The Home Book of Verse
Chapter 9 : LITTLE BO-PEEP Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep, And can't tell where to find them

LITTLE BO-PEEP

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep, And can't tell where to find them; Leave them alone, and they'll come home, And bring their tails behind them.

Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep, And dreamed she heard them bleating; But when she awoke, she found it a joke, For they were still a-fleeting.

Then up she took her little crook, Determined for to find them; She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed, For they'd left their tails behind them!

It happened one day, as Bo-peep did stray, Unto a meadow hard by, There she espied their tails side by side, All hung on a tree to dry.

She heaved a sigh, and wiped her eye, And over the hillocks she raced; And tried what she could, as a shepherdess should, That each tail should be properly placed.

MARY'S LAMB

Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow, And every where that Mary went The lamb was sure to go; He followed her to school one day-- That 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; And 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 cry-- "O, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"

The Teacher did reply;-- "And you each gentle animal In confidence may bind, And make them follow at your call, If you are always kind."

Sarah Josepha Hale [1788-1879]

THE STAR

Twinkle, 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 set, And the gra.s.s with dew is wet, Then you show your little light, Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveler in the dark Thanks you for your tiny spark, He could not see where 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 traveler in the dark, Though I know not what you are, Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Jane Taylor [1783-1824)

"SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE"

Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye; Four-and-twenty blackbirds Baked in a pie;

When the pie was opened The birds began to sing; Wasn't that a dainty dish To set before the King?

The King was in his counting-house, Counting out his money; The Queen was in the parlor, Eating bread and honey;

The maid was in the garden Hanging out the clothes; When down came a blackbird, And nipped off her nose.

SIMPLE SIMON

Simple Simon met a pieman Going to the fair; Says Simple Simon to the pieman, "Let me taste your ware."

Says the pieman to Simple Simon, "Show me first your penny"; Says Simple Simon to the pieman, "Indeed I have not any."

Simple Simon went a-fis.h.i.+ng For to catch a whale; All the water he had got Was in his mother's pail.

Simple Simon went to look If plums grew on a thistle; He p.r.i.c.ked his fingers very much, Which made poor Simon whistle.

A PLEASANT s.h.i.+P

I saw a s.h.i.+p a-sailing, A-sailing on the sea, And oh! it was all laden With pretty things for thee!

There were comfits in the cabin, And apples in the hold; The sails were made of silk, And the masts were made of gold.

The four-and-twenty sailors That stood between the decks Were four-and-twenty white mice, With chains about their necks.

The captain was a duck, With a packet on his back, And when the s.h.i.+p began to move, The captain said "Quack! Quack!"

"I HAD A LITTLE HUSBAND"

I had a little husband No bigger than my thumb; I put him in a pint pot, And there I bade him drum.

I bought a little horse, That galloped up and down; I bridled him and saddled him, And sent him out of town.

I gave him some garters, To garter up his hose, And a little handkerchief, To wipe his pretty nose.

"WHEN I WAS A BACHELOR"