<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN>
<h1>The Book of the Little Past</h1>
<p> </p>
<div class='center'>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
<tr><td align='left'>'<i>I watched, ... even as it were a<br/>
Sparrow that sitteth upon the<br/>
house-top</i>'</td></tr>
</table></div>
<p> </p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/dec_halftitle.png" alt="halftitle" /></div>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<div class="figcenter"> <SPAN name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/col01.jpg" alt="Making A House" /><br/> <span class="caption">MAKING A HOUSE</span></div>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/tp.jpg" alt="Title Page" /><br/></div>
<h2>The Book of<br/> the Little<br/> Past</h2>
<h3>by Josephine Preston Peabody</h3>
<h4>Illustrated by Elizabeth Shippen Green</h4>
<h3>Houghton Mifflin Company<br/> <small>Boston 1910 New York</small></h3>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h5>COPYRIGHT 1903 BY JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY<br/>
COPYRIGHT 1908 BY JOSEPHINE PEABODY MARKS<br/><br/>
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</h5>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p class="center">TO <b>Alison</b><br/>
AND OLDER CHILDREN</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p class="center">NOTE</p>
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i10"><i>Of the poems of child-life brought together in this book</i><br/></span>
<span class="i10"><i>many are wholly new; some are reprinted from "The</i><br/></span>
<span class="i10"><i>Singing Leaves," published in 1903; and others have</i><br/></span>
<span class="i10"><i>appeared in Harper's Monthly Magazine, to the editor</i><br/></span>
<span class="i10"><i>of which I am indebted for permission to reprint them.</i><br/></span>
<span class="i60"><i>J. P. M.</i><br/></span>
<span class="i10"> <small>JULY, 1908</small><br/></span></div>
</div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Contents" id="Contents"></SPAN>Contents</h2>
<table summary="Contents">
<tr>
<td class="c2">Making A House</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_1">1</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Busy Child</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_2">2</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Sunset</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_4">4</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Wind</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_5">5</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Late</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_6">6</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Cakes and Ale</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_7">7</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Journey</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_8">8</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Pigeons Out Walking</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_10">10</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Concerning Love</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_11">11</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Curls</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_12">12</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">I Was Lost</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_14">14</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Polite Visitor</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_16">16</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Mystic</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_18">18</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Market</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_19">19</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Little Side-Streets</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_20">20</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Chestnut Stands</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_22">22</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Play's the Thing</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_24">24</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Windows</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_26">26</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Masterpiece</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_28">28</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Ode on the Dog</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_29">29</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Sorrows</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_32">32</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Secrets</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_33">33</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Christmas Tree</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_34">34</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Candle-Light</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_36">36</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Cow-Bells</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_37">37</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Thunder-Storms</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_39">39</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Church-Time</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_40">40</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Angels</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_42">42</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Beggar-Man</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_43">43</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Green Singing-Book</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_44">44</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Wing-Sprouts</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_46">46</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Early</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_47">47</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Wind's East</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_48">48</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">After-Word</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#Page_50">50</SPAN></td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Illustrations" id="Illustrations"></SPAN>Illustrations</h2>
<table summary="Illustrations">
<tr>
<td class="c2">Making A House</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Journey</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#illo_8">8</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Mystic</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#illo_18">18</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Masterpiece</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#illo_28">28</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">Candle-Light</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#illo_36">36</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="c2">The Green Singing-Book</td>
<td class="c333"><SPAN href="#illo_44">44</SPAN></td>
</tr>
</table>
<div class="poem">
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</SPAN></span></p>
</div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Making_a_house" id="Making_a_house"></SPAN>Making a house</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_f.png" alt="F" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">irst of all, I draw the Smoke<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Trailing up the sky;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Then the Chimney, underneath;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And Birds all flying by;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Then the House; and every Window,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Watching, like an Eye.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Everybody else begins<br/></span>
