I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all-
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
O you that are so strong and cold,
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!

295

WINDY NIGHTS

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Whenever the moon and stars are set,
Whenever the wind is high,

All night long in the dark and wet
A man goes riding by.

Late in the night when the fires are out,
Why does he gallop and gallop about?
Whenever the trees are crying aloud,
And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud,
By at the gallop goes he.

By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again.

The four poems that follow are from LittleFolk Lyrics, by Frank Dempster Sherman (1860-), and are used here by permission of and special arrangement with the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. Many of Sherman's poems have been found pleasing to children, particularly those dealing with nature themes and with outdoor activities.

296

SPINNING TOP

FRANK DEMPSTER SHERMAN

When I spin round without a stop And keep my balance like the top,

I find that soon the floor will swim
Before my eyes; and then, like him,
I lie all dizzy on the floor
Until I feel like spinning more.

297

FLYING KITE

FRANK DEMPSTER SHERMAN

I often sit and wish that I
Could be a kite up in the sky,
And ride upon the breeze, and go
Whatever way it chanced to blow.
Then I could look beyond the town,
And see the river winding down,
And follow all the ships that sail
Like me before the merry gale,
Until at last with them I came
To some place with a foreign name.

298

KING BELL

FRANK DEMPSTER SHERMAN

Long ago there lived a King

A mighty man and bold,

Who had two sons, named Dong and Ding,

Of whom this tale is told.

Prince Ding was clear of voice, and tall, A Prince in every line;

Prince Dong, his voice was very small,
And he but four feet nine.

Now both these sons were very dear
To Bell, the mighty King.
They always hastened to appear
When he for them would ring.
Ding never failed the first to be,
But Dong, he followed well,
And at the second summons he
Responded to King Bell.

This promptness of each royal Prince
Is all of them we know,

Except that all their kindred since
Have done exactly so.

And if you chance to know a King
Like this one of the dong,
Just listen once-and there is Ding;
Again and there is Dong.

299 DAISIES

FRANK DEMPSTER SHERMAN

At evening when I go to bed
I see the stars shine overhead;
They are the little daisies white
That dot the meadows of the Night.

And often while I'm dreaming so,
Across the sky the Moon will go;
It is a lady, sweet and fair,
Who comes to gather daisies there.

For, when at morning I arise,
There's not a star left in the skies;
She's picked them all and dropped them
down

Into the meadows of the town.

The three poems by Eugene Field (Nos. 300302) are used by special permission of the publishers, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York City. Field was born at St. Louis in 1850, and died at Chicago in 1895. The quaint fantastical conceptions in these poems have made them supreme favorites with children. No. 300 belongs to the list of the world's great lullabies.

300

WYNKEN, BLYNKEN, AND NOD

EUGENE FIELD

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe,

Sailed on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"

So shut your eyes while Mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,

And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea

Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:

Wynken,
Blynken,

And Nod.

301

THE SUGAR-PLUM TREE

EUGENE FIELD

Have you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree?

'Tis a marvel of great renown! It blooms on the shore of the Lollypop sea In the garden of Shut-Eye Town; The fruit that it bears is so wondrously sweet

(As those who have tasted it say) That good little children have.only to eat Of that fruit to be happy next day.

When you've got to the tree, you would have a hard time

To capture the fruit which I sing; The tree is so tall that no person could climb

To the boughs where the sugar-plums swing!

But up in that tree sits a chocolate cat,

And a gingerbread dog prowls belowAnd this is the way you contrive to get at Those sugar-plums tempting you so:

You say but the word to that gingerbread dog

And he barks with such terrible zest That the chocolate cat is at once all agog, As her swelling proportions attest. And the chocolate cat goes cavorting around

From this leafy limb unto that,

And the sugar-plums tumble, of course, to the ground

Hurrah for that chocolate cat!

There are marshmallows, gumdrops, and

peppermint canes

With stripings of scarlet or gold, And you carry away of the treasure that rains,

As much as your apron can hold! So come, little child, cuddle closer to me In your dainty white nightcap and

gown,

And I'll rock you away to that SugarPlum Tree

In the garden of Shut-Eye Town.

302

THE DUEL

EUGENE FIELD

The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;

'Twas half past twelve, and (what do you think!)

Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink! The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate

Appeared to know as sure as fate There was going to be a terrible spat.

(I was n't there; I simply state

What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

The gingham dog went "Bow-wow-wow!" And the calico cat replied "Mee-ow!" The air was littered, an hour or so, With bits of gingham and calico,

While the old Dutch clock in the chimney place

Up with its hands before its face, For it always dreaded a family row! (Now mind: I'm only telling you What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)

The Chinese plate looked very blue, And wailed, "Oh, dear! what shall we do!"

But the gingham dog and the calico cat Wallowed this way and tumbled that,

Employing every tooth and claw

In the awfullest way you ever saw— And, oh! how the gingham and calico flew!

(Don't fancy I exaggerate

I got my news from the Chinese plate!)

Next morning, where the two had sat
They found no trace of dog or cat:
And some folks think unto this day
That burglars stole that pair away!

But the truth about the cat and pup
Is this: they ate each other up!
Now what do you really think of that!
(The old Dutch clock it told me so,
And that is how I came to know.)

303

James Whitcomb Riley was born in Greenfield, Indiana, in 1849, and died at Indianapolis in 1916. His success was largely due to his ability to present homely phases of life in the Hoosier dialect. "The Raggedy Man" is a good illustration of this skill. In his prime Mr. Riley was an excellent oral interpreter of his own work, and his personifications of the Hoosier types in his poems in recitals all over the country had much to do with giving him an understanding body of readers. He had much of the power in which Stevenson was so supreme-that power of remembering accurately and giving full expression to the points of view of childhood. The perennial fascination of the circus as in "The Circus Day Parade" illustrates this particularly well. "The Treasures of the Wise Man" represents another class of Mr. Riley's poems in which he moralizes in a fashion that makes people willing to be preached at. It may be said very truly that most of his poems have their chief attraction in enabling older readers to recall the almost vanished thrilling delights