Verse and Prose for Beginners in Reading | Page 5

fiddle,?The cow jumped over the moon;?The little dog laughed?To see such sport,?And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Pussy sits beside the fire,?How can she be fair??In comes the little dog,?"Pussy, are you there??So, so, dear Mistress Pussy,?Pray tell me how do you do?"?"Thank you, thank you, little dog,?I'm very well just now."

Ding dong bell,?The cat's in the well!?Who put her in?--?Little Johnny Green.?Who pulled her out?--?Big Johnny Stout.?What a naughty boy was that?To drown poor pussy cat,?Who never did him any harm,?But killed the mice in his father's barn!
DAISIES.
At evening when I go to bed?I see the stars shine overhead;?They are the little daisies white?That dot the meadow of the Night.
And often while I'm dreaming so,?Across the sky the Moon will go;?It is a lady, sweet and fair,?Who comes to gather daisies there.
For, when at morning I arise,?There's not a star left in the skies;?She's picked them all and dropped them down?Into the meadows of the town.
SPINNING TOP.
When I spin round without a stop?And keep my balance like the top,?I find that soon the floor will swim?Before my eyes; and then, like him,?I lie all dizzy on the floor?Until I feel like spinning more.
PROVERBS AND POPULAR SAYINGS.
Every dog has its day.?Every horse thinks his own pack heaviest.?Every little helps.?Every man for himself, and God for us all.?Faint heart never won fair lady.?Fair words butter no parsnips.?Fine feathers make fine birds.?Follow the river and you will get to the sea.?Fools build houses, and wise men live in them.?For every evil under the sun, there is a remedy, or there is none; If there be one, try and find It; if there be none, never mind it. For want of a nail the shoe is lost; for want of a shoe the horse is lost; for want of a horse the rider is lost.

Bobby Shafto's gone to sea,?With silver buckles at his knee;?He'll come back and marry me,--?Pretty Bobby Shafto!
Bobby Shafto's fat and fair,?Combing out his yellow hair,?He's my love for evermore,--?Pretty Bobby Shafto!

Every lady in this land?Has twenty nails upon each hand?Five and twenty on hands and feet.?All this is true without deceit.

Great A, little a,?Bouncing B!?The cat's in the cupboard,?And she can't see.

Hark, hark,?The dogs do bark,?The beggars are coming to town;?Some in rags,?Some in jags,?And some in velvet gowns.

Sing a song of sixpence,?A pocket full of rye;?Four and twenty blackbirds?Baked in a pie;?When the pie was opened,?The birds began to sing;?Was not that a dainty dish?To set before the king?
The king was in the parlor,?Counting out his money;?The queen was in the kitchen,?Eating bread and honey;
The maid was in the garden,?Hanging out the clothes;?There came a little blackbird,?And snipped off her nose.
Jenny was so mad,?She didn't know what to do;?She put her finger in her ear,?And cracked it right in two.

Hickory, dickory, dock,?The mouse ran up the clock,?The clock struck one,?The mouse ran down;?Hickory, dickory, dock.

Hot-cross buns!?Hot-cross buns!?One a penny, two a penny.?Hot-cross buns!?Hot-cross buns!?Hot-cross buns!?If ye have no daughters,?Give them to your sons.

How does my lady's garden grow??How does my lady's garden grow??With cockle shells, and silver bells,?And pretty maids all of a row.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,?Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;?Threescore men and threescore more?Cannot place Humpty Dumpty as he was before.

Hush-a-bye, baby, on the tree-top,?When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,?When the bough bends, the cradle will fall,?Down will come baby, bough, cradle, and all.

Some little mice sat in a barn to spin;?Pussy came by, and popped her head in;?"Shall I come in, and cut your threads off?"?"Oh, no, kind sir, you would snap our heads off."

If all the world were apple-pie??And all the sea were ink.?And all the trees were bread and cheese,?What should we have for drink?

If wishes were horses,?Beggars might ride;?If turnips were watches,?I would wear one by my side.

I have a little sister, they call her peep, peep;?She wades the waters deep, deep, deep;?She climbs the mountains high, high, high;?Poor little creature, she has but one eye.
WHO STOLE THE BIRD'S NEST?
"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!?Will you listen to me??Who stole four eggs I laid,?And the nice nest I made?"
"Not I," said the cow, "Moo-oo!?Such a thing I'd never do.?I gave you a wisp of hay,?But didn't take your nest away.?Not I," said the cow, "Moo-oo!?Such a thing I'd never do."
"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!?Will you listen to me??Who stole four eggs I laid,?And the nice nest I made?"
"Bob-o'-link! Bob-o'-link!?Now what do you think??Who stole a nest away?From the plum-tree, to-day?"
"Not I," said the dog, "Bow-wow!?I wouldn't be so mean, any how!?I gave the hairs the nest to make,?But the nest I did not take.?Not I," said the dog, "Bow-wow!?I'm not so mean, anyhow."
"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!?Will you listen to me??Who stole four eggs I laid,?And the nice nest I made?"?"Bob-o'-link! Bob-o'-link!?Now what do you think??Who stole a nest away?From the plum-tree? to-day?"
"Coo-coo! Coo-coo!