<span class="i2">With the House. But I<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Love the Smoke the best of all;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And you don't know why!...<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Here it goes,—like little feathers,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Sailing up the sky!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Busy_Child" id="The_Busy_Child"></SPAN>The Busy Child</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> have so many things to do,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I don't know when I shall be through.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">To-day I had to watch the rain<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Come sliding down the window-pane.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And I was humming, all the time,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Around my head, a kind of rhyme,<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And blowing softly on the glass,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">To see the dimness come and pass.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I made a picture, with my breath<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Rubbed out to show the underneath.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I built a city on the floor;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And then I went and was a War.—<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And I escaped, from square to square<br/></span>
<span class="i0">That's greener on the carpet, there,<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Until at last, I came to Us:<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But it was very dangerous.—<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Because, if I had stepped Outside,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I made believe I should have died!<br/><br/></span></div>
</div>
<hr class="half" />
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And now I have the boat to mend;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And all our supper to pretend.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I am so Busy, all the day,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I haven't any time to play.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Sunset" id="Sunset"></SPAN>Sunset</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_t.png" alt="T" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">hose islands far away are mine,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Beyond the cloudy strip;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And something beautiful, besides:—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I think it is a Ship.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Wind" id="Wind"></SPAN>Wind</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> let them call it just <i>The Wind</i>,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And tell me not to grieve.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But I know all it left behind,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And more than they believe.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I know; about the far-off lands,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Where people never sleep;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">They hide their faces in their hands,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And rock, and weep, and weep.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And I too little, all alone,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">To go and find them yet;—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But Oh, I hear!—When I am grown,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I never will forget.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Late" id="Late"></SPAN>Late</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_m.png" alt="M" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">y Father brought somebody up,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">To show us all, asleep.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">They came as softly up the stairs<br/></span>
<span class="i6">As you could creep.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">They whispered in the doorway there,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And looked at us awhile.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I had my eyes shut up; but I<br/></span>
<span class="i6">Could feel him smile.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I shut my eyes up close, and lay<br/></span>
<span class="i2">As still as I could keep;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Because I knew he wanted us<br/></span>
<span class="i6">To be asleep.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Cakes_and_Ale" id="Cakes_and_Ale"></SPAN>Cakes and Ale</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">'m always glad when Andrew comes.<br/></span>
<span class="i2">If only I am there,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">He stays awhile, and talks to me,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">As if he did not care.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">He took me to some Music once,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">When it was all for me.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And Oh, I had a splendid time!<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And he said, So did He.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">It lasts as if the Music still<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Went round and round the sky.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">He said he had a good time, too;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And I said, So did I!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Journey" id="The_Journey"></SPAN>The Journey</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> never saw the hills so far<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And blue, the way the pictures are;<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And flowers, flowers growing thick,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But not a one for me to pick!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">The land was running from the train,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">All blurry through the window-pane.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And then it all looked flat and still,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">When up there jumped a little hill!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I saw the windows and the spires,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And sparrows sitting on the wires;<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And fences, running up and down;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And then we cut straight through a town.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I saw a Valley, like a cup;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And ponds that twinkled, and dried up.<br/></span></div>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <SPAN name="illo_8" id="illo_8"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/col02.jpg" alt="The Journey" /><br/> <span class="caption">THE JOURNEY</span></div>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I counted meadows, that were burnt;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And there were trees,—and then there weren't!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">We crossed the bridges with a roar,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Then hummed, the way we went before.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And tunnels made it dark and light<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Like open-work of day and night.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Until I saw the chimneys rise,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And lights and lights and lights, like eyes.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And when they took me through the door,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I heard It all begin to roar.—<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I thought—as far as I could see—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">That everybody wanted Me!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Pigeons_Out_Walking" id="Pigeons_Out_Walking"></SPAN>Pigeons Out Walking</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_t.png" alt="T" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">hey never seem to hurry,—no,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Even for the crowd.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">They dip, and coo, and move as slow,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">All so soft and proud!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">You can see the wavy specks<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Of bubble-color on their necks;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—Little, little Cloud.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Cloud that goes, the very way<br/></span>
