Shoe Play

Shoe Play.

Five frisky ponies waiting at the gate.

Shoe them, saddle them, and ride off in state.

One pony for my little man;

Two ponies make a span;

Three ponies in a row;

Four ponies ready to go;

Five ponies, glossy and bright

Up street.-down street,

And home again at night.

Finish your meal...

Finish your meal, then softly steal,

To see my fine lady try her new wheel.

She bumps on both elbows,

A scratch on her nose;

But she doesn't care

If her wheel only goes.

A little boy named Johnny...

A little boy 

named Johnny

Had a donkey

he called Ned,

Who when e'er he

tried to ride him

Always threw

him o'er his 

head.

The Giraffe Friend

The Giraffe Friend.

They were happy and did laugh

When their friend, the big G'raffe,

Said, "I'll take you to the City,

in a tandem."

But their joy was turned to grief

When their charger bit a leaf,

Never thinking how his sudden stop

would land 'em.

Bow-wow, little dog...

Bow-wow, little dog, have you any name?

Yes sir, two, but they don't mean the same,

One from my master, he calls me "Champ,"

An one from the neighbors, the call me "Scamp."

by Dorothy G. Rice.

Bargains for Scholars

Bargains for Scholars.

A funny little man kept an alphabet

shop,

And out from his counter, hippity hop,

He danced until he was ready to drop,

Singing and shouting with never a stop;

"Come in, little scholars,

With bright silver dollars,

Or if you've not any

Then come with a penny.

I have a bumble Bs

And morrowfat Ps,

Some Chinese Qs

And Japanese Ts,

A flock of Js

And lots of Es,

And perfectly beautiful dark-blue Cs.

This is the place to buy your

knowledge

At cheaper rates than are given at

college!"

Then he'd draw a long breath and spin

like a top,

This queer little man in an alphabet 

shop.

An Imaginary Case

An Imaginary Case.

If one little boy-being

Healthy and strong-

Can keep a house merry

All the day long,

Just think, if you can,

What a tempest of joys

There'd be in a house

Holding nine little boys.

A Cup Of Tea

A Cup of Tea

Phoebe brings the tea-pot, the tea is all a-steam;

Dolly brings the pitcher filled with golden cream.

Rhoda has the dainty cups rimmed about with blue,

And Polly brings the pretty spoons shining bright as new.

The Baby trips along behind, looking very droll;

and she, the sweetest of them all, brings the sugar-bowl.

The Happy Wind

The Happy Wind

by Ninette M. Isowater

A Happy little southern wind

Went wandering away;

It was the dearest little wind

That ever went astray.

It touched the city's outer edge,

Then swiftly turned aside,

For it had heard that little winds,

Caught by the hot streets, died.

It wend along a country lane,

And through the meadows fair; 

It lifted up a horse's mane,

And stirred a baby's hair.

It lingered in a quiet place

Where tall, fair lilies grow;

When moon drew near, it hid itself

Where pines stand in a row.

It slept until the shadows turned,

Then, dancing, went its way;

No other little wind that blew

Had such a pleasant day.

The Fourth of July

The Fourth of July 

by Aunt Fanny

Come, wake up, girls, come

wake up, boys!

The dawn is very near;

The day we celebrate with noise,

The jolly Fourth is here.

Come, get your crackers for

the fun,

Both big and little size;

We'll wake up echoes when

the sun

Begins to open his eyes.

It's pop and bang till shadows

fall,

Then, when the night comes

on,

The most exciting time of all

Is fireworks on the lawn.

Pa sets the rockets 'gainst a 

post, They fizz and screech and

fly,

They fizz and screech and fly

Away up out of sight a'most,

Then crash against the sky!

Santa Claus's Scout

Santa Claus's Scout

by Eunice Ward.

On Christmas Eve, when lights are dim,

But eager eyes with excitement shine,

The Sandman steals from the chimney-place,

And glancing round, makes a backward sign.

He dips his hand in his pouch of sand,

The silver grains flinging far and white;

And listens, then, for the drowsy sighs

That come when eyes under lashes hide.

He softly tiptoes from crib to crib,

And sifts the sand in a tiny heap;

Then up the chimney he gaily calls,

"Come, Santa Claus, they are sound asleep!"

The Mist and All

Click to enlarge and download.

The Mist and All by Dixie Willson

I like the fall,

The mist and all.

I like the night owl's

Lonely call--

And wailing sound 

Of wind around.

I like the gray

November day,

And bare, dead boughs

That coldly sway

Against my pane.

I like the rain.

I like to sti

And laugh at it--

And tend

My cozy fire a bit.

I like the fall--

The mist and all--

The Train by C. H. Crandall

The Train

by C. H. Crandall

Hark!

