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| ISBN-13: | 9780486110349 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Dover Publications |
| Publication date: | 04/04/2012 |
| Series: | Dover Children's Thrift Classics |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 96 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
| Age Range: | 8 - 14 Years |
Read an Excerpt
Favorite Poems of Childhood
By Philip Smith, Harriet Golden
Dover Publications, Inc.
Copyright © 1992 Dover Publications, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-11034-9
CHAPTER 1
The Land of Nod
From breakfast on through all the day
At home among my friends I stay,
But every night I go abroad
Afar into the land of Nod.
All by myself I have to go,
With none to tell me what to do—
All alone beside the streams
And up the mountain-sides of dreams.
The strangest things are there for me,
Both things to eat and things to see,
And many frightening sights abroad
Till morning in the land of Nod.
Try as I like to find the way,
I never can get back by day,
Nor can remember plain and clear
The curious music that I hear.
—ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
Hurt No Living Thing
Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.
—CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
The Cat of Cats
I am the cat of cats. I am
The everlasting cat!
Cunning, and old, and sleek as jam,
The everlasting cat!
I hunt the vermin in the night—
The everlasting cat!
For I see best without the light—
The everlasting cat!
—WILLIAM BRIGHTY RANDS
I Love Little Pussy
I love little Pussy.
Her coat is so warm,
And if I don't hurt her,
She'll do me no harm.
So I'll not pull her tail,
Or drive her away,
But Pussy and I
Very gently will play,
She will sit by my side,
And I'll give her her food,
And she'll like me because
I am gentle and good.
I'll pat little Pussy,
And then she will purr,
And thus show her thanks
For my kindness to her;
I'll not pinch her ears,
Nor tread on her paws,
Lest I should provoke her
To use her sharp claws;
I never will vex her,
Nor make her displeased,
For Pussy can't bear
To be worried or teased.
—JANE TAYLOR
Mary's Lamb
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school one day,
Which 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.
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 cried.
"Oh, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"
The teacher quick replied.
And you each gentle animal
In confidence may bind,
And make them follow at your will,
If you are only kind.
—SARAH JOSEPHA HALE
Holding Hands
Elephants walking
Along the trails
Are holding hands
By holding tails.
Trunks and tails
Are handy things
When elephants walk
In Circus rings.
Elephants work
And elephants play
And elephants walk
And feel so gay.
And when they walk—
It never fails
They're holding hands
By holding tails.
—LENORE M. LINK
The Field Mouse
When the moon shines o'er the corn
and the beetle drones his horn,
And the flittermice swift fly,
And the nightjars swooping cry,
And the young hares run and leap,
We waken from our sleep.
And we climb with tiny feet
And we munch the green corn sweet
With startled eyes for fear
The white owl should fly near,
Or long slim weasel spring
Upon us where we swing.
We do not hurt at all;
Is there not room for all
Within the happy world?
All day we lie close curled
In drowsy sleep, nor rise
Till through the dusky skies
The moon shines o'er the corn
And the beetle drones his horn.
—WILLIAM SHARP
Mr. Finney's Turnip
Mr. Finney had a turnip
And it grew and it grew;
And it grew behind the barn,
And that turnip did no harm.
There it grew and it grew
Till it could grow no longer;
Then his daughter Lizzie picked it
And put it in the cellar.
There it lay and it lay
Till it began to rot;
And his daughter Susie took it
And put it in the pot.
And they boiled it and boiled it
As long as they were able,
And then his daughters took it
And put it on the table.
Mr. Finney and his wife
They sat down to sup;
And they ate and they ate
And they ate that turnip up.
—ANONYMOUS
What Do We Plant?
What do we plant when we plant the tree?
We plant the ship which will cross the sea.
We plant the mast to carry the sails;
We plant the planks to withstand the gales—
The keel, the keelson, the beam, the knee;
We plant the ship when we plant the tree.
What do we plant when we plant the tree?
We plant the houses for you and me.
We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors,
We plant the studding, the lath, the doors,
The beams and siding, all parts that be;
We plant the house when we plant the tree.
What do we plant when we plant the tree?
A thousand things that we daily see;
We plant the spire that out-towers the crag,
We plant the staff for our country's flag,
We plant the shade, from the hot sun free;
We plant all these when we plant the tree.
—HENRY ABBEY
A Wee Little Worm
A wee little worm in a hickory-nut
Sang, happy as he could be,
"O I live in the heart of the whole round world,
And it all belongs to me!"
—JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
Trees
(FOR MRS. HENRY MILLS ALDEN)
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
—JOYCE KILMER
Trees
The Oak is called the king of trees,
The Aspen quivers in the breeze,
The Poplar grows up straight and tall,
The Peach tree spreads along the wall,
The Sycamore gives pleasant shade,
The Willow droops in watery glade,
The Fir tree useful timber gives,
The Beech amid the forest lives.
—SARA COLERIDGE
A Frisky Lamb
A frisky lamb
And a frisky child
Playing their pranks
In a cowslip meadow:
The sky all blue
And the air all mild
And the fields all sun
And the lanes half shadow.
—CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
Whisky Frisky
Whisky, frisky,
Hipperty hop,
Up he goes
To the tree top!
Whirly, twirly,
Round and round,
Down he scampers
To the ground.
Furly, curly,
What a tail,
Tall as a feather,
Broad as a sail.
Where's his supper?
In the shell.
Snappy, cracky,
Out it fell.
