Cole's Funny Picture Book No. 1
"How red your cheeks are, dear!"
I'd ten times rather run a race,
Then play my tunes and things;
I wouldn't swop my dogs and balls
For forty diamond rings.
I've got no 'finement, aunty says,
I 'spect she knows the best;
I don't need much to climb a tree,
Or hunt a squirrel's nest.
"Girls are like berries," papa says,
"Sweeter for running wild,"
But Aunt Melissa shakes her head,
And calls me "Horrid child!"
I'll always be a romp she knows--
But sure's my name is Sadie,
I'll fool 'em all some dreadful day,
By growing up a lady.
Hide and Seek
"We will have a game of hide and seek,
Now mind you do not look."
And Willie went and hid himself
In a dark and lonely nook.
Then the children went to find him;
They hunted all about.
It was a funny way in which
At last they found him out.
Just as they got where he was hid,
In his nose he felt a tickling
That made him sneeze, and so you see
They found him in a twinkling.
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Tired of Play
Tired of play! tired of play!
What hast thou done this livelong day?
The birds are silent, and so is the bee;
The sun is creeping up temple and tree;
The doves have flown to the sheltering eves
And the nests are dark with the drooping leaves.
Twilight gathers and day is done,
How hast thou spent it, restless one?
Playing? But what has thou done beside,
To tell thy mother at eventide?
What promise of morn is left unbroken?
What kind word to thy playmate spoken?
Whom hast thou pitied and whom forgiven,
How with thy faults has duty striven,
What hast thou learned by field and hill?
By greenwood path, and singing rill?
Well for thee if thou couldst tell,
A tale like this of a day spent well,
If thy kind hand has aided distress,
And thou pity hast felt for wretchedness;
If thou hast forgiven a brother's offence,
And grieved for thine own with penitence;
If every creature has won thy love
From the creeping worm to the brooding dove,
Then with joy and peace on the bed of rest,
Thou wilt sleep as on thy mother's breast.
Sea-side Play
Two little boys, all neat and clean,
Came down upon the shore:
They did not know old Ocean's ways--
They'd ne'er seen him before.
So quietly they sat them down,
To build a fort of sand;
Their backs were turned to the sea,
Their faces toward the land.
They had just built a famous fort--
The handkerchief flag was spread--
When up there came a stealthy wave,
And turned them heels over head.
After School Hours
School is closed and tasks are done,
Flowers are laughing in the sun;
Like the songsters in the air,
Happy children, banish care!
Riding on a Gate
Sing, sing,
What shall we sing,
A gate is a capital
Sort of thing.
If you have not a horse,
Or haven't a swing,
A gate is a capital
Sort of thing.
Cry, cry,
Finger in eye,
Go home to mother
And tell her why;
You've been riding,
And why not I?
Each in turn, isn't that the rule
For work or play, at home or school.
Walking Song
Come, my children, come away,
For the sun shines bright to-day;
Little children, come with me,
Birds, and brooks, and posies see;
Get your hats and come away,
For it is a pleasant day.
Bring the hoop and bring the ball,
Come with happy faces all,
Let us make a merry ring,
Talk, and laugh, and dance, and sing
Quickly, quickly come away,
For it is a pleasant day.
The Lost Playmate
The old school-house is still to day,
The rooms have no gay throng;
No ringing laugh is on the air,
There is no snatch of song.
The white-haired master sits upon
The seat beneath the tree,
And thinks upon the vanished face,
With all its boyish glee.
But a few short days ago, the lad
Was gayest of the gay,
Quick at the page of knowledge, and
The heartiest in play.
The pride of the home beside the stream,
With his pigeons in their cots,
And finding life a very dream,
In pleasant homely spots.
His school companions loving him,
And old folks speaking praise,
Of the well-loved boy, with frankest eyes,
And cheery, happy ways.
All in the village knew the boy,
From parson down to clerk,
And his whistle in the village street
Was clear as the song of lark.
But like a dream he's passed away,
And from the chamber dim,
In the fair light of summer day,
The peasants carry him.
And playmates gather at the grave,
The old schoolmaster there,
While blossomed boughs wave over-head,
And all around is fair.
True is the grief that brings the tear,
There is no empty show;
The simple neighbours see their loss,
And there is heart-felt woe.
They talk of the bright and lively lad,
Cut down in boyish prime,
And old folks think how strange is life,
More strange with passing time!
Oh! simple sight on green hill-side,
Away from pomp and power;
Here are the truths so oft denied
To the imperial hour.
Dear child, how precious are the tears,
Suffusing friendly eyes!
Sublimity is in their gleam,
A light from God's own skies.
[Page 83--Play Land]
In the Toy Shop
Cups and saucers, pots and pans,
China figures, Chinese fans,
Railway trains, with tops and tables,
Fairy tales, and Aesop's fables.
Clockwork mice, and colored marbles,
Painted bird that sweetly warbles,
Dolls of every age and size,
With flaxen curls and moving eyes.
