Complete Works of L. Frank Baum

Home > Childrens > Complete Works of L. Frank Baum > Page 875
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 875

by L. Frank Baum


  Quite a Trick

  It’s quite a trick

  ball to kick

  And very hard to catch it:

  Yet children say

  they love to play.

  And nothing else can match it.

  Come Into Our Store

  Will you come into our store

  and spend your money?

  Will you come into our store

  and buy some honey?

  We have gingerbread and pies,

  And a host of naughty flies

  Think that eating up our stock is very funny!

  The Bandit

  The Bandit is a handsome man,

  In operas he sings;

  He wears a wig and fierce moustache

  And many other things.

  He looks just like a robber bold,

  When on the stage he stands:

  Real bandits lived in times of old

  In distant, foreign lands.

  Miss Nancy Puts on Airs

  Miss Nancy puts on airs

  When her sister’s dress she wears.

  And thinks a grown up woman

  she can be.

  She courtesies and bows

  And struts in furbelows

  As fine

  as any

  lady you

  may see.

  The Bossie-Cow

  The Bossie-Cow is big and red,

  Her eyes are round and bright,--

  And those great horns upon her head

  Are quite a horrid site.

  And yet the Bossie’s very kind

  And good to us, I think:

  She’s full of beefsteaks, you will find,

  And gives us milk to drink.

  Standing on the Sidewalk

  Standing on the sidewalk,

  As if it were his lair,

  Before McFarlan’s window,

  Was a big black Bear,

  His eyes were very small and fierce

  And wickedly did glare,

  A fact which all the children did deplore.

  But never once

  he left his post,

  In weather foul or fair,

  And though this may surprise you,

  It won’t when I declare

  This awful brute was stuffed,

  And McFarlan put him there

  To serve

  as sign before his

  clothing store!

  A Man Last Tuesday

  A man last Tuesday

  built a house

  Without a window in it;

  It had no roof,

  it had no floor,

  No doorway to go in it.

  It had no chimney,

  had no walls,

  Nor stairs of

  any kind;

  Because the man had

  built this house

  Entirely in his mind.

  Goodness Me!

  Goodness me!

  Into the baby’s mouth there goes

  A fat little tootsie with five little toes!

  Why baby does it, nobody knows.

  Thinks they are good to eat, I suppose--

  Goodness me!

  Civilized Boy

  Pray, what can a civilized

  boy do now,

  When all the Dragons all

  are dead,

  And the Giants stout,

  that we have read about,

  Have never one a head?

  Now, wasn’t it mean that Jack o’the

  Bean

  Should slay these monsters fast,

  And the other Jack should cut and hack

  When there weren’t enough to last?

  The boys today are as bold as they say,

  As ever they were of yore;

  And they’d spill a flood

  of Dragon’s Blood

  If Dragons lived

  any more.

  Babies’ Serenade

  Hear the babies’ serenade:

  Tink-

  a-

  Tink-

  a-

  Tink!

  Sweetest music ever made,

  So the babies think.

  Johnny-boy will twang the string:

  Tum-

  te-

  tum-

  tum-

  tum!

  To the music’s joyous swing,

  Lullabies he’ll hum.

  Dolly’s Run Away

  Dolly’s run away today,

  Dolly’s run away!

  Gone from home abroad to roam

  And with the Gnome to play.

  Dolly’s such a naughty girl

  When she does appear

  I am sure she must endure

  A scolding quite severe!

  Annie Waters

  When Annie Waters lies asleep

  She’s very fair to see,

  And mama thinks no little girl

  Could any sweeter be.

  When Annie Waters wakens up

  She romps with such a noise

  That mamma thinks she’s really worse

  Than six or seven boys!

  A Bee Flew Down

  A bee flew down and ate an ant,

  A bug he ate the bee;

  A hen then gobbled down the bug

  But failed the hawk to see.

  The hawk had eaten up the hen

  Before he saw the cat

  Which ate him up, but then a dog

  Ate pussy quick as scat!

  A wolf now sprang upon the dog

  And ate him in a trice,

  And then a lion ate the wolf

  And found him very nice.

  But when the lion fell asleep

  He said, “I really can’t

  Imagine why that wolf should taste

  Exactly like an ant!

  There Was a Whale

  There was a whale

  Who had no tail.

  And he was full of sorrow;

  He swam around

  Long Island Sound

  And tried a tail to borrow.

