch's peculiar fashion;?For this is his old, delightful plan?Of getting as many pence as he can.
Then away he'll jog,?With his Wife and his Dog,?New folks to meet?In the very next street.
The Lowther Arcade
Tell me, rosy little boy,?Listen, little maiden, too,?Do you love a fine new toy??Yes, you say, of course you do.?Then your thought to Mother tell,?And she'll take her little maid,?And her little boy as well,?To this wonderful Arcade.
Active apes that climb up sticks,?Swords and guns and trumpets bright,?Wooden horses, wooden bricks,?Big fat lambs with fleeces white,?Dolls that smile and dolls that cry,?Soldiers ready for parade,?All are here for you to buy,?In this wonderful Arcade.
Toys are hanging up on strings,?Toys are laid in tempting rows,?And each shop with pretty things?Is so crammed it overflows.?Little girls and little boys?Oft are puzzled, we're afraid,?Which to choose of all the toys?In this wonderful Arcade.
The Dustman is coming
Off to bed the pets must flock.?Look! it's nearly eight o'clock.
Baby's sleepy, so is Claire--?"Ah!" says Mother on the stair,?To little folks that yawn and blink,?"The dustman's coming, I should think."
Mother's right, for sure enough?Here's the dustman, strong and bluff.?"Dust ho! dust ho!" hear his cry,?As the dust-cart rumbles by.
The dustman home is going soon,?For there you see the rising moon.?And sleepy Claire, in cot so white,?Thinks that his cry must mean "Good Night."
GOOD-BYE
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of London Town, by Felix Leigh
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