Blossoms by the Way. A collection of choice poems. Edited by C. A. Cooke. Border designs by Sweeney

Front matter

BLOSSOMS BY THE WAY A COLLECTION OF CHOICE POEMS EDITED BV CARRIE ADELAIDE COOKE Border Designs by Sweeney BOSTON D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY 32 FRANKLIN STREET Copyright, 1882. D. Lothrop & Company. CONTENTS. In School-clays . ... 15 The Christ-cradle .19 A Spinning Song 25 Her own little Room 27 Manners 32 Good-night 34 Right Hand and Left Hand . . . .36 The Doves 41 A Hint from Homer ..... 45 Cuckoo 47 Giotto and his Sheep . . . . .49 Questions ....... 56 Big Toe 59 A Lesson in Arithmetic . . . . .62 The grown-up Clock ..... 67 Butterflies 69 Baby's Day 73 Summer's Done ...... 77 Revenge 81 Kiss Me, Katie 85 Old Watch to the Moon . . . . .88 Chick-a-dee's Breakfast 92 V VI Contents. On Guard 94 Mid-winter 98 How Maud kept Watch 102 The Child Raphael 106 Waking up a Bear 112 Motherly Duties 122 How Spring made her Flowers . . . 125 The Earth's little Babies 130 The old Man picking his Geese . . . 132 Funny Uncle Phil 136 Spring Fun . . . . . . .144 The Language of Birds ..... 147 A Spring Outfit -152 The Dumb Spinner ...... 155 Seeing the World 157 My little Love 161 The Wishing-cap 165 Little Mary's Secret 168 What Grace is going to do . . • .175 The Lost Dimple 181 The old gray Hen 184 .A Nosegay 186 A little Sinner 187 The Spring and the Well .... 190 In the Swing 196 Will-o'-the-Wisp 198 The Children's Harvest Contents.

VII Weighing the Baby 201 Choosing a Kitten ...... 207 The Fire-cracker and Torpedo . . .211 The Way the Rain behaves .... 214 Willie's Mishap 216 The Silver Boat 220 Baby Thankful 222 Ned's Wonderings ...... 226 Weather Prophets 228 Little Titian's Palette 230 Little Hop-o'-my-Thumb 236 A little Girl's Questions 239 Why a Birdie built in the Top of a Tree. . 242 Baby Bobolink's Cradle 244 Pretty Polly Pansy 246 The Baby's Picture .251 The Weed's Mission 257 The first St. Martin's Summer. . . .259 A little Boy's Troubles 261 Little Golden-hair 264 Do your Best 269 Where did You come from? .... 273 Little Birdie 276 The dead Doll 278 A good Name 285 The little Soldier 286 A, B, C, • • •' • ' • • • -288 Contents. The three Copecks 290 Suppose 295 Philip, my King 298 Boys Wanted 303 The unfinished Prayer ..... 305 The Minutes 307 A Bird's-eye View 309 Benny 312 Polly 319 Keys 321 Beauty . . . . . . . .322 The Try Company 323 Little by Little 325 Little Dandelion 327 Catching the Cat 332 The Life Ledger 339 What We find 341 The Secret 342 A Pound, Sir ! . . . . . . . 346 An Aim in Life 349 One Thing at a Time 350 They didn't think 352 That dropped Stitch 357 The Swiss " Good-night " .... 362 The Shadows 366 Sunshine and Show _rs 371 Over the Hill Contents. ix The Child-Judge 429 Old and New ' . .438 Little white Lily 440 A Nut to crack 443 A Chrysalis .446 Good Counsel 449 The Bluebell 451 The Sands of Dee 454 The Golden Rule 456 Not always Children 457 The School 461 Now 464 The brown Thrush 467 The gray Swan 469 Larvæ 474 The four Sunbeams 477 I'll put it off 481 At the Party 482 Keep to the Right 490 Sowing ....•••• 492 Sont4; of Seven. — Seven Times one . . 494 Jeannette and Jo 499 The Children in the Moon .... 502 Kescued . . 509 The Tree Contents.

X The Crow's Children 515 The little Brother 519 The Lark and the Rook 522 A short Sermon ...... 525 If We knew 528 Incident of the French Camp .... 530 A Comforter 533 The motherless Turkeys . . . .539 How they brought the good News . . 543 Farm-yard Song ...... 550 The May Queen 555 Abou Ben Adhem and the Angel . . . 578 Little by Little 580 The Pied Piper of Hamelin . . . .581 An Easter Poem 603 The Life-web 605 Bernardo del Carpio ..... 606 The broken Toys 613 A little Child's Fancies . . . .617 Doing or Dreaming ...... 622 Norembega ....... 623 The Wreck of the Hesperus . . . .632 The high Tide 641 The Child and the Gorse . . . .653 The Mountain and the Squirrel . . . Contents. xi The barefoot Boy 658 Little Builders 665 The discontented Yew-Tree .... 667 The Inchcape Rock . . . . .671 Discontent ....... 677 To-day 681 A Proverb 683 What the Sparrow chirps .... 686 The open Door 690 What the Choir sang 694 John Maynard 700 John Gilpin . . ... . . . 707 The Builders 726 Snowflakes ...... 729 I BLOSSOMS BY THE WAY BLOSSOMS BY THE WAY IN SCHOOL-DAYS. sits the school-house by the road, A ragged beggar sunning ; Around it still the sumachs grow And blackberry-vines are running.