  “Your tale is sad

  And quite too bad,”

  The fishes all confided

  “But while our fins

  Are in our skins

  We’ll never be divided.”

  But still his tail

  He did bewail

  To one fish or the other,

  ‘Til they said “Oh

  Why don’t you go

  And try to grow another!”

  A Little Man

  Once there was a little man

  Who stepped upon my toes.

  He would not apologise

  And so I pulled his nose.

  Buy a Goose

  Don’t you want to buy a goose

  or else a gander?

  I’ve one to sell that could’nt

  well be grander;

  For his voice is loud and sweet

  And his meat is good to eat--

  To refuse to buy would surely

  be a slander.

  Miss Nancy Brown

  Miss Nancy Brown

  she came to town,

  A basket by her side,

  All filled with mud-pies

  neat and round

  That in the sun she’d dried.

  She wandered up and wandered down

  And tried to sell her pies,

  But only met with sneer and frown,

  To her intense surprise.

  Miss Nancy Brown

  she left the town

  And carried home her pies.

  And on the ground

  she threw them down,

  Which showed that she was wise.

  Cootchie Cooloo

  Cootchie Cooloo

  Was a girl of Hindoo,

  Who was rather too

  large for her size;

  Her teeth were

  quite white

  And her nose

  was all right,

  But she had a bad squint

  to her eyes.r />
  Here Is Paddy Geegan

  Here is Paddy Geegan, digging,

  Trying hard to make a well.

  Here is Paddy’s billy goat, and

  Looking cross, I grieve to tell.

  With bowed head and eye that flashes

  Quickly at poor Pat he dashes.

  Now there’s nothing more to tell--

  Both have fallen in the well.

  Tim Jenkins Tried

  Tim Jenkins tried

  A horse to ride

  Which was so fond of shying

  That I declare

  High in the air

  The boy was quickly flying.

  Rough Riders

  Rough Riders are

  The pride of war.

  But bucking bronchos truly

  Make riding rough

  And tough enough

  When they become unruly.

  The Coogie Bird

  Oh have you heard the Coogie Bird?

  It sings a song that’s quite absurd.

  It sings a song that is n’t long,

  And the song that it sings at it flaps its wings

  Is “Qwee-wee-wee” and “Qwee-wee-wird!”

  Now isn’t that song quite absurd,

  That’s sung by the foolish Coogie Bird?

  The Ship Will Go

  When breezes blow the ship will go

  A sailing o’er the sea;

  A flag apeak, she’ll sail to seek

  Her country’s enemy

  And win a name of glorious fame

  Ere she

  returns

  to me.

  Donnegan

  There was a man named Donnegan

  Who wandered up and down,

  And always in the country stayed

  Unless he came to town.

  The people to him kindly said

  “What to you want, my man?”

  “‘Tis work I want, oh, give me work!”

  Replied bold Donnegan.

  But though he wandered north and south,

  And traveled east and west,

  No work came to brave Donnegan

  Who passed his days at rest.

  Chickens at Night

  Where do the chickens go at night--

  Heigh-ho! Where do they go?

  Under the breast of their mother they rest,

  Finding her feathers a soft fluffy nest;

  And that’s where the chicks go at night,

  Heigh-ho!

  Yes, there’s where the chicks go at night.

  Cats Babies Have

  These are the cats the babies have

  In China, far away;

  They carry them where e’re they go

  And love with them to play.

  When baby pulls their heads way down

  The cats will say “mie-ew,”

  As if they really were alive

  And knew the baby, too.

  Sun Bear Dances

  The Sun-Bear dances merrily

  Upon the ball so round,

  And has to balance warily

  Or fall upon the ground.

  To emulate a juggler great

  No better bear is found.

  The Soldier

  The soldier is a splendid man

  When marching on parade;

  And when he meets the enemy

  He never is afraid.

  And when he fires his musket off

  He loads it up again;

  And when he charges on the foe

  Resistance is in vain.

  The soldier is a fearless man

  When he to war does go;

  He faces guns and never runs

  Unless ‘tis at the foe.

  And when he marches home again

  He’s called a hero bold.

  And many very wondrous tales

  Are by the soldier told.

  Betsy Baker

  Once a girl named Betsy Baker

  Thought she’d like to be a Quaker;

  On her head she put a shaker

  Thinking that the shaker ‘d make her

  Very like a real Quaker.

  One Old Cat!

  One Old Cat!

  Batter’s at the bat.