<span class="i2">All the Bubbles do:<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Blue and green, and green and gray,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Gold and rosy, too.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And they talk as Bubbles could<br/></span>
<span class="i0">If they only ever would<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Talk and call and coo!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">—Till you try to catch one so,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Just to make it stay<br/></span>
<span class="i0">While the colors turn. But Oh,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Then they fly away!—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">All at once, two, three, four, five—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Like a snowstorm all alive,—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Gray and white, and gray!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Concerning_Love" id="Concerning_Love"></SPAN>Concerning Love</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> wish she would not ask me if I love the Kitten more than her.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Of Course I love her. But I love the Kitten, too; and It has Fur.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Curls" id="Curls"></SPAN>Curls</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">t happens that way in the world<br/></span>
<span class="i0">With everything you see.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Some people have their hair all curl'd,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Some straight as straight can be.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It is a Mystery.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Yes, some have hair that waves and clings,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And does all kinds of curly things;—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And some not ever, till they Die.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And nobody knows Why....<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And some,—already born with Curls,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Some of them are not even Girls!<br/></span></div>
</div>
<hr class="half" />
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I always think,—of Curly Hair,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It looks as if the Curls came there<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The way I hum around a song<br/></span>
<span class="i0">More things than really do belong.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The happier I feel, the more<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I sing, I never heard before!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I curl more music round the Air,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The way it looks with Curly Hair.<br/></span></div>
</div>
<h4><SPAN name="Envoi" id="Envoi"></SPAN>[<i>Envoi</i>]</h4>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">But you may sing all day, you know;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">You cannot really make it grow.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And you may know it is Not Fair;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But that won't give you Curly Hair.<br/></span>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</SPAN></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="I_Was_Lost" id="I_Was_Lost"></SPAN>I Was Lost</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">[<i>Oh, the Day that I was Lost, I never shall forget:</i><br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>I wake up in the night sometimes, and think It's Happening Yet.</i>]<br/></span></div>
</div>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_s.png" alt="S" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">he let me go, a minute.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">She said she would take care;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But she let me go, a minute:<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And then— She wasn't there.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Everything grew awful<br/></span>
<span class="i0">That was good before.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And the Faces didn't look<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Like people any more.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">It made you feel like Wrinkles<br/></span>
<span class="i0">All over you; and Cold.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It made you feel two hundred<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And eighty-nine years old.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">It was like being Homesick,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And Hurt; when no one Cares.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It was exactly like a Wreck;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And people smiled like Bears.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I thought that my own Mother<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Had just—Forgotten me!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I thought that God had lost me,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Like a Penny in the Sea.<br/></span></div>
</div>
<hr class="half" />
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">The Noise all seemed to grow and grow<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And roar until it drowned me.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And I could only say,—'<i>I'm Lost</i>.'...<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And then, at last,—they Found me,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">—They Found me!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Polite_Visitor" id="Polite_Visitor"></SPAN>Polite Visitor</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> feel polite, outside the door;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But when it should begin,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I can't remember Not to ask<br/></span>
<span class="i2">If just their Cat is in.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And if the Sun should sprinkle through<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Along the floor that way,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I can't remember what I do<br/></span>
<span class="i2">If I am Urged to Stay.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And when I've shaken hands all round,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—No matter how I try,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I can't remember Not to go<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And Kiss their Dog good-by,<br/></span>
<span class="i6">—Good-by,<br/></span>
<span class="i12">—Good-by!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"><i>Yes, thank you, please.—They're Very Well;</i><br/></span>
<span class="i2">—<i>I think I'd better go.</i><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"><i>Yes, thank you, please. I'm always late;</i><br/></span>
<span class="i2"><i>My Mother told me so.</i><br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>Yes, thank you!—If I Have to Bring</i><br/></span>
<span class="i2"><i>A message,—yes, I'll come;</i><br/></span>
<span class="i0">—<i>And if your Bird will only Sing;</i><br/></span>