Part I

"X 7"OU must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear ; To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad New Year ; Of all the glad New Year, mother, the maddest, merriest day ; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o the May. There's many a black, black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine ; There's Margaret and Mary, there's Kate and Caroline ; But none so fair as little Alice in all the land they say ; So I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake, If you do not call me loud, when the day begins to break : But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and garlands gay ; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. As I came up the valley, whom think you should I see, But Robin leaning on the bridge beneath the hazel tree ?

He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him yesterday. — But I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. He thought I was a ghost, for I was all in white, And I ran by him without speakirg like a flash of light. They call me cruel-hearted : but I care not what they say. For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. They say he's dying all for love; but that can never be ; They say his heart is breaking, mother ; what is that to me ? There's many a bolder lad'll woo me any summer day, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. Little Effie shall go with me to-morrow to the green, And you'll be there too, mother, to see me made the queen ; For the shepherd lads on every side'll come from far away, And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

The honeysuckle round the porch has woven its waxy bowers, And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint, sweet cuckoo-flowers, And the wild marsh-marigold shines like fire in swamps and hollows gray, And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. The night winds come and go, mother, upon the meadow-grass, And the happy stars above them seem to brighten as they pass ; There will not be a drop of rain the whole of the livelong day, And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. e6o THE MAY QUEEN. All the valley, mother, '11 be fresh and green and still, And the cowslip and the crowfoot are over all the hill. And the rivulet in the flowery dale'll merrily glance and play ; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be queen o' the May. So you must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear ; To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad New Year ; To-morrow'll be of all the year the maddest, mer riest day; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

Part II. New Year's Eve

If you're waking call me early, call me early, mother dear, For I would see the sun rise upon the glad New Year ; It is the last New Year that I shall ever see, Then you may lay me low i' the mould, and think no more of me. To-night I saw the sunset : he set and left behind The good old year, the dear old time, and ail my peace of mind ; And the New Year's coming up, mother, but I shall never see The blossom on the blackthorn, the leaf upon the tree. Last May we made a crown of flowers ; we had a merry day ; Beneath the hawthorn on the green they made me Queen of May ; And we danced about the May-pole and in the hazel copse, Till Charles's wain came out above the tall white chimney-tops. There's not a flower on all the hills : the frost is on the pane : I only wish to live till the snow-drops come again : I wish the snow would melt, and the sun come out on high ; I long to see a flower so before the day I die.

The building rook'll caw from the windy, tall elm tree, And the tufted plover pipe along the fallow lea, And the swallow'll come back again with summer o'er the wave, But I shall lie alone, mother, within the moul dering grave. Upon the chancel casement, and upon that grave of mine, In the early, early morning, the summer sun'll shine, Before the red cock crows from the farm upon the hill, When you are warm asleep, mother, and all the world is still. When the flowers come again, mother, beneath the waning light, You'll never see me more in the long, gray fields at night ; When from the dry, dark wood the summer airs blow cool On the oat-grass and the sword-grass, and the bulrush in the pool. You'll bury me, my mother, just beneath the hawthorn shade, And you'll come sometimes and see me where I am lowly laid.

I shall not forget you, mother ; I shall hear you when you pass, With your feet above my head in the long and pleasant grass. I have been wild and wayward, but you'll forgive me now ; You'll kiss me, my own mother, upon my cheek and brow ; — Nay, nay, you must not weep, nor let your grief be wild ; You should not fret for me, mother, — you have another child. If I can, I'll come again, mother, from out my resting-place ; Though you'll not see me, mother, I shall look upon your face ; Though I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken what you say, And be often, often with you, when you think I'm far away. Good-night ! good-night ! When I have said good-night forevermore, And you see me carried out from the threshold of the door. Don't let Effie come to see me till my grave be growing green : She'll be a better child to you than ever I have been.

She'll find my garden tools upon the granary floor : Let her take 'em : they are hers : I shall never garden more : But tell her, when I'm gone, to train the rose bush that I set About the parlor window, and the box of mign onette. Good-night, sweet mother; call me before the day is born. All night I lie awake, but I fall asleep at morn ; But I would see the sun rise upon the glad New Year ; So, if you're waking, call me, call me early, mother dear.