The Toys He Doesn't Like

 THE TOYS HE DOESN'T LIKE

I have no use for iron toys,
Or linen books - can't bear 'em;
They're aggravating things for boys,
For I can't break or tear 'em.

The Turkey's Lament

THE TURKEY'S LAMENT

A merry Christmas, did you say?
I wonder how you'd feel
If you were going to be killed
To make a Christmas meal!

Why can't you eat nice fresh green grass?
Or feed upon some hay?
I'm sure it would be quite as good,
And more humane, I say.

The ducks and geese upon the farm
All quite agree with me;
And think it time to put a stop
To such barbarity.

We talked together late last night,
And think the wisest plan
Would be for us to take your place,
And just to kill a man.

And then perhaps you'd understand
A little how we feel,
And vegetarian diet choose,
To make your Christmas meal.

How Santa Claus Looks

 

How Santa Claus Looks

The Santa Claus Tom Brown once saw, he said was tall and slim;
The one I saw down at the store didn't look at all like him;
The one at our house Christmas-time looked just like any man;
I can't explain just how this is - perhaps the big folks can.

When Santa Claus Comes

When Santa Claus Comes

Have you seen dear Santa Claus anywhere to-day ?
I should be so very glad if he'd come this way:
When I see him I shall say with a bow like this, (1) 
If you will my stocking fill you shall have a kiss.

Have you seen dear Santa Claus anywhere to-day ?
I should be so very glad if he'd come this way;
When I see him I shall say with a smile like this, (2)
If you will my stocking fill you shall have a kiss.

Have you seen dear Santa Claus anywhere to-day?
I should be so very glad if he'd come this way;
When I see him I shall say with a hose like this. (3)
If you will my stocking fill you shall have a kiss.

1. Makes a pretty bow. 
2. Makes a pretty smile. 
3. Holds up a very large stocking which had been concealed until now.
   

The Puzzling Pumpkin

The Puzzling Pumpkin
by Roberta Symmes

This is the way the pumpkin looked,
Jolly fellow,- round and yellow!
This is the way the pumpkin looked
Out in the garden green.

This is the way the pumpkin looked,
Spooky,- very, big and scary,
This is the way the pumpkin looked
At jolly Hallowe'en.

When Thanksgiving Comes...

 

When Thanksgiving Comes
by T. C. O'Donnell

I never used to could remember when
Thanksgiving came. I asked my Mamma every day
If when it came it was November then,
Or Thursday, March or May.

But now I know when every single dish
Is heaped with turkey, sauce and punkin pie each year:
Why, Thanksgiving comes when I begin to wish
That Santa Claus was here.

Halloween Cats

Halloween Cats

Black cats, of season
Halloween,
You are the queerest I
have seen.

In pose, you're somewhat
like a curtain,
But that you're casts, I'm
still quite certain.

Your figures, rather
Oriental,
Would stamp you purely
ornamental.

No rat or bird such cats
would shun,
From you no smallest mouse would run.

For this, I love you, gentle
creatures,
And much admire your pleasant features.

The Flag Day Poem...

 The Flag Day Poem
by Lydia Coonley Ward

Out on the breeze
O'er land and seas,
A beautiful banner is streaming.
Shining its stars.
Splendid its bars,
Under the sunshine 'tis gleaming.
Over the brave
Long may it wave
Peace to the world ever bringing
While to the stars
Linked with the bars,
Hearts will forever be singing.

Off To School

Off to School

Hurry! hurry! is the rule
On the days we go to school.
Just as soon as breakfast's done,
'Round about the house we run,
Looking here and looking there,
Finding things 'most anywhere.
Father, walking to and fro,
Hurries Jack who's always slow.
Mother, glancing at the clock,
Smoothes out Mary's rumpled frock;
Tells us children to make haste;
Says there isn't time to waste;
Goes down with us to the gate;
Says she hopes we won't be late.
Then away we hurry fast,
Off to school again at last.

A Sunshine Rainbow

 A Sunshine Rainbow

Six pretty colors
Dancing on the door.
Climbing on the ceiling,
Falling on the floor.

One little boy
With his hands held high,
Tried to catch the colors.
But oh, how they did fly!

Roguish Johnny held the glass
In the morning sun.
Tommy chased the colors
As fast as he could run.

But when he put his hands up
To catch the colors bright,
John would give the glass a tip
And then they'd all take flight.

''Now get them, Tommy,'' Johnny said,
''This time I'll make them stay.''
But oh, just then there came a cloud
And stole them all away.

A Sky Rainbow

 A Sky Rainbow

Some little drops of water
That lay upon the ground.
Once started off for cloud-land
To see what could be found.

They climbed up on a sunbeam,
But when they reached the sky
They saw a great black rain-cloud
Whose thunder rumbled by.

And oh, they feared the thunder,
And the lightening flashing so,
And back to earth they tumbled
As fast as they could go.

Ten when they saw the green earth
They laughed with all their might;
and John and Katie shouted,
"Oh, see the rainbow bright!"

Indepenence A Solemn Duty

poem by Charles Sprague.

 INDEPENDENCE A SOLEMN DUTY

By Richard Henry Lee

        The time will certainly come when the fated separation between the mother-country and these colonies must take place, whether you will or no, for it is so decreed by the very nature of things, by the progressive increase of our population, the fertility of our soil, the extent of our territory, the industry of our countrymen, and the immensity of the ocean which separates the two countries. And if this be true, as it is most true, who does not see that the sooner it takes place the better? - that it would be the height of folly not to seize the present occasion, when British injustice has filled all hearts with indignation, inspired all minds with courage, united all opinions in one, and put arms in every hand? And how long must we traverse three thousand miles of a stormy sea to solicit of arrogant and insolent men either counsel, or commands to regulate our domestic affairs? From what we have already achieved it is easy to presume what we shall hereafter accomplish. Experience is the source of sage counsels, and liberty is the mother of great men. Have you not seen the enemy driven from Lexington by citizens armed and assembled in one day? Already their most celebrated generals have yielded in Boston to the skill of ours. Already their seamen, repulsed from our coasts, wander over the ocean, the sport of tempests and the prey of famine. Let us hail the favorable omen, and fight, not for the sake of knowing on what terms we are to be the slaves of England, but to secure to ourselves a free existence, to found a just and independent government.
       Why do we longer delay? why still deliberate? Let this most happy day give birth to the American Republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and conquer, but to reestablish the reign of peace and the laws. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us; she demands of us a living example of freedom that may contrast, by the felicity of her citizens, with the ever-increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace and the persecuted repose. She entreats us to cultivate a propitious soil, where that generous plant which first sprang up and grew in England, but is now withered by the poisonous blasts of Scottish tyranny, may revive and flourish, sheltering under its salubrious and interminable shade all the unfortunate of the human race. This is the end presaged by so many omens; by our first victories; by the present ardor and union; by the flight of Howe, and the pestilence which broke out among Dunmore's people; by the very winds which baffled the enemy's fleets and transports, and that terrible tempest which engulfed seven hundred vessels upon the coast of Newfoundland.
       If we are not this day wanting in our duty to our country, the names of the American legislators will be placed, by posterity, at the side of those of Theseus, of Lycurgus, of Romulus, of Numa, of the three Williams of Nassau, and of all those whose memory has been and will be forever dear to virtuous men and good citizens.

• Who was Richard Henry Lee?
• Richard Henry Lee Letters