Cows and horses, chickens, cats,
Rattles, windmills, boats and bats,
Ducks and geese, and golden fishes,
Skipping ropes, and copper dishes.
Books with coloured pictures, too,
And a thousand other things for you;
Dainty maidens, merry boys,
Here you are, all sorts of toys.
Neat Little Clara
"Little Clara, come away,
Little Clara, come and play;
Leave your work, Maria's here,
So come and play with me, my dear."
"I will come, and very soon,
For I always play at noon;
But must put my work away,
Ere with you I come and play.
First my bodkin I must place
With my needles in their case;
I like to put them by with care,
And then I always find them there.
There's my cotton, there's my thread
Thimble in its little bed;
All is safe--my box I lock,
Now I come--'tis twelve o'clock."
Playing Store
"Ting-a-ling!" Now they
Have opened the store,
Never was such
An assortment before;
Mud pies in plenty,
And parcels of sand,
Pebbles for sugar plums,
Always on hand.
Plenty of customers
Coming to buy,
"Brown sugar, white sugar
Which will you try?
Paper for money;
Their wealth, too, is vast;
In spite of the plenty,
They scatter it fast.
Quick little hands
Tie bundles with care,
Summer's glad music
Is filling the air;
Birdies fly over,
And wonder, no doubt,
What all these gay
little folks are about.
Fishing
He took a stick, he took a cord,
He took a crooked pin,
And went a-fishing in the sand
And almost tumbled in.
But just before he tumbled in,
By chance it came about,
He hooked a whiting and a sole,
And made them tumble out.
Hide and Seek
When the clean white cloth is laid,
And the cups are on the table,
When the tea and toast are made,
That's a happy time for Mabel.
Stealing to her mother's side,
In her ear she whispers low,
"When papa comes I'll hide;
Don't tell him where I go,"
On her knees upon the floor,
In below the sofa creeping;
When she hears him at the door,
She pretends that she is sleeping.
"Where is Mabel?" father cries,
Looking round and round about.
Then he murmurs in surprise,
"Surely Mabel can't be out."
First he looks behind his chair,
Then he peers beneath the table,
Seeking, searching everywhere
All in vain for little Mabel;
But at last he thinks he knows,
And he laughs and shakes his head,
Says to mother, "I suppose
Mabel has been put to bed."
But when he sits down to tea,
From beneath the sofa creeping,
Mabel climbs upon his knee,
Clasps her hands: "I was not sleeping."
When he asks, "Where is my girl's
Very secret hiding-place?"
Mabel only shakes her curls,
Laughing, smiling, in his face.
[Page 84--Play Land]
Little Sailors
Now, Harry, pull the chairs up,
And, Fanny, get the shawl;
We'll play that we are sailors,
And that we're in a squall.
The fire will be a lighthouse,
To warn us off the shore;
And we will place the footstools
For rocks, out on the floor.
Now this chair is the stern
And that one is the bow;
But there, you must be careful,
And not lean hard, you know.
Now, sailors, pull that sail up,
And tuck the corners in--
Well if you want it tighter,
Ask mother for a pin.
Now couldn't we sing something
About the "Ocean Blue"?
Well, never mind, "By-baby"
Or anything will do.
Take care, you careless sailors,
And mind what you are about,
You know the sea will drown you,
If you should tumble out.
Brother Playing
Up and down the play-room,
Then behind the door,
Now upon the sofa,
Now upon the floor.
In below the table,
Round the big arm-chair,
Goes my little brother,
Crying "Are you there?"
And when brother sees me,
Then away I run;
And he follows after,
Merry with the fun.
So at hide and seek we play.
And pass the happy hours away.
Girls and Boys, Come Out to Play
Girls and boys,
Come out to play,
The sun is shining
Away, away.
Into the meadow
Over the way,
Tumbling and tossing
The new-mown hay.
Into the hedgerow
Picking the May;
Over the hills
And far away.
Down by the brook
Where the ripples play,
Whirling and winding
Their silvery way,
Then home again
By a different way,
Picking an armful
Of wildflowers gay.
For mother dear
To gladden her way,
And wake in her heart
A cheerful lay.
For every leaf
Has it's sunny ray;
All nature is happy
And seems to say:
Girls and boys,
Come out to play.
The sun is shining
Away, away.
Two Merry Men
Two merry men,
One summer day,
Forsook their toys,
And forgot their play.
Two little faces,
Full of fun,
Two little hearts
That beat as one.
Four little hands,
At work with a will,
Four little legs
That can't keep still.
For labour is sweet,
And toil is fun,
When mother wants
Any work to be done.
Mud Pies
Tell me little ladies,
Playing in the sun,
How many minutes
Till the baking's done?
Susy gets the flour,
All of golden dust;
Harry builds the oven,
Lily rolls the crust.
Pat it here, and pat it there;
What a dainty size!
Bake it on a shelf of stone,
Nice mud pies!
Now we want a shower--
For we need it so--
It would make a roadside,
Such a heap of dough.
Turn them in, and turn them out,
How the morning flies!
Ring the bell for dinner--
Hot mud pies!
The Playful Girl