JEST 'FORE CHRISTMAS by Eugene Field

Father calls me William, sister calls me Will,

Mother calls me Willie, but the fellers call me Bill!

Mighty glad I ain't a girl-ruther be a boy,

Without them sashes, curls, an' things, that's worn by Fauntleroy!

Love to chawnk green apples an' go swimmin' in the lake-

Hate to take the castor-ile they give for belly-ache!

'Most all the time, the whole year round, there ain't no flies on me,

But jest 'fore Christmas I'm as good as I kin be!

Got a yeller dog named Sport, sick him on the cat;

First thing she knows she doesn't know where she is at!

Got a clipper sled, an' when us kids goes out to slide,

'Long comes the grocery cart, an' we all hook a ride!

But sometimes when the grocery man is worrited an' cross,

He reaches at us with his whip, an' larrups up his hoss,

An' then I laff an' hollar, "Oh, ye never teched me!"

But jest 'fore Christmas I'm as good as I kin be!

Gran'ma says she hopes that when I git to be a man,

I'll be a missionarer like her oldest brother, Dan,

As was et up by the cannibuls that lives in Ceylon's Isle,

Where every prospeck pleases, an' only man is vile!

But gran'ma she has never been to see a Wild West Show,

Nor read the Life of Daniel Boone, or else I guess she'd Know

That Buff'lo Bill an' cow-boys is good enough for me!

Excep' jest 'fore Christmas, when I'm good as I kin be!

And then old Sport he hangs around, so solemn-like an' still,

His eyes they seem a-sayin': "What's the matter, little Bill?"

The old cat sneaks down off her perch an' wonders what's become

Of them two enemies of hern that used to make things hum!

But I am so perlite an' 'tend so earnestly to biz,

That mother says to father: "How improved our Willie is!"

But father, havin' been a boy hisself, suspicions me

When, jest 'fore Christmas, I'm as good as I kin be!

For Christmas, with its lots an' lots of candies, cakes, an' toys,

Was made, they say, for proper kids, an' not for naughty boys:

So wash yer face an' bresh yer hair, an' mind yer p's and q's,

An' don't bust out yer pantaloons, and don't wear out yer shoes;

Say "Yessum" to the ladies, an' "Yessur" to the men,

An' when they's company, don't pass yer plate for pie again;

But, thinkin' of the things yer'd like to see upon that tree,

Jest 'fore Christmas be as good as yer kin be!

OPOSSUM AND BABIES

THE SNOW THAT NEVER DRIFTS by Emily Dickinson

The Snow that never drifts-
The transient, fragrant snow
That comes a single time a Year
Is softly driving now-

So thorough in the tree
At night beneath the star
That it was February's Foot
Experience would swear-

Like Winter as a Face
We stern and former knew
Repaired of all but Loneliness
By Nature's Alibit-

Were every storm so spice
The Value could not be-
We buy with contrast--Pang is good
As near as memory--

SNOW FLAKES by Emily Dickinson

Snow flakes.

I counted till they danced so
Their slippers leaped the town,
And then I took a pencil
To note the rebels down.
And then they grew so jolly
I did resign the prig,
And ten of my once stately toes
Are marshalled for a jig!

PITTYPAT AND TIPPYTOE by Eugene Field

All day long they come and go-
Pittypat and Tippytoe;
Footprints up and down the hall,
Playthings scattered on the floor,
Finger-marks along the wall,
Tell-tale smudges on the door-
By these presents you shall know
Pittypat and Tippytoe.

How they riot at their play!
And a dozen times a day
In they troop, demanding bread-
Only buttered bread will do,
And that butter must be spread
Inches thick with sugar too!
And I never can say, "No,
Pittypat and Tippytoe!"

Sometimes there are griefs to soothe,
Sometimes ruffled brows to smooth;
For (I much regret to say)
Tippytoe and Pittypat
Sometimes interrupt their play
With an internecine spat;
Fie, for shame! to quarrel so-
Pittypat and Tippytoe!

Oh, the thousand worrying things
Every day recurrent brings!
Hands to scrub and hair to brush,
Search for playthings gone amiss,
Many a wee complaint to hush,
Many a little bump to kiss;
Life seems one vain, fleeting show
To Pittypat and Tippytoe!

And when day is at an end,
There are little duds to mend:
Little frocks are strangely torn,
Little shoes great holes reveal,
Little hose, but one day worn,
Rudely yawn at toe and heel!
Who but you could work such woe,
Pittypat and Tippytoe?

But when comes this thought to me:
"Some there are that childless be,"
Stealing to their little beds,
With a love I cannot speak,
Tenderly I stroke their heads-
Fondly kiss each velvet cheek.
God help those who do not know
A Pittypat and Tippytoe!