<span class="i2">—<i>And when your Cat is home.</i><br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Mystic" id="The_Mystic"></SPAN>The Mystic</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_p.png" alt="P" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">eople say to me,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">'A penny for your thought.'—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And I can't remember thinking;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And I should think I ought.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I wasn't sleeping, either:<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I know that, because<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I saw things out of both my eyes.<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I wonder where I was.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Now I'm back, I see them<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Sitting all around;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And the noise, together,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Makes a purring sound.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But I know Something More<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Than just awhile ago.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I know Something More!—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I wonder what I know.<br/></span></div>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <SPAN name="illo_18" id="illo_18"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/col03.jpg" alt="The Mystic" /><br/> <span class="caption">THE MYSTIC</span></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</SPAN></span></p>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Market" id="Market"></SPAN>Market</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> went to Market yesterday,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And it is like a Fair<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Of everything you'd like to see;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But nothing live is there:<br/></span>
<span class="i0">—The Pigeons, hanging up to eat;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And Rabbits, by their little feet!—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And no one seemed to care.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And there were Fishes out in rows,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Bright ones of every kind;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Some were pink, and silver too;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But all of them were blind.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Yes, everything you'd like to touch.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It would not make you happy much,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But no one seemed to mind.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And loveliest of all, a Deer!—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Only its eyes were blurred;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And hanging by it, very near,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">A beautiful great Bird.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">So I could smooth his feathers through,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And kiss them, very softly, too:<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But Oh, he never stirred!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Little_Side-Streets" id="Little_Side-Streets"></SPAN>Little Side-Streets</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_w.png" alt="W" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">hy are some streets so different?<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The kittens all are long and thin;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I think they have more flowers there,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But broken things to grow them in.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Why do they like the house so high,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">With such a little of the ground?<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And do you think they ever see<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The Moon before it's old and round?<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Why won't I like to play there, too?—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">With all the funny things to eat,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And all the carts with little bells,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And dancing-music in the street?<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And if I can't, then why do they<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Stay out, the whole of evening?—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why do they always seem to have<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Just Not-Enough of everything?<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Why don't you come?—Why can't I go?<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It isn't Fair!—What makes it so?—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">If they don't like it? Don't you know?<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why do you always never know?<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Chestnut_Stands" id="Chestnut_Stands"></SPAN>Chestnut Stands</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> wonder why you feel, somehow,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">It's wrong to leave a Chestnut stand,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">With all so much of what you want<br/></span>
<span class="i2">In both your pockets and your hand.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I always have to turn around;—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">It sounds so hurt—I don't see why—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">That little high-up crying sound<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I don't remember by and by.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">There is not anything so good<br/></span>
<span class="i2">As Chestnuts (when they're hot) can be.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It must be fun to count them out,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">With One for You and One for Me;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And yet it stays so doleful there,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—For all the People going by,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And breathing frosty on the air,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Like something trying not to cry.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">—It Isn't something I was Told!—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I know it's small and scared and thin.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It's like when both your hands are cold,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And Pockets you can't put them in!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">—Like something happened long ago;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—Like feeling Homesick,—yes, and Shy;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Like being Sorry,—when you know<br/></span>
<span class="i2">You won't remember, by and by.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Plays_the_Thing" id="The_Plays_the_Thing"></SPAN>The Play's the Thing</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i2"> never dared to look away<br/></span>
<span class="i4">While they were tuning so,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">For fear the Curtain might go up,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">—And I not see it go!—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Then all at once, it all went Dark;—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">To make you hold your breath and hark,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">—Oh, hold your breath and hark!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i2">Excepting where the Curtain was,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">It stayed as black as night;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And that kept still one minute more,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">All edged across with light:—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Then Up—and Up—<br/></span>
<span class="i10">And Oh, so soon,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It was like all Inside the Moon,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">—Yes, sitting in the Moon!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i2">And Oh, how Beautiful they were!—<br/></span>
<span class="i4">And could we see them near?—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And Oh, how brave at everything!<br/></span>