—ANONYMOUS
Nurse's Song
When the voices of children are heard on the
green,
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast,
And everything else is still.
"Then come home, my children, the sun is gone
down.
And the dews of night arise;
Come, come, leave off play, and let us away
Till the morning appears in the skies."
"No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
And we cannot go to sleep;
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
And the hills are all cover'd with sheep."
"Well, well, go & play till the light fades away,
And then go home to bed."
The little ones leaped & shouted & laugh'd
And all the hills ecchoed.
—WILLIAM BLAZE
The Three Little Kittens
Three little kittens lost their mittens;
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear,
We very much fear
That we have lost our mittens."
"Lost your mittens!
You naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie!"
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow."
"No, you shall have no pie."
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow."
The three little kittens found their mittens;
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear,
See here, see here!
See, we have found our mittens!"
"Put on your mittens,
You silly kittens,
And you may have some pie."
"Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r,
Oh, let us have the pie!
Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r."
The three little kittens put on their mittens,
And soon ate up the pie;
"Oh, mother dear,
We greatly fear
That we have soiled our mittens!"
"Soiled your mittens!
You naughty kittens!"
Then they began to sigh,
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow."
Then they began to sigh,
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow."
The three little kittens washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry;
"Oh, mother dear,
Do not you hear
That we have washed our mittens?"
"Washed your mittens!
Oh, you're good kittens!
But I smell a rat close by,
Hush, hush! Mee-ow, mee-ow."
"We smell a rat close by,
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow."
—ELIZA LEE FOLLEN
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Favorite Poems of Childhood by Philip Smith, Harriet Golden. Copyright © 1992 Dover Publications, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
The Land of Nod, ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSONHurt No Living Thing, CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
The Cat of Cats, WILLIAM BRIGHTY RANDS
I Love Little Pussy, JANE TAYLOR
Mary's Lamb, SARAH JOSEPHA HALE
Holding Hands, LENORE M. LINK
The Field Mouse, WILLIAM SHARP
Mr. Finney's Turnip, ANONYMOUS
What Do We Plant?, HENRY ABBEY
A Wee Little Worm, JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
Trees, JOYCE KILMER
Trees, SARA COLERIDGE
A Frisky Lamb, CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
Whisky Frisky, ANONYMOUS
Nurse's Song, WILLIAM BLAKE
The Three Little Kittens, ELIZA LEE FOLLEN
There Were Two Ghostesses, ANONYMOUS
Jabberwocky, LEWIS CARROLL
Only One Mother, GEORGE COOPER
The Cow, ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
Tomorrow's the Fair, ANONYMOUS
The Duel, EUGENE FIELD
The Moon's the North Wind's Cooky, VACHEL LINDSAY
Mr. Moon, BLISS CARMAN
Judging by Appearances, EMILIE POULSSON
The Dinkey-Bird, EUGENE FIELD
The Elf and the Dormouse, OLIVER HERFORD
The Little Elf, JOHN KENDRICK BANGS
The Fairies, WILLIAM ALLINGHAM
An Unexpected Fact, EDWARD CANNON
Minnie and Winnie, ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
A Sea-Song from the Shore, JAMES WHITECOMB RILEY
Duck's Ditty, KENNETH GRAHAME
Swimming, CLINTON SCOLLARD
If, ANONYMOUS
The Fisherman, ABBIE FARWELL BROWN
O Sailor, Come Ashore, CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
In the Night, ANONYMOUS
Dutch Lullaby, EUGENE FIELD
The Walrus and the Carpenter, LEWIS CARROLL
Laughing Song, WILLIAM BLAKE
The Man in the Wilderness, ANONYMOUS
What Is Pink?, CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
The Purple Cow, GELETT BURGESS
The Owl, and the Pussy-cat, EDWARD LEAR
Antigonish, HUGHES MEARNS
There Was a Little Girl, ANONYMOUS
A Magician, EUNICE WARD
King Arthur, ANONYMOUS
The Young Lady of Niger, ANONYMOUS
Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore, WILLIAM BRIGHTY RANDS
The Rhyme of Dorothy Rose, PAULINE FRANCES CAMP
My Shadow, ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
A Tragedy, DORIS WEBB
The Pantry Ghosts, FREDERIC RICHARDSON
Mr. Coggs, Watchmaker, EDWARD VERRALL LUCAS
Little Boy Blue, EUGENE FIELD
The Quangle Wangle's Hat, EDWARD LEAR
The Butter Betty Bought, ANONYMOUS
Barbershop, MARTIN GARDNER
The Raggedy Man, JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
Great Fleas Have Little Fleas, A. DE MORGAN
The Peppery Man, ARTHUR MACY
August, CELIA THAXTER
The Mayor of Scuttleton, MARY MAPES DODGE
Aunt Eliza, HARRY GRAHAM
Armies in the Fire, ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
The Star, JANE TAYLOR
The Tyger, WILLIAM BLAKE
The Children's Hour, HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Tender-Heartedness, HARRY GRAHAM
Windy Nights, ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
October, THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
The Whango Tree, ANONYMOUS
Little Orphant Annie, JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
Thanksgiving Day, LYDIA MARIA CHILD
Extremes, JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
The Swing, ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
A Flea and a Fly in a Flue, ANONYMOUS
The Eagle, ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
Who Has Seen the Wind?, CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?, EMILY DICKINSON
November Night, ADELAIDE CRAPSEY
Eldorado, EDGAR ALLAN POE