Oh the floor and down the hall,
Rudely smutched upon the wall,
There are proofs in every kind
Of the havoc they have wrought,
And upon my heart you'd find
Just such trade-marks, if you sought;
Oh, how glad I am 'tis so,
Pittypat and Tippytoe!

THE NEW COW by August Derleth

The new cow came through the gate,

And her calf came after, a little late.

No longer willing to be led,

The calf went on ahead,

While she stood to look around

Over the hills and lower ground

Stood shyly, defiantly there,

Smelling flower-fragrant air,

And gazed toward the old cows

Grouped on the way before.

Knowing not how she might stay

Among them, stranger still,

She hesitated yet, now they had turned

At the foot of the hill

And seemed to wait for her at the gate,

To wait for her who was strange and thin,

Til she came on,

And they opened their ranks

To take her in.

THE COW by Robert Louis Stevenson

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.

TO A LITTLE BROOK by Eugene Field

You're not so big as you were then,

O little brook!-

I mean those hazy summers when

We boys roamed, full of awe, beside

Your noisy, foaming, tumbling tide,

And wondered if it could be true

That there were bigger brooks than you,

O mighty brook, O peerless brook!

All up and down this reedy place

Where lives the brook,

We angled for the furtive dace;

The redwing-blackbird did his best

To make us think he'd build his nest

Hard by the stream, when, like as not,

He'd hung it in a secret spot

Far from the brook, the telltale brook!

And often, when the noontime heat

Parboiled the brook,

We'd draw our boots and swing our feet

Upon the waves that, in their play,

Would tag us last and scoot away;

And mother never seemed to know

What burnt our legs and chapped them so-

But father guessed it was the brook!

And Fido-how he loved to swim

The cooling brook,

Whenever we'd throw sticks for him;

And how we boys did wish that we

Could only swim as good as he-

Why, Daniel Webster never was

Recipient of such great applause

As Fido, battling with the brook!

But once-O most unhappy day

For you, my brook!-

Came Cousin Sam along that way;

And, having lived a spell out West,

Where creeks aren't counted much at best,

He neither waded, swam, nor leapt,

But, with superb indifference, stept

Across that brook-our mighty brook!

Why do you scamper on your way,

You little brook,

When I come back to you to-day?

Is it because you flee the grass

That lunges at you as you pass,

As if, in playful mood, it would

Tickle the truant if it could,

You chuckling brook-you saucy brook?

Or is it you no longer know-

You fickle brook-

The honest friend of long ago?

The years that kept us twain apart

Have changed my face, but not my heart-

Many and sore those years, and yet

I fancied you could not forget

That happy time, my playmate brook!

Oh, sing again in artless glee,

My little brook,

The song you used to sing for me-

The song that's lingered in my ears

So soothingly these many years;

My grief shall be forgotten when

I hear your tranquil voice again

And that sweet song, dear little brook!

I LOVE SUPPERTIME

ALONE AT LAST

YOU NEVER CALL, YOU NEVER WRITE

THIS IS MY LETTER TO THE WORLD by Emily Dickinson

This is my letter to the world,

That never wrote to me, -

The simple news that Nature told,

With tender majesty.

Her message is committed

To hands I cannot see;

For love of her, sweet countrymen,

Judge tenderly of me!

FAIRY POEMS

IN FAIRYLAND by Joyce Kilmer

The fairy poet takes a sheet

Of moonbeam, silver white;

His ink is dew from daisies sweet,

His pen a point of light.

My love I know is fairer far

Than his, (though she is fair,)

And we should dwell where fairies are-

For I could praise her there.

I'D LOVE TO BE A FAIRY'S CHILD by Robert Graves

Children born of fairy stock

Never need for shirt or frock,

Never want for food or fire,

Always get their heart's desire:

Jingle pockets full of gold,

Marry when they're seven years old.

Every fairy child may keep

Two strong ponies and ten sheep;

All have houses, each his own,

Built of brick or granite stone;

They live on cheeries, they run wild-

I'd love to be a fairy's child.

CATCHING FAIRIES by William Cory

They're sleeping beneath the roses;

Oh! kiss them before they rise,

And tickle their tiny noses,

And sprinkle the dew on their eyes.

Make haste, make haste;

The fairies are caught;

Make haste.

We'll put them in silver cages,

And send them full-dress'd to court,

And maids of honor and pages

Shall turn the poor things to sport.

Be quick, be quick;

Be quicker than thought;

Be quick.

Their scarves shall be pennons for lancers,

We'll tie up our flowers with their curls,

Their plumes will make fans for dancers,

Their tears shall be set with pearls.

Be wise, be wise;

Make the most of the prize;

Be wise.

They'll scatter sweet scents by winking,

With sparks from under their feet;

They'll save us the trouble of thinking,

Their voices will sound so sweet.

Oh stay, oh stay:

They're up and away:

Oh stay!