Kitabı oku: «In My Nursery», sayfa 8

JOHNNY JUMP-UP

 
Who wakes earliest in the morn?
Sure you'll think it is the lark,
Who before the daylight's born,
Rises singing through the dark.
 
 
But though sweet the lark may carol,
Early to his mate may call,
Johnny Jump-up, Johnny Jump-up,
Carols loud before them all.
 
 
Who wakes latest in the night
When the sun is gone to bed,
When each tiny blossom bright
Nods in sleep its pretty head?
 
 
Other babies all are sleeping,
Mother's eyelids droop and fall.
Johnny Jump-up, Johnny Jump-up,
Waketh later than them all.
 
 
Johnny's eyes are very lovely,
Johnny's eyes are very blue;
But one hardly cares to see them
Snap and dance the whole night through.
 
 
Johnny's laugh is clear and ringing,
Tinkling like a silver bell;
But a child should not be singing
Morning, noon, and night as well.
 
 
Johnny Jump-up, Johnny Jump-up,
Rules us with his tiny hand;
Lord and master, king and kaiser,
In the realm of Nurseryland.
 
 
Take your pleasure without measure;
Laugh and crow, and whoop and call!
Johnny Jump-up, Johnny Jump-up,
We're your faithful servants all!
 

THE OUTLANDISHMAN

 
The Outlandishman came o'er the sea, o'er the sea,
In a skipaway flipaway boat;
And who so merry, so merry as he,
As soon as he got afloat?
 
 
He sat on the poop to gobble his soup
With a spoon, with a spoon of the best;
And part of his fast he broke on the mast,
And smashed on the bowsprit the rest.
 
 
He lowered his line in the deep, in the deep,
And invited the fishlikins up;
Then he hung them in rows in front of his nose,
And wished it were time to sup.
 
 
Then the Bottlegreen Bovis arose, arose,
And asked was he game for a fight;
But he seized on the anchor and threw it with rancor,
And the foe-fish retired from sight.
 
 
He danced on the deck with never a check
Till the clock, till the clock struck nine.
And his eyes did wink, and he sang "tink a tink!"
In the mowl of the merry moonshine.
 
 
Lo! all of these things the Outlandishman did,
As he sailed, as he sailed on the sea.
Yea, more! yea, more! both sorry and sore,
But you never shall learn them from me.
 

A SLEIGH-RIDE

 
Ting! ring! the sleigh-bells jingle
Merrily over the frozen snow.
Cheeks a-glow and ears a-tingle,
Tumble in, children, here we go!
 
 
Ting! ring! the sleigh-bells jingle!
Get along, Dobbin! go along, Jack!
Bells and voices merrily mingle,
Swift we fly as an arrow's track.
 
 
Ting! ring! the sleigh-bells jingle!
Nose cold, Tommy? Here, rub it with snow!
Toes ache, Ned? Just kick till they tingle,
Thump! thump! thump! on the dasher, so!
 
 
Ting! ring! the sleigh-bells jingle!
Snow-wreaths fly like a snow-sea's foam.
Sweet bells, sweet laugh, hark! how they mingle!
Tumble out, children, here we're at home!
 

The Little Gnome

 
Once there lived a little gnome
Who had made his little home
Right down in the middle of the earth, earth, earth.
He was full of fun and frolic,
But his wife was melancholic,
And he never could divert her into mirth, mirth, mirth.
 
 
He had tried her with a monkey
And a parrot and a donkey,
And a pig that squealed whene'er he pulled its tail, tail, tail.
But though he laughed himself
Into fits, the jolly elf,
Still his wifey's melancholy did not fail, fail, fail.
 

THE BLINKING BEAR

 
"I will hie me," said the gnome,
"From my worthy earthy home;
I will go among the dwellings of the men, men, men.
Something funny there must be,
That will make her say 'He, he!'
I will find it and will bring it her again, 'gain, 'gain."
 

THE PATTYPOL

 
So he travelled here and there,
And he saw the Blinking Bear,
And the Pattypol whose eyes are in his tail, tail, tail.
And he saw the Linking Gloon,
Who was playing the bassoon,
And the Octopus a-waltzing with the whale, whale, whale.
 

THE LINKING GLOON

 
He saw the Chingo Chee,
And a lovely sight was he,
With a ringlet and a ribbon on his nose, nose, nose,
And the Baggle, and the Wogg,
And the Cantilunar Dog,
Who was throwing cotton-flannel at his foes, foes, foes.
 
 
All these the little gnome
Transported to his home,
And set them down before his weeping wife, wife, wife;
But she only cried and cried,
And she sobbywobbed and sighed,
Till she really was in danger of her life, life, life.
 

THE OCTOPUS AND WHALE

 
Then the gnome was in despair,
And he tore his purple hair,
And he sat him down in sorrow on a stone, stone, stone.
"I, too," he said, "will cry,
Till I tumble down and die,
For I've had enough of laughing all alone, 'lone, 'lone."
 

THE BAGGLE, THE WOGG, and THE CHINGO CHEE

 
His tears they flowed away,
Like a rivulet at play,
With a bubble, gubble, rubble, o'er the ground, ground, ground.
But when this his wifey saw,
She loudly cried "Haw, haw!
Here at last is something funny you have found, found, found."
 
 
She laughed, "Ho, ho! he, he!"
And she chuckled loud with glee,
And she wiped away her little husband's tears, tears, tears.
And since then, through wind and weather,
They have said "He, he!" together,
For several hundred thousand merry years, years, years.
 

The Little Dutchess

 
Once there lived a little Dutchess,
Just beside the Zuyder Zee;
Short and stout and roly-poly,
As a Dutchess ought to be.
 
 
She had pigs and she had poultry,
She had lands and she had gold;
And she loved the Burgomaster, —
Loved him more than can be told.
 
 
"Surly, burly Burgomaster,
Will you have me for your love?
You shall be my pouter-pigeon,
I will be your turtle-dove.
 
 
"You shall have my China porkers,
You shall have each Dorking hen;
Take them with your loving Dutchess,
Oh, you Dutchiest of men!"
 
 
Loudly laughed the Burgomaster,
"Naught I care for Dorking fowls;
Naught for pig, unless 'tis roasted,
And on that my doctor scowls.
 
 
"Frumpy, stumpy little Dutchess,
I do not incline to wed.
Keep your pigs and keep your poultry!
I will take your gold instead.
 
 
"I will take your shining florins,
I will take your fields' rich hoard;
You may go and tend your piggies
Till your spirits be restored."
 
 
Loudly wept the little Dutchess,
Tending sad each China pig;
Loudly laughed the Burgomaster
'Neath his merry periwig.
 
 
Till the Dutchy people, angry
Conduct such as this to see,
Took and plumped the pouter-pigeon
Right into the Zuyder Zee.