<span class="i4">But it was somehow queer<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">To see that smiling way they had:<br/></span>
<span class="i0">They smiled so much, but not all glad;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—No, not so always glad.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i2">I wish we couldn't go away;<br/></span>
<span class="i4">I wish it would begin<br/></span>
<span class="i2">All over, now, and never end;<br/></span>
<span class="i4">I wish we were Locked In!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Oh, can't we see it all again?<br/></span>
<span class="i0">To-morrow!—Sunday! Monday? When?<br/></span>
<span class="i6">—Ah, when, when?<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Windows" id="Windows"></SPAN>Windows</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_o.png" alt="O" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">nce, and in the daytime too, I made myself afraid,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Playing Eyelids-Up-and-Down, with the window-shade;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Till the Houses seemed to watch People going by;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And they kept me looking, too,—wondering where and why.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"><i>If I were that Other Boy,—if I were those Men</i>,<br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>Going by with things to sell,—who would I be, then?</i><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Windows with their eyebrows high; windows like a frown,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Thinking it all over, so, with the curtains down;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Tall ones that are somehow sad, narrow ones that blink,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">All the Windows you can see make you think, and think.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"><i>If I were that Old Man, and I looked up at me</i><br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>Watching from the window here, Oh, then how would it be?</i><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Sometimes they are golden, with shining in their eyes.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Every time the sun sets, it happens like surprise,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And so bright, I almost forget the dream I made;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But I keep it, for the days I want to make myself afraid.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"><i>If I were that Boy who limps,—now it's dark and snowing,</i><br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>And if I were going home,—Oh, where would I be going?</i><br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Masterpiece" id="The_Masterpiece"></SPAN>The Masterpiece</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_m.png" alt="M" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">y Mother cut it out for me,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And started it, so I could see;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And then she turned some edges in,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And let me take it to begin.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I made it. But I did not know<br/></span>
<span class="i0">How very long it takes to sew.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I took a long time for that stitch;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And now it's there, I don't know which<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Is better. But not one is small,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And they are not alike at all.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">That side was very hard to fix.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And then, the needle always pricks:<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But you must hold it, and take care,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Because the point is always there;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And knots keep coming by and by;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And then, no matter how you try,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The thread comes out of its old eye!<br/></span></div>
</div>
<hr class="half" />
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">But some way, now I have it done,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I think it is a Pretty One.<br/></span></div>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <SPAN name="illo_28" id="illo_28"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/col04.jpg" alt="The Masterpiece" /><br/> <span class="caption">THE MASTERPIECE</span></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</SPAN></span></p>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Ode_on_the_Dog" id="Ode_on_the_Dog"></SPAN>Ode on the Dog</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">I<br/></span></div>
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_m.png" alt="M" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">y Pitch-dark Angel with a Rosy Tongue,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">My Own—my Own,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why can't the grown-up Things we live among<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Let us alone?<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why do they have to talk the livelong day<br/></span>
<span class="i4">About such silly things?<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But if they must,—why can't they, anyway,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">Have either Tails or Wings?<br/></span></div>
</div>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">II<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Of Course I cannot love them as they are,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">As much as You.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why aren't they ever really Beautiful,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">—They too?—<br/></span>
<span class="i4">With curly coats, like wool;<br/></span>
<span class="i4">And floppy ears to pull;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Yes, and a wide pink mouth, with such a Smile!<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</SPAN></span><br/></span>
<span class="i0">Yes, and a Tail that beats time all the while;<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Beautiful, Beautiful!—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And golden stars, for eyes,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Behind the darkest trees<br/></span>
<span class="i2">(Till your hair's parted)!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why can't they have such darling ways as these?—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why can't they be so lovely when they sneeze?—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why can't they ever be so tender-hearted,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Or even look so wise<br/></span>
<span class="i8">As You?—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">My Wonderful (even if you Won't say <i>Mew</i>),<br/></span>
<span class="i2">My True Prince in Disguise!<br/></span>
<span class="i6">Why can't they be<br/></span>
<span class="i0">As funny, when they try to sing a song?<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And when, for everything that I can do,<br/></span>
<span class="i6">They Won't Agree,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why can't they think they're always in the wrong?<br/></span>
<span class="i8">—Like You!<br/></span></div>
</div>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">III<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i4">Why you,—O Precious Thing,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">You are swift (almost) as any Sparrow.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Over the tall grass how you arch and spring,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">Yes, like a bow and arrow!—<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</SPAN></span><br/></span>
<span class="i0">Oh, and how good to see you, when it snows,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Plough a long, lovely pathway with your nose!<br/></span>
