Poor little chaps! how lonesomelike their city life must be-- I wish they’d come and live awhile in this old house with me! They’d have the honest friends and healthful sports I used to know When brother Rufe and I were boys a forty years ago. So, when they grew from romping lads to busy, useful men, They could recall with proper pride their country life again; And of those recollections of their youth I’m sure the best Would be of how they sought in vain the old fire-hangbird’s nest! BUTTERCUP, POPPY, FORGET-ME-NOT Buttercup, Poppy, Forget-me-not-- These three bloomed in a garden spot; And once, all merry with song and play, A little one heard three voices say: “Shine and shadow, summer and spring, O thou child with the tangled hair And laughing eyes! we three shall bring Each an offering passing fair.” The little one did not understand, But they bent and kissed the dimpled hand. Buttercup gamboled all day long, Sharing the little one’s mirth and song; Then, stealing along on misty gleams, Poppy came bearing the sweetest dreams. Playing and dreaming--and that was all Till once a sleeper would not awake; Kissing the little face under the pall, We thought of the words the third flower spake; And we found betimes in a hallowed spot The solace and peace of Forget-me-not. Buttercup shareth the joy of day, Glinting with gold the hours of play; Bringeth the poppy sweet repose, When the hands would fold and the eyes would close; And after it all--the play and the sleep Of a little life--what cometh then? To the hearts that ache and the eyes that weep A new flower bringeth God’s peace again. Each one serveth its tender lot-- Buttercup, Poppy, Forget-me-not. WYNKEN, BLYNKEN, AND NOD 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?” The old moon asked the three. “We have come to fish for the herring fish That live in this beautiful sea; Nets of silver and gold have we!” Said Wynken, Blynken, And Nod. The old moon laughed and sang a song, As they rocked in the wooden shoe, And the wind that sped them all night long Ruffled the waves of dew. The little stars were the herring fish That lived in that beautiful sea-- “Now cast your nets wherever you wish-- Never afeard are we”; So cried the stars to the fishermen three: Wynken, Blynken, And Nod.