  Pitch and catch--the batter’s out!

  Laugh and run and slide and shout--

  A very merry game is that.

  And they call it

  One old Cat!

  Boy from Kalamazoo

  There was a boy

  from Kalamazoo

  Who ate too much hot

  celery stew.

  He felt quite ill

  But took a pill

  And now he feels

  as good

  as new.

  Boy, A Tiny Mite

  There was a boy, a tiny mite,

  Who tried to fly a mighty kite,

  And then, alas!

  It came to pass

  Both boy and kite flew out of sight.

  George Washington

  When George Washington was young

  And full of energy,

  He took his little hatchet

  And chopped a cherry tree.

  His father grew quite angry,

  This sorry sight to see,

  For he was very fond indeed

  Of that same cherry tree.

  And so he questioned Georgie:

  “Who did this thing?” said he.

  “I cannot tell a lie,” said George,

  “I chopped the cherry tree.”

  The father then wept tears of joy,

  At such brave honesty;

  “Your truthfulness is worth far more

  Than one small cherry tree.”

  And when his father walked away

  Georgie seized the ax with glee

  And hacked away ‘till he had felled

  Another cherry tree.

  His father now returned in hast,

  took Georgie on his knee,

  And said “I’ll teach you to destroy

  My pretty cherry tree!”

  “Don’t spank!” cried George; “I’ll tell the truth,

  For still I’ll honest be;

  ‘Twas I, dear father, took the ax

  And chopped the cherry tree.”

  “Oh, ho!” Said Mr Washington

  “Unless I punish thee

  Thy truth will cost to me the loss

  Of every cherry tree!”

  ‘Twas full a week before poor George

  Sat down with any ease,

  His father sold the hatchet

  And saved his cherry-trees.

  Sammy Simpson

  Sammy Simpson

  all the day

  Loves at “Soldier Boy”

  to play.

  When it comes to

  candle-light

  He is glad to say

  “good night.”

  Seymour Credit

  All of the pages of verse in

  Father Goose, His Book

  have been hand-lettered

  by

  Ralph Fletcher Seymour

  THE ARMY ALPHABET

  George M. Hill Company published Baum’s, The Army Alphabet, in 1900, illustrated in color by Harry Kennedy. Baum’s primer for teaching the alphabet featured patriotic rhymes and illustrations depicting scenes from the Spanish-American War.

  A first edition copy of The Army Alphabet

  One of the poetry book’s illustrations

  The Army Alphabet

  A represents the Army great,

  The safeguard of our nation.

  Whene’er our country goes to war

  It fights with desperation;

  And when we do not care to fight

  It forces arbitration.

  B represents the Bayonet,

  Tis useful in a fight;

  For when tis pointed at the foe

  He takes to instant flight,

  Or else is pricked quite full of holes

  Which spoils his appetite.
/>
  C represents the tin Canteen,

  A water bottle quaint.

  It cheers the worn and weary, and

  The wounded when they faint.

  When soldiers have their canteens full

  They seldom make complaint.

  D represents the Drummer boys,

  They’re young and frolicsome;

  Drum majors drill the boys with skill

  To beat and roll the drum,

  And soldiers march in better time

  Behind the drum’s “tum tum!”

  E represents the Enemy,

  He’s also called the foe.

  In war he’s a necessity;

  We could not fight, you know,

  Unless an enemy stood near

  In waiting for the blow.

  F represents the starry Flag,

  For which our soldiers fight.

  When on the battle field it waves

  It is a glorious sight,

  And every one who sees it knows

  Our cause is surely right.

  G represents the General

  Who issues the command

  To march into the awful fray

  And all repulse withstand,

  Until the battle’s fairly won

  And victory’s at hand.

  H represents the Helmet worn

  By brave artillerymen;

  It shades their eyes so they can see

  The foemen now and then,

  And pop a shot, well aimed and hot,

  To thin their ranks again.

  I represents the Indian Scout

  Employed to slyly creep

  Upon the army of the foe,

  And at its movements peep.

  He’s full of cunning and of guile,

  And harmless, when asleep.

  J represents the Journalist,

  He’s always in the van,

  And wires his paper all the news

  With truth, whene’re he can.

  He’s very brave, and full of fun,

  And quite a useful man.

  K represents the big Knapsack

  Each soldier has to bear.

  It is his trunk, and cupboard too;

  He packs it with great care.

  For it contains his spare wardrobe,

 

‹ Prev