<span class="i4">(No one grown-up could do it, I suppose.)<br/></span></div>
</div>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">IV<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">My dearest Blessing and my Very Own,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">Even when I am grown,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">Never do you forsake me!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">If you don't go to heaven when you die,<br/></span>
<span class="i6">—Neither will I:<br/></span>
<span class="i4">Nothing can ever make me!<br/></span>
<span class="i8">I won't go,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">For all that they can do.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">No; on the steps Outside, and down, below,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Forever and ever and ever, I'll stay too!<br/></span>
<span class="i8">—With You.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Sorrows" id="The_Sorrows"></SPAN>The Sorrows</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">f This is all it will be like,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I wish to Die;—I don't care how—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">While I am very, very young;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">As young as almost Now.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">They never felt what Sorrow was;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Or never learned their Golden Rule;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">They say, <i>These are your happiest days</i>,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—With School,—School,—School!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">When Saturday's all out of breath<br/></span>
<span class="i0">With all the week before in sight;—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And Monday coming after you<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Spoils every Sunday night!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And Nothing done but yesterdays;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And Nothing coming but to-morrows!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Don't cheer me up. Please let me be.<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—I have the Sorrows.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Secrets" id="Secrets"></SPAN>Secrets</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> have a secret to myself,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">That no one else can see.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I hum it over to myself,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And no one hears but me.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">—Something You don't know!<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I knew long ago.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And the more I never tell you it,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">The more it gets to be.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">It makes me feel as purry<br/></span>
<span class="i2">As the Kitten on your knee.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It makes me feel as round and warm<br/></span>
<span class="i2">As the Sparrow on that tree;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It makes me puff my feathers out<br/></span>
<span class="i2">The way he puffs out his.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And if you think I haven't one,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I'll tell you what it Is,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">—Maybe!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Christmas_Tree" id="The_Christmas_Tree"></SPAN>The Christmas Tree</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> know you're in the house;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I know you are in there;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I feel the green and breathing<br/></span>
<span class="i0">All around the air.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I know you're safe and warm;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I know you're very near.<br/></span>
<span class="i4"><i>Oh, darling Tree,</i><br/></span>
<span class="i8"><i>Do you hear?</i><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I promised not to look<br/></span>
<span class="i0">(The way I did before),<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But I can hear you purring—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Purring, through the door:<br/></span>
<span class="i0">A green, soft, purring;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Just as if you knew:<br/></span>
<span class="i4"><i>Everybody here</i><br/></span>
<span class="i8"><i>Loves you.</i><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Don't feel lonely,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Now you are in-doors.—<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</SPAN></span><br/></span>
<span class="i0">Wait for all the shining things<br/></span>
<span class="i0">To-morrow,—all yours!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Then you won't know what to think!—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">All over Candle-light.<br/></span>
<span class="i4"><i>—Oh, darling Tree,</i><br/></span>
<span class="i8"><i>Good-night.</i><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And I love you, I love you;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And everybody, too.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And so does the market-man<br/></span>
<span class="i0">That brought us you!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And if you haven't Anything<br/></span>
<span class="i2">For me, this year,<br/></span>
<span class="i4"><i>—I love you. Good-night!</i><br/></span>
<span class="i8"><i>Do you hear?</i><br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Candle-Light" id="Candle-Light"></SPAN>Candle-Light</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_w.png" alt="W" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">hen I've wished on my first star,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">While the rest begin,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And the grass is waking up,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Oh, She calls us in!—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Then She calls us in.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">But I wouldn't go, unless<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I were sure there'd be<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Something more like that, indoors,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Something more to see,—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Beautiful to see.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">So She lights the candle then,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Where the shadows are,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And it stands, and holds its breath—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Then it makes a Star,—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Then it makes a Star!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I curl up for my good-night,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Dark, where I can see.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And I watch the Candle-light<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Till It looks at me,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Oh, It looks at me!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</SPAN></span></div>
<div class="figcenter"> <SPAN name="illo_36" id="illo_36"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/col05.jpg" alt="Candle-Light" /><br/> <span class="caption">CANDLE-LIGHT</span></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</SPAN></span></p>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Cow-Bells" id="Cow-Bells"></SPAN>Cow-Bells</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" />
<p class="cap_1"></p>
</div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">'ve followed till the Sun was down,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">As low as to the very brink;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And still the pathway kept along,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Around the world, I think.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I've tried to find it, everywhere<br/></span>
<span class="i2">A bell would clink, and clink, and call;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But someway I can never find<br/></span>
<span class="i2">That Farthest One of all.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I've been in all the tallest weeds,—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And thistles (with the loudest bees);<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And once, across the stepping-stones<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And through the cedar-trees.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And now you hear it hushing up,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And then you hear it clink and clink;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And if you found it, it would lead<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Around the world, I think!<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</SPAN></span><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">It sounds so small, and gold, and far—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Far-off, beyond the lily-pool;—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And so, as if there must be there<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—Oh, something Wonderful!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Thunder-Storms" id="Thunder-Storms"></SPAN>Thunder-Storms</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_e.png" alt="E" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">xcepting when they're very loud,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And then, when they're almost too bright,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I love to see a Thunder-Storm,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Excepting when it's in the night.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">It's harder to remember, then:<br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>It's Very Wicked not to trust</i><br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>A Thunder-Storm. Because it's Sure</i><br/></span>
<span class="i2"><i>To know!—And then, besides, you Must.</i><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"><i>For it will light your Heart up.—Yes;</i><br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>The Deepest Darkness ever Made</i><br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>Could Never Hide the Guilty One</i><br/></span>
<span class="i2">... <i>Who feels At All Afraid.</i><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">The thunder is the best of all,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Except the wading for the Birds;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And then, the Shining in the wet;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—Oh, and the Rainbow, afterwards!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Church-Time" id="Church-Time"></SPAN>Church-Time</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">t feels Forever without End,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">The time I have to stay.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It's even harder to keep still<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Than pray and pray and pray.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">The reading happens all the time;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">The praying rolls along;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And something makes them always sing<br/></span>
<span class="i2">A long, long song.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">So when I've nearly gone to sleep,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I make my Penny walk.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I walk it up and down, to hear<br/></span>
<span class="i2">The talk and talk and talk.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And if I lose it on the floor<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Before they pass the Plate,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Why then there's nothing more to do<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But wait—wait—wait.—<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Till, when you'd have to go to sleep<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Or else you'd have to die,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</SPAN></span><br/></span>
<span class="i0">They let you Out,—and straight into<br/></span>
<span class="i8">The Sky!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"><i>With nests all hiding up the Trees</i>,<br/></span>
<span class="i2"><i>And Roads to make you Run:—</i><br/></span>
<span class="i0"><i>And everything like Squirrels!—</i><br/></span>
<span class="i4"><i>In the Sun—the Sun!</i><br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Angels" id="Angels"></SPAN>Angels</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_t.png" alt="T" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">hey are more shy than Snow.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">You may look up and try to see one there,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Just when you feel It breathing on your hair;<br/></span>
<span class="i4">But then It has to go.—<br/></span>
<span class="i4">Somehow, I know.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i4">They want you to believe<br/></span>
<span class="i0">How bright they are, and never try to see<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Whether they keep their word. For that would be<br/></span>
<span class="i4">As if they could deceive.<br/></span>
<span class="i4">That makes them grieve.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i4">So, if you want Yours near,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And hide your eyes and keep quite still; and say,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">"<i>Oh, I have Wanted you all day—all day;</i><br/></span>
<span class="i4"><i>Shine at me, Angel, dear!</i>"<br/></span>
<span class="i4">It will be Here.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Beggar-Man" id="The_Beggar-Man"></SPAN>The Beggar-Man</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_h.png" alt="H" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">e only looked like a Beggar-man,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">As ragged, just, as any.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But he might have been an Angel, too.<br/></span>
<span class="i2">So I gave him my penny.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I waited, till I thought I saw<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Him shining through. And when he<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Held out his hand, I watched for what<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Would happen to my penny.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">He might have been an Angel, too!<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But I know he wasn't any.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">For he frowned at me, like that, you see,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">When it wasn't but One penny.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And now that's gone; and I don't care.<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I'd rather not have any,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Than keep it, if an Angel came<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And asked me for my penny.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Green_Singing-Book" id="The_Green_Singing-Book"></SPAN>The Green Singing-Book</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> don't know how to read the words,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Nor how the black things go.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But if you stand it up, and sing,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">You never have to know.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">The music sounds alike each time<br/></span>
