Verse and Prose for Beginners in Reading | Page 9

crooked man, and he went a crooked mile,?He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile:?He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,?And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

Tom, Tom, the piper's son,?Stole a pig and away he run!?The pig was eat, and Tom was beat,?And Tom went roaring down the street.

There was a little boy went into a barn,?And lay down on some hay;?An owl came out and flew about,?And the little boy ran away.

There was a man of our town,?And he was wondrous wise;?He jumped into a bramble bush,?And scratched out both his eyes:?And when he saw his eyes were out,?With all his might and main?He jumped into another bush,?And scratched 'em in again.

1. This pig went to market;
2. This pig stayed at home;
3. This pig had a bit of meat;
4. And this pig had none;
5. This pig said, "Wee, wee, wee! I can't find my way home."

Tom, Tom, of Islington,?Married a wife on Sunday;?Brought her home on Monday;?Hired a house on Tuesday;?Fed her well on Wednesday;?Sick was she on Thursday;?Dead was she on Friday;?Sad was Tom on Saturday,?To bury his wife on Sunday.
WEE WILLIE WINKIE.
Wee Willie Winkie?Runs through the town,?Upstairs and downstairs,?In his night-gown;?Tapping at the window,?Crying at the lock,?"Are the babes in their bed??For it's now ten o'clock."
SINGING.
Of speckled eggs the birdie sings?And nests among the trees;?The sailor sings of ropes and things?In ships upon the seas.
The children sing in far Japan,?The children sing in Spain;?The organ with the organ man?Is singing in the rain.
THE COW.
The friendly cow all red and white,?I love with all my heart;?She gives me cream with all her might,?To eat with apple-tart.
She wanders lowing here and there,?And yet she cannot stray,?All in the pleasant open air,?The pleasant light of day;
And blown by all the winds that pass?And wet with all the showers.?She walks among the meadow grass?And eats the meadow flowers.
GOOD-NIGHT AND GOOD-MORNING.
A fair little girl sat under a tree,?Sewing as long as her eyes could see;?Then smoothed her work and folded it right?And said, "Dear work, good-night, good-night!"
Such a number of rooks came over her head,?Crying "Caw! Caw!" on their way to bed,?She said, as she watched their curious flight,?"Little black things, good-night, good-night!"
The horses neighed, and the oxen lowed,?The sheep's "Bleat! Bleat!" came over the road;?All seeming to say, with a quiet delight,?"Good little girl, good-night, good-night!"
She did not say to the sun, "Good-night!"?Though she saw him there like a ball of light;?For she knew he had God's time to keep?All over the world and never could sleep.
The tall pink foxglove bowed his head;?The violets curtsied, and went to bed;?And good little Lucy tied up her hair,?And said, on her knees, her favorite prayer.
And while on her pillow she softly lay,?She knew nothing more till again it was day;?And all things said to the beautiful sun,?"Good-morning, good-morning! our work is begun."
MOTHER'S EYES.
What are the songs the mother sings??Of birds and flowers and pretty things;?Baby lies in her arms and spies?All his world in the mother's eyes.
What are the tales the mother tells??Of gems and jewels and silver bells;?Baby lies in her arms and spies?All his wealth in the mother's eyes.
What are the thoughts in the mother's mind??Of the gentle Saviour, loving and kind;?Baby lies in her arms and spies?All his heaven in the mother's eyes.
THE LAND OF NOD.
From breakfast on through all the day?At home among my friends I stay,?But every night I go abroad?Afar into the land of Nod.
All by myself I have to go,?With, none to tell me what to do--?All alone beside the streams?And up the mountain sides of dreams.
The strangest things are there for me,?Both things to eat and things to see,?And many frightening sights abroad,?Till morning in the land of Nod.
Try as I like to find the way,?I never can get back by day,?Nor can remember plain and clear?The curious music that I hear.
PROVERBS AND POPULAR SAYINGS.
A lass that has many wooers oft fares the worst.?A lazy sheep thinks its wool heavy.?A little leak will sink a great ship.?A living dog is better than a dead lion.?A man of words, and not of deeds, is like a garden full of weeds. A man's house is his castle.?A miss is as good as a mile.?A penny for your thought.?A penny saved is a penny got.?A rolling stone will gather no moss.?A small spark makes a great fire.?A stitch in time saves nine.?A tree is known by its fruit.

When I was a little boy, I lived by myself,?And all the bread and cheese I got I put upon the shelf;?The rats and the mice did lead me such a life,?I was forced to go to London to buy me a wife.
The streets were so broad, and the lanes were so narrow,?I could not get my wife home without a wheelbarrow;?The wheelbarrow broke, my wife got a