Part 10 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: FANCY AND FACT. This is an ill.u.s.trated poem with the shepherd and shepherdess sitting in the gra.s.s above the poem, and the two of them sick with their heads wrapped on either side of the poem.]

FANCY AND FACT

O! a shepherd and a shepherdess, They dwelt in Arcadee, And they were dressed in Watteau dress, Most charming for to see.

They sat upon the dewy gra.s.s, With buds and blossoms set.

And the shepherd played unto the la.s.s, Upon a flageolet.

It seemed to me as though it was A very pleasant thing; Particularly so because The time of year was Spring.

But, O! the ground was damp, and so, At least, I have been told, The shepherd caught the lumbago, The shepherdess, a cold.

My darling Child! the fact is That the Poets often sing Of those joys which in the practice Are another sort of thing.

H. P.

[Ill.u.s.tration: YE TWO WISHES. This is a full page ill.u.s.trated poem with the angel and f.a.ggot-maker sitting together, the f.a.ggot-maker going into the bottle, and the f.a.ggot-maker coming out again.]

YE TWO WISHES

An Angel went a walking out one day, as I've heard said, And, coming to a f.a.ggot-maker, begged a crust of bread The f.a.ggot-maker gave a crust and something rather queer To wash it down withall, from out a bottle that stood near.

The Angel finished eating; but before he left, said he, ”Thou shalt have two wishes granted, for that thou hast given me.

One wish for that good drinkable, another for the bread.”

The he left the f.a.ggot-maker all amazed at what he'd said.

”I wonder,” says the f.a.ggot-maker, after he had gone, ”I wonder if there's any truth in that same little song!”

So, turning this thing over in his mind, he cast around, 'Till he saw the empty bottle where it lay upon the ground.

”I wish,” said he, just as a test, ”if what he said is so, Into that empty bottle, now, that I may straightway go”

No sooner said that done; for,--_Whisk!_ into the flask he fell, Where he found himself as tightly packed as chicken in the sh.e.l.l.

In vain he kicked and twisted, and in vain he howled with pain; For, in spite of all his efforts, he could not get out again.

So, seeing how the matter stood, he had to wish once more.

When, out he slipped, as easily as he'd gone in before.

If we had two wishes, granted by an Angel thus, We would not throw away the good so kindly given us.

For first we'd ask for wisdom, which, when we had in store, I'm very doubtful if we'd care to ask for anymore.

Howard Pyle

[Ill.u.s.tration: A VERSE WITH A MORAL BUT NO NAME. This ill.u.s.trated poem depicts the wise man asking all sorts of people.]

A VERSE WITH A MORAL BUT NO NAME