<span class="i2">When grown-up people play;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">But every time I sing, myself,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">It sounds a different way.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And when I've sung the book all through,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And every page, around,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I stand it upside down and sing,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">To see how that will sound.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I sing how all the things outside<br/></span>
<span class="i2">The window look to me;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The shiny wrinkles in the road,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And then, about my Tree;<br/></span></div>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <SPAN name="illo_44" id="illo_44"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/col06.jpg" alt="The Green Singing-Book" /><br/> <span class="caption">THE GREEN SINGING-BOOK</span></div>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I sing about the City, too,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">The noises and the wheels;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And Windows blinking in the sun;—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I sing the way it feels.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And if a Sparrow flies across,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I put him in the Song.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">I sing whatever happens in,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">To make it last for long.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">I sing about the things I think<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Of almost everything.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Sometimes I don't know what to Think<br/></span>
<span class="i2">—Till I begin to Sing.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Wing-Sprouts" id="Wing-Sprouts"></SPAN>Wing-Sprouts</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">t happens when the birds go by<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And leave you far behind;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And you flutter, till you ache<br/></span>
<span class="i2">All around your mind.—<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Like a Flag,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Like a Flag<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Flapping at the wind!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">It happens when you catch the hills<br/></span>
<span class="i2">As blue as yesterday;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">You hold your heart in both your hands,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Or it would fly away.<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Yes, it would!<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Yes, it would!<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Away—away—away!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">It makes your heart into a Bird<br/></span>
<span class="i2">That darts, and leaps, and sings.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">—Oh, feel my pinafore, high up!—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Oh, do you think it's Wings?<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Do you think—<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Do you think—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Oh, couldn't it be Wings?<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="Early" id="Early"></SPAN>Early</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_i.png" alt="I" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0"> like to lie and wait, to see<br/></span>
<span class="i2">My Mother braid her hair.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">It is as long as it can be,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And yet she doesn't care.<br/></span>
<span class="i2">I love my Mother's hair.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And then the way her fingers go;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">They look so quick and white,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">In and out, and to and fro,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And braiding in the light;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And it is always right.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">So then she winds it, shiny brown,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Around her head into a crown,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Just like the day before.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And then she looks, and pats it down,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And looks, a minute more.—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">While I stay here, all still and cool.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Oh, isn't Morning beautiful?<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="The_Winds_East" id="The_Winds_East"></SPAN>The Wind's East</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_t.png" alt="T" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">he Wind's east,—Oh, Oh!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Only a little while ago,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">To-day was just like yesterday.<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But now—now, only Now<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The world's all turned some silver way;—<br/></span>
<span class="i8">I know how,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">I know how!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i8">The Wind's east,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">The Wind's east!—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Salt, salt Wind that I love so.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">All the things in the garden blow<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Wavy gray;—and the Trees all know,—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Trees that never, never can go,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Must know how it would feel to be<br/></span>
<span class="i0">There, where the Ships sail to and fro,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Ships on the blue, blue Sea!<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And the homesick ones by the bridge up here<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Are tugging to get their anchors clear,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And they reach up high, to see.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</SPAN></span><br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">They catch their breath when they feel the air,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And the rigging stirs, and the lanterns stare;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">For they know the tide is high out there,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The gulls go skirling by, out there,—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">The gulls and the Wind go free.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And they tug, and they pull, and they wonder so<br/></span>
<span class="i0">When will the Captain let them go?—<br/></span>
<span class="i8">Oh, Oh,—to Sea,<br/></span>
<span class="i8">To Sea!<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</SPAN></span></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><SPAN name="After-Word" id="After-Word"></SPAN>After-Word</h2>
<div class="poem">
<div class="drop">
<ANTIMG src="images/drop_a.png" alt="A" class="cap" /></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">nd shall we light the candle now?<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And leave, since there is so much more,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Our cupful, and the share of bread,<br/></span>
<span class="i4">Here by the open door?<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">For some one might be wanting it,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">If there should chance to come this way,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">A very poor Man; or a Bird;—<br/></span>
<span class="i4">Or maybe, God, some day.<br/></span></div>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</SPAN></span></div>
<SPAN name="endofbook"></SPAN>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
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