Songs for Parents | Page 5

I shall travel far,
We'll pass the old earth by,
We'll ride the
moon and drive a star
Across the evening sky.
We'll flash upon the milky way
To pay Dame Night a call--
But
should we happen on old Day--
We'd fall and fall and fall.
Castles
I used to build me castles of moisty sand and shells,
And dream they
were for princesses who wove me magic spells; But yesterday along the
beach my fairy princess came--
And she's too big for castles--now
isn't that a shame!
Parenthood
The birches that dance on the top of the hill
Are so slender and young
that they cannot keep still,
They bend and they nod at each whiff of a
breeze,
For you see they are still just the children of trees.

But the birches below in the valley are older,
They are calmer and
straighter and taller and colder.
Perhaps when we've grown up as
solemn and grave,
We, too, will have children who do not behave!
SONGS OF CIRCUMSTANCE
Moral Song
Oh, so cool
In his deep green pool
Was a frog on a log one day!

He would blink his eyes
As he snapped at flies,
For his mother was away,
For his mother was away!
Now that naughty frog
Left his own home log
And started out to
play.
He flipped and he flopped
And he never stopped
Till he reached the great blue bay,
Till he reached the great blue bay!
Alas, with a swish
Came a mighty fish,
And swallowed him where
he lay.
Now it's things like this
That never miss
Little frogs who don't obey,
Little frogs who don't obey!
Serious Omission
I know that there are dragons,
St. George's, Jason's, too,
And many
modern dragons
With scales of green and blue;
But though I've been there many times
And carefully looked through,

I can't find a dragon
In the cages at the zoo!
Choice
If I had just one penny
On the Fourth of July,
Oh, what a problem it would be

To think what I should buy!
With lollypops and fire-works,
With cakes and whiz-bangs, too,
With tops and candy cigarettes,
Whatever should I do?
Torpedoes have a splendid noise,
But noise is quickly past,
And the sweetness of a lollypop
Is something that will last.
Natural Fireworks
The fireflies in the valley
Are having their display
Among the river
willows
Like little bits of day!
Come, light your silver sparkler
And wave it in the air.
Go dance
among the willows
And sprinkle sparkles there.
Then, oh, the world will wonder
To see the willows shine,
And
even the fireflies will not know
Their tiny sparks from mine.
Conspiracy
The sun has a face that is laughing and red
When nurse pulls me out
in the morning from bed;
But he's not half so sly as the silly old moon,

Who winks when I'm sent to my bedroom too soon.
Cuckoo Clock
The cuckoo in the clock by day
Is usually very gay;
And that's
because, with people near,
There's not a thing for him to fear;
But when the sitting room is dim
And no one's there to welcome

him--
How tremblingly he must come out
To flap his wings and
look about.
Why! Only just the other night
The cuckoo stopped the clock from
fright!
The Sentinel
I'm only a little toy dough-boy,
And I have neither sorrows nor fears;

But I patiently wait,
With my gun pointed straight
And my
helmet pulled down on my ears.
The ugly wood lions and tigers
May show their white teeth if they
please,
If the whole Noah's ark
Should threaten and bark
It
wouldn't unstiffen my knees.
And some day when you are a soldier
With your helmet pulled down
on your ears
I'll still be as straight
As I wonder and wait,
Standing
my watch through the years.
Royalty
If I should meet a king or queen
Upon the street some day,
Do you
think that I'd be frightened?
Why, I'd know just what to say.
"Your reverend majesties," I'd say,
And humbly bow the knee,
"I
am your very humble swain,
And will you honor me?"
The king would strike my shoulder
With a sword of passing might,

He'd lift me grandly to my feet,
He'd say, "Arise, O Knight!"
Oh, I would not be frightened,
For I've seen kings galore,
Don't you
think it's just to learn of them
That playing cards are for?
Crackers

Oh, there are very many kinds
Of crackers, great and small,
Saltines
and ginger-snaps and such,
I'd like to eat them all;
But there's a kind of cracker
That I need much worse,
A bright red
giant cracker
To set off under nurse!
The Drum
The drum's a very quiet fellow
When he's left alone;
But oh, how he
does roar and bellow,
Rattle, snap and groan,
Clatter, spatter, dash
and patter,
Rumble, shriek and moan
Whene'er I take my sticks in
hand
And beat him soundly for the band.
Theatricals
Now I'll play at being queen,
Hold my head quite stiff and haughty,
Always proud and never
naughty,
Sweeping grandly down the green.
Or I'll be a moonlight fairy,
Bobbing lightly on the river,
Dancing where the shadows quiver,

Winged and shining, swift and wary.
If the doctor thinks I'm sick,
He's just silly. I am not!
I'm just tired and very hot,
Hating