Volume I Part 9 (1/2)

LITTLE BO-PEEP

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep, And can't tell where to find them; Leave them alone, and they'll come home, And bring their tails behind them.

Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep, And dreamed she heard them bleating; But when she awoke, she found it a joke, For they were still a-fleeting.

Then up she took her little crook, Determined for to find them; She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed, For they'd left their tails behind them!

It happened one day, as Bo-peep did stray, Unto a meadow hard by, There she espied their tails side by side, All hung on a tree to dry.

She heaved a sigh, and wiped her eye, And over the hillocks she raced; And tried what she could, as a shepherdess should, That each tail should be properly placed.

MARY'S LAMB

Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow, And every where that Mary went The lamb was sure to go; He followed her to school one day-- That was against the rule, It made the children laugh and play, To see a lamb at school.

And so the Teacher turned him out, But still he lingered near, And waited patiently about, Till Mary did appear; And then he ran to her, and laid His head upon her arm, As if he said--”I'm not afraid-- You'll keep me from all harm.”

”What makes the lamb love Mary so?”

The eager children cry-- ”O, Mary loves the lamb, you know,”

The Teacher did reply;-- ”And you each gentle animal In confidence may bind, And make them follow at your call, If you are always kind.”

Sarah Josepha Hale [1788-1879]

THE STAR

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are, Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is set, And the gra.s.s with dew is wet, Then you show your little light, Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveler in the dark Thanks you for your tiny spark, He could not see where to go If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep, And often through my curtains peep, For you never shut your eye Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark Lights the traveler in the dark, Though I know not what you are, Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Jane Taylor [1783-1824)

”SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE”