The Book of Joyous Children | Page 6

say, "It's settled,--'cause
The Old Tree says
he's all our tree--
His trunk belongs to bofe your Pas,
But shade
belongs to you an' me."

THE PENALTY OF GENIUS
[Illustration]
"When little 'Pollus Morton he's
A-go' to speak a piece, w'y, nen

The Teacher smiles an' says 'at she's
Most proud, of all her little men

An' women in her school--'cause 'Poll
He allus speaks the best of
all.
An' nen she'll pat him on the cheek,
An' hold her finger up at you

Before_ he speak'; an' _when he speak'
It's ist some piece she learn'
him to!
'Cause he's her favorite.... An' she
Ain't pop'lar as she ust to
be!
When 'Pollus Morton speaks, w'y, nen
Ist all the other childern knows

They're smart as him an' smart-again!--
Ef they can't speak an' got
fine clo'es,
Their Parunts loves 'em more 'n 'PollUs
Morton,
Teacher, speech, an' all!

EVENSONG
Lay away the story,--
Though the theme is sweet,
There's a lack of
something yet,
Leaves it incomplete:--
There's a nameless
yearning--
Strangely undefined--
For a story sweeter still
Than
the written kind.
Therefore read no longer--
I've no heart to hear
But just something
you make up,
O my mother dear.--

With your arms around me,


Hold me, folded-eyed,--
Only let your voice go on--
I'll be satisfied.

[Illustration: "THEREFORE READ NO LONGER."]

[Illustration: The TWINS]
"IGO AND AGO"
We're The Twins from Aunt Marinn's,
Igo and Ago.
When Dad comes, the show begins!--
Iram, coram, dago.
Dad he says he named us two
Igo and Ago
For a poem he always knew,
Iram, coram, dago.
Then he was a braw Scotchman--
Igo and Ago.--
Now he's Scotch-Amer-i-can.
Iram, coram, dago.
"Hey!" he cries, and pats his knee,
"Igo and Ago,
My twin bairnies, ride wi' me--
Iram, coram, dago!"
[Illustration]
"Here," he laughs, "ye've each a leg,

Igo and Ago,
Gleg as Tam O'Shanter's 'Meg'!
Iram, coram, dago!"
Then we mount, with shrieks of mirth--
Igo and Ago,--
The two gladdest twins on earth!
Iram, coram, dago.
Wade and Silas-Walker cry,--
"Igo and Ago--
Annie's kissin' 'em 'good-bye'!"--
Iram, coram, dago.
Aunty waves us fond farewells.--
"Igo and Ago,"
Granny pipes, "tak care yersels!"
Iram, coram, dago.

THE LITTLE LADY
O The Little Lady's dainty
As the picture in a book,
And her hands
are creamy-whiter
Than the water-lilies look;
Her laugh's the
undrown'd music
Of the maddest meadow-brook.--
Yet all in vain I
praise The Little Lady!
Her eyes are blue and dewy
As the glimmering Summer-dawn,--

Her face is like the eglantine
Before the dew is gone;
And were that
honied mouth of hers
A bee's to feast upon,
He'd be a bee
bewildered, Little Lady!
Her brow makes light look sallow;
And the sunshine, I declare,
Is
but a yellow jealousy
Awakened by her hair--
For O the dazzling

glint of it
Nor sight nor soul can bear,--
So Love goes groping for
The Little Lady.

[Illustration: "SHE'S BUT A RACING SCHOOL-GIRL."]

And yet she's neither Nymph nor Fay,
Nor yet of Angelkind:--

She's but a racing school-girl, with
Her hair blown out behind
And
tremblingly unbraided by
The fingers of the Wind,
As it wildly
swoops upon The Little Lady.

"COMPANY MANNERS"
When Bess gave her Dollies a Tea, said she,--
"It's unpolite, when
they's Company,
To say you've drinked two cups, you see,--
But
say you've drinked a couple of tea."
[Illustration]

IN FERVENT PRAISE OF PICNICS
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Picnics is fun 'at's purty hard to beat.
I purt'-nigh ruther go to them
than eat.
I purt'-nigh ruther go to them than go
With our Charlotty
to the Trick-Dog Show.

THE GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED PEOPLE

When we hear Uncle Sidney tell
About the long-ago
An' old, old
friends he loved so well
When he was young--My-oh!--
Us childern
all wish we'd 'a' bin
A-livin' then with Uncle,--so
We could a-kindo'
happened in
On them old friends he used to know!--
The good,
old-fashioned people--
The hale, hard-working people--
The kindly
country people
'At Uncle used to know!
They was God's people, Uncle says,
An' gloried in His name,
An'
worked, without no selfishness,
An' loved their neighbers same
As
they was kin: An' when they biled
Their tree-molasses, in the Spring,

Er butchered in the Fall, they smiled
An' sheered with all jist
ever'thing!--

[Illustration: "THEY WAS GOD'S PEOPLE."]

The good, old-fashioned people--
The hale, hard-working people--

The kindly country people
'At Uncle used to know!
He tells about 'em, lots o' times,
Till we'd all ruther hear
About 'em
than the Nurs'ry Rhymes
Er Fairies--mighty near!--
Only
sometimes he stops so long
An' then talks on so low an' slow,
It's
purt'-nigh sad as any song
To listen to him talkin' so
Of the good,
old-fashioned people--
The hale, hard-working people--
The kindly
country people
'At Uncle used to know!

THE BEST TIMES
[Illustration]
When Old Folks they wuz young like us
An' little as you an' me,--

[Illustration]
Them wuz the best times ever wuz
Er ever goin' to be!

[Illustration: "THEM WUZ THE BEST TIMES EVER WUZ."]

"HIK-TEE-DIK!"
THE WAR-CRY OF BILLY AND BUDDY
[Illustration]
When two little boys--renowned but for noise--
Hik-tee-dik! Billy
and Buddy!--
May hurt a whole school, and the head it employs,

Hik-tee-dik! Billy and Buddy!
Such loud and hilarious pupils indeed

Need learning--and yet something further they need,
Though fond
hearts that love them