POEMS CHILDREN LOVE

GENTLE JESUS, MEEK AND MILD.

ENTLE Jesus, meek and mild,

G Look upon a little child,

Pity my simplicity,

Teach me, Lord, to come to Thee.

Fain would I to Thee be brought,
Lamb of God, forbid it not;
In the Kingdom of Thy grace
Give a little child a place.

Charles Wesley.

A CHILD'S EVENING PRAYER.

ESUS, tender Shepherd, hear me;

J Bless Thy little lamb to-night;

Through the darkness be Thou near me, Watch my sleep till morning light.

All this day Thy hand has led me,
And I thank Thee for Thy care;

Thou hast clothed and warmed and fed me;
Listen to my evening prayer.

Let my sins be all forgiven!

Bless the friends I love so well! Take me, when I die, to Heaven; Happy, there with Thee to dwell.

May Lundie Duncan.

I

I LOVE LITTLE PUSSY.

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.

Anonymous.

TWINKLE, TWINKLE.

WINKLE, 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 gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

3

The Swing

Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark;
He could not tell which way 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 traveller in the dark,
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle little star.

Jane Taylor.

THE SWING.

ow do you like to go up in a swing,

How Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,

Till I can see so wide,

Rivers and trees and cattle and all

Over the countryside

Till I look down on the garden green,

Down on the roof so brown

Up in the air I go flying again,

Up in the air and down!

Robert Louis Stevenson.

M

MY BED IS A BOAT.

y bed is like a little boat;

Nurse helps me in when I embark;
She girds me in my sailor's coat
And starts me in the dark.

At night, I go on board and say

Good night to all my friends on shore;
I shut my eyes and sail away
And see and hear no more.

And sometimes things to bed I take,
As prudent sailors have to do;
Perhaps a slice of wedding-cake,
Perhaps a toy or two.

All night across the dark we steer;
But when the day returns at last,
Safe in my room, beside the pier,
I find my vessel fast.

Robert Louis Stevenson.

I

A GOOD BOY.

WOKE before the morning, I was happy all the day, I never said an ugly word, but smiled and stuck to play.

And now at last the sun is going down behind the wood, And I am very happy, for I know that I've been good.

Pirate Story

5

My bed is waiting cool and fresh, with linen smooth and fair,

And I must off to sleepsin-by, and not forget my prayer.

I know that, till to-morrow I shall see the sun arise, No ugly dream shall fright my mind, no ugly sight my

eyes.

But slumber hold me tightly till I waken in the dawn, And hear the thrushes singing in the lilacs round the lawn.

Robert Louis Stevenson.

PIRATE STORY.

HREE of us afloat in the meadow by the swing,

T Three of us aboard in the basket on the lea.

Winds are in the air, they are blowing in the spring,

And waves are on the meadow like the waves there are at sea.

Where shall we adventure, to-day that we're afloat,
Wary of the weather and steering by a star?
Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat,

To Providence, or Babylon, or off to Malabar?

Hi! but here's a squadron a-rowing on the sea—
Cattle on the meadow a-charging with a roar!
Quick, and we'll escape them, they're as mad as they
can be,

The wicket is the harbour and the garden is the shore.

Robert Louis Stevenson.