A Boy's Mother*
My mother she's so good to me,
Ef I was good as I could be,
I couldn't be as good-no, sir!-
Can't any boy be good as her.
She loves me when I'm glad er sad;
She loves me when I'm good er bad;
An', what's a funniest thing, she says
She loves me when she punishes.
I don't like her to punish me,-
That don't hurt,-but it hurts to see
Her cryin'.-Nen I cry; an' nen
We both cry an' be good again.
She loves me when she cuts an' sews
My little cloak an' Sund'y clothes;
An' when my Pa comes home to tea,
She loves him most as much as me.
She laughs an' tells him all I said,
An' grabs me up an' pats my head;
An' I hug her, an' hug my Pa,
An' love him purť' nigh much as Ma.
James Whitcomb Riley.
* From “Rhymes of Childhood," copyright, 1905, and by special pe mission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
Hundreds of stars in the pretty sky,
Hundreds of shells on the shore together,
Hundreds of birds that go singing by,
Hundreds of birds in the sunny weather,
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
Said I to myself, here's a chance for me, The Lilliput Laureate for to be!
And these are the Specimens I sent in To Pinafore Palace. Shall I win?
William Brighty Rands
A BOY'S MOTHER, 238
A cat came fiddling, 55
A CRADLE SONG, 233
A DEWDROP, 129
A farmer went trotting, 23
A HAPPY CHILD, 121
A little boy and a little girl, 77
A little boy once played so
loud, 178
A LITTLE BOY'S POCKET,
180
A little fairy comes at night,
Although my clothes are fine
and gay, 211
A meadow for the little lambs,
226
A MUSIC BOX, 211
A MYSTERY, 138
Angels at the foot, 219
ANNIE'S GARDEN, 134
A pocket handkerchief to hem,
A pool in a garden green, 149
A. APPLE PIE, 182
A PUPPY'S PROBLEM, 168
AROUND THE WORLD,
115
As I walked over the hill one
day, 228
As I was going o'er West-
minster bridge, 96
As I was going to St. Ives, 96
As I went through the garden
gap, 95
As round as an apple, as deep
as a cup, 94
As soft as silk, as white as
milk, 95
As soon as the fire burns red
and low,
234
A sunshiny shower, 102
A swarm of bees in May, 101
As the days grow longer, 102
As Tommy Snooks and Bessy
Brooks, 57
A TEA-PARTY, 114
A THOUGHT, 205
A WAS AN ANT, 190
A was an ant, 190
A was once an apple-pie, 182
Baa, baa, black sheep, 32
BABY-LAND, 231
Baby mustn't frown, 128
Baby wants a lullaby, 232
Baby wants his breakfast, 34
BABY'S BREAKFAST, 34
BABY'S FRIENDS, 29
BABY'S JOURNEYS, 21
BABY'S HUSH-A-BYES, 15
BABY'S PLAYS, 3
BEES, 133
Bees don't care about the
Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, 43
Betty Pringle had a little
pig, 33
Between the hill and the
brook, ook, ook, 54
Black within and red without,
93
Blow, wind, blow! and go,
Cross-patch, 105
CUDDLE DOWN D
Curly Locks! Curly
wilt thou be mine?
Cushy, cow bonny, le
thy milk, 33
Dance, little baby, da
high, 22
Dance to your daddy,
Dear, dear! what c
matter be? 53
Dear mother, how pret
DEEDS OF KINDNES
Ding, dong, bell, 78
"Don't pick all the flo
cried Daisy one day,
Down in a dark dung
saw a brave knight,
DO YOU GUESS IT
97
DO YOU KNOW
MANY STARS? 224
Do you know how many
Every evening Baby goes
EXTREMES, 178
Fairies, fairies, come an
fed, 199
Father, unto Thee I pray
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