The Book of Joyous Children | Page 2

AN IMPROMPTU FAIRY-TALE
[Illustration]
When I wuz ist a little bit
o' weenty-teenty kid
I maked up a Fairy-tale,
all by myse'f, I did:--
I
Wunst upon a time wunst
They wuz a Fairy King,
An' ever'thing he
have wuz gold--,
His clo'es, an' ever'thing!
An' all the other Fairies

In his goldun Palace-hall
Had to hump an' hustle--
'Cause he wuz
bosst of all!
II
He have a goldun trumput,
An' when he blow' on that,
It's a sign he
want' his boots,
Er his coat er hat:
They's a sign fer ever'thing,--


An' all the Fairies knowed
Ever' sign, an' come a-hoppin'
When the
King blowed!
[Illustration]
III
Wunst he blowed an' telled 'em all:
"Saddle up yer bees--
Fireflies
is gittin' fat
An' sassy as you please!--
Guess we'll go a-huntin'!"

So they hunt' a little bit,
Till the King blowed "Supper-time,"
Nen
they all quit.
[Illustration]
IV
Nen they have a Banqut
In the Palace-hall,
An' ist et! an' et! an' et!

Nen they have a Ball;
An' when the Queen o' Fairyland
Come
p'omenadin' through,
The King says an' halts her,--
"Guess I'll
marry you!"
[Illustration]

DREAM-MARCH
"Wasn't it a funny dream!--perfectly bewild'rin'!--
Last night, and
night before, and night before that,
Seemed like I saw the march o'
regiments o' children,
Marching to the robin's fife and cricket's
rat-ta-tat!
Lily-banners overhead, with the dew upon 'em,
On
flashed the little army, as with sword and flame;
Like the buzz o'
bumble-wings, with the honey on 'em,
Came an eerie, cheery chant,
chiming as it came:--
[Illustration]

Where go the children? Travelling! Travelling!
Where go the
children, travelling ahead?
Some go to kindergarten; some go to
day-school;
Some go to night-school; and some go to bed!
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Smooth roads or rough roads, warm or winter weather,
On go the
children, tow-head and brown,
Brave boys and brave girls, rank and
file together,
Marching out of Morning-Land, over dale and down:
[Illustration]
Some go a-gypsying out in country places--
Out through the orchards,
with blossoms on the boughs
Wild, sweet, and pink and white as their
own glad faces;
And some go, at evening, calling home the cows.
[Illustration]
Where go the children? Travelling! Travelling!
Where go the
children, travelling ahead?
Some go to foreign wars, and camps by
the firelight--
Some go to glory so; and some go to bed!
[Illustration]
Some go through grassy lanes leading to the city--
Thinner grow the
green trees and thicker grows the dust; Ever, though, to little people
any path is pretty
So it leads to newer lands, as they know it must.

Some go to singing less; some go to list'ning;
Some go to thinking
over ever-nobler themes;
Some go anhungered, but ever bravely
whistling,
Turning never home again only in their dreams.
Where go the children? Travelling! Travelling!
Where go the
children, travelling ahead?
Some go to conquer things; some go to
try them;
Some go to dream them; and some go to bed!

[Illustration]
[Illustration]

[Illustration: ELMER BROWN]
ELMER BROWN
[Illustration]
Awf'lest boy in this-here town
Er anywheres is Elmer Brown!
He'll
mock you--yes, an' strangers, too,
An' make a face an' yell at you,--

"Here's_ the way _you look!"
[Illustration]
Yes, an' wunst in School one day,
An' Teacher's lookin' wite that way,

He helt his slate, an' hide his head,
An' maked a face at her, an'
said,--
"Here's_ the way _you look!"
[Illustration]
An' sir! when Rosie Wheeler smile
One morning at him 'crosst the
aisle,
He twist his face all up, an' black
His nose wiv ink, an'
whisper back,--
"Here's_ the way _you look!"
[Illustration]
Wunst when his Aunt's all dressed to call,
An' kiss him good-bye in
the hall,
An' latch the gate an' start away,
He holler out to her an'
say,--
"Here's_ the way _you look!"
[Illustration]
An' when his Pa he read out loud
The speech he maked, an' feel so
proud
It's in the paper--Elmer's Ma
She ketched him--wite behind

his Pa,--
"Here's_ the way _you look!"
[Illustration]
Nen when his Ma she slip an' take
Him in the other room an' shake

Him good! w'y, he don't care--no-sir!--
He ist look up an' laugh at
her,--
"Here's_ the way _you look!"

NO BOY KNOWS
There are many things that boys may know--
Why this and that are
thus and so,--
Who made the world in the dark and lit
The great sun
up to lighten it:
Boys know new things every day--
When they
study, or when they play,--
When they idle, or sow and reap--
But
no boy knows when he goes to sleep.
Boys who listen--or should, at least,--
May know that the round old
earth rolls East;--
And know that the ice and the snow and the rain--

Ever repeating their parts again--
Are all just water the sunbeams
first
Sip from the earth in their endless thirst,
And pour again till the
low streams leap.--
But no boy knows when he goes to sleep.
A boy may know what a long glad while
It has been to him since the
dawn's first smile,
When forth he fared in the realm divine
Of
brook-laced woodland and spun-sunshine;--
He may know each call
of his truant mates,
And the paths they went,--and the pasture-gates

Of the 'cross-lots home through the dusk so deep.--
But no boy knows
when he goes to sleep.