The Book of Joyous Children | Page 2

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!
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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.
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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!"
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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:--
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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!
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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:
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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.
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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!
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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!
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[Illustration: ELMER BROWN]
ELMER BROWN
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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!"
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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!"
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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!"
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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!"
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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!"
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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.
O I have followed me, o'er and o'er,?From the flagrant drowse on the parlor-floor,?To the pleading voice of the mother when?I even doubted I heard it then--?To the sense of a kiss, and a moonlit room,?And dewy odors of locust-bloom--?A sweet white cot--and a cricket's cheep.--?But no boy knows when he goes to sleep.
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[Illustration: "NO BOY KNOWS WHEN HE GOES TO SLEEP."]

WHEN WE FIRST PLAYED "SHOW"
Wasn't it a good time,
Long Time Ago--?When we all were little tads
And first played "Show"!--?When every newer day
Wore as bright a glow?As the ones we laughed away--
Long Time Ago!
Calf was in the back-lot;
Clover in the red;?Bluebird in the pear-tree;
Pigeons on the shed;?Tom a-chargin' twenty pins
At the barn; and