It comes!

It hums!

With ear to ground

I catch the sound,

The warning courier-roar

That runs along before.

The pulsing, struggling, now is clearer!

The hillsides echo "nearer, nearer,"

Till like a drove of rushing, trampling

cattle,

With dust and wind and clang and 

Shriek and rattle,

Passes the cyclops of the train!

I see a fair face at the pane,--

Like a piano string

The rails, unburdened, sing;

The white smoke flies

Up to the skies;

The sound 

Is drowned--

Hark!

The Sea Gull by Mary Howitt

The Sea Gull

by Mary Howitt

Oh, the white Sea-gull, the wild Sea-gull,

A joyful bird is he,

As he lies like a cradled thing at rest

In the arms of a sunny sea!

The little waves rock to and fro,

And the white gull lies asleep,

As the fisher's bark, with breeze and tide,

Goes merrily over the deep!

The ship, with her fair sails set, goes by,

And her people stand to note

How the Sea-gull sits on the rocking waves,

As if in an anchored boat.

The sea is fresh, the sea is fair,

And the sky calm overhead,

And the Sea-gull lies on the deep, deep sea.

Like a king in his royal bed.

The Plains' Call...

The Plains' Call

by Arthur Chapman

I must ride out on the plains again,

With a horse 'twixt knee and knee,

Where the wolves howl and the winds growl,

And the clouds drift fast o'er me;

I must ride out on the plains once more,

On the Westland's broad and level floor.

I must ride forth on the plains at morn,

Where the cactus flowers are,

And the lark calls, and the white walls

Of the mountain loom afar;

I must ride out, when breaks the day--

Ride where the gods of outdoors play.

I must ride out on the plains at night,

And smell the dew wet sage,

When the moon glows, and the late snows

Gleam like a book's white page;

I must ride out on the plains again,

And quit this haunt of pygmy men.

When Winter Comes

Two squirrels gather nuts beneath a large oak in the forest.

When Winter Comes

by G. H. L.

When winter comes, the squirrels find

Some shelter from the winds unkind;

Some hollow tree where nuts they store,

Enough to last 'till winter's o'er;

There, safe from harm, they build their nest

And settle down to take a rest,

Their larder full of nuts and wheat,

All that they do is sleep and eat;

When winter comes, Ah me! I find

Some thoughtless ones of humankind,

Who never build a cozy nest, 

Prepare for time to take a rest;

Who when they strong north wind blows cold

Are friendless, helpless, hungry-old.

The Snow-Bird

Snowy pine or fir trees and a squirrel eating nuts.

The Snow-Bird 

by Williams Cullen Bryant

The snow-bird twittered on the beachen bough,

And 'neath the hemlock whose thick branches bent

Beneath its bright cold burden, and kept dry.

A circle, on the earth, of withered leaves,

The partridge found a shelter. Through the snow

The rabbit spring away. The lighter Track

Of fox, and the raccoon's broad paths were there,

Crossing each other. From his hollow tree

The squirrel was abroad, gathering the nuts

Just fallen, that asked the winter cold and sway 

Of winter blast, to shake them from their hold

This version was shortened and illustrated for school children. Read the original in it's entirety at the poetry foundation.

Don't Belittle Little Things

Picture includes a puppy, bee, garden, flowers, cloudy day etc...

"Don't Belittle, Little Things"

A pup on a lark with a joyous bark,

In the clover was fanciful free.

He scampered amuck; stopped very abrupt,

When he chanced on a big bumblebee.

Now the bee looked up at the lazy pup,

The pup thereupon showed his teeth;

"I've got teeth too," said the bumblebee,

"Tho' I may be little and hard to see."

So he stung the pup with an angry buzz;

Now the pup's not so cocky as he used to wuz.

A Wise Old Owl

Picture of an owl sitting on an oak tree limb with a moon and night sky behind him.

A Wise Old Owl

by Le Roy Newark

A wise old owl

Lived in an oak,

The more he saw

The less he spoke, 

The less he spoke

The more he heard;

Why can't we be

Like that old bird?

A Summer Snowstorm!

A SUMMER SNOW STORM

 

It's snowing hard as it can snow

The ground is almost white

And all our pretty orchard grass 

Is hidden out of sight.

The wind is blowing from the south,

And coming good and strong,

You'd never think a southern wind

Would bring the snow along!

The sun is shining warm and bright

The flowers bloom in throngs

The birds are flying to and fro,

And singing happy songs.

And if upon their feathers soft

The snowy flakes should fall,

They shake them off and sing some more,

And never mind at all!

The flowers, too, don't care a bit,

It only makes them grow

Because, you see, this summer storm

Is apple-blossom snow!

By E. S. T.