I went into a house and it wasn’t a house— Slow white petals from the may-tree fall; But it hasn’t got a blackbird, A blackbird, A blackbird, It isn’t like a house at all. [Illustration: Blackbird carolling on branch] I went into a house, and I thought it was a house, I could hear from the may-tree the blackbird call. . . . But nobody listened to it, Nobody Liked it, Nobody wanted it at all. [Illustration: Cows standing in stream] SUMMER AFTERNOON Six brown cows walk down to drink (_All the little fishes blew bubbles at the may-fly_). Splash goes the first as he comes to the brink, Swish go the tails of the five who follow. . . . Twelve brown cows bend drinking there (_All the little fishes went waggle-tail, waggle-tail_)— Six from the water and six from the air; Up and down the river darts a blue-black swallow. [Illustration: Mouse with geraniums] THE DORMOUSE AND THE DOCTOR There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red), And all the day long he’d a wonderful view Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue). [Illustration: Doctor hurrying] A Doctor came hurrying round, and he said: “Tut-tut, I am sorry to find you in bed. Just say ‘Ninety-nine,’ while I look at your chest. . . . Don’t you find that chrysanthemums answer the best?” [Illustration: Doctor looking into garden bed] The Dormouse looked round at the view and replied (When he’d said “Ninety-nine”) that he’d tried and he’d tried, And much the most answering things that he knew Were geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue). The Doctor stood frowning and shaking his head, And he took up his shiny silk hat as he said: “What the patient requires is a change,” and he went To see some chrysanthemum people in Kent. The Dormouse lay there, and he gazed at the view Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue), And he knew there was nothing he wanted instead Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red). [Illustration: Mouse] [Illustration: Doctor hurrying with flowers] The Doctor came back and, to show what he meant, He had brought some chrysanthemum cuttings from Kent. “Now _these_,” he remarked, “give a _much_ better view Than geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).” They took out their spades and they dug up the bed Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red), And they planted chrysanthemums (yellow and white). “And _now_,” said the Doctor, “we’ll _soon_ have you right.” The Dormouse looked out, and he said with a sigh: “I suppose all these people know better than I. It was silly, perhaps, but I _did_ like the view Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).” The Doctor came round and examined his chest, And ordered him Nourishment, Tonics, and Rest, “How very effective,” he said, as he shook The thermometer, “all these chrysanthemums look!”