And you each gentle animal

In confidence may bind,

And make them follow at your will,
If you are only kind.

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 grass 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;
Was not that a dainty dish
To set before the King?

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

The maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes;
When up 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-fishing

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 pricked his fingers very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle.

"I LOVE SIXPENCE"

I LOVE Sixpence, pretty little sixpence,
I love sixpence, better than my life;
I spent a penny of it, I gave a penny of it,
And I took fourpence home to my wife.

"When I Was a Bachelor"

Oh, my little fourpence, pretty little fourpence,
I love fourpence better than my life;

I spent a penny of it, I gave a penny of it,
And I took twopence home to my wife.

Oh, my little twopence, pretty little twopence,
I love twopence better than my life;
I spent a penny of it, I gave a penny of it,
And I took nothing home to my wife.

Oh, my little nothing, pretty little nothing,
What will nothing buy for my wife?

I have nothing, I spend nothing,

I love nothing better than my wife.

"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 him 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'

WHEN I was a bachelor

I lived by myself;

And all the bread and cheese I got
I put upon the shelf.

The rats and the mice

They made such a strife,

I was forced to go to London

To buy me a wife.

41

The streets were so bad,

And the lanes were so narrow,

I was forced to bring my wife home In a wheelbarrow,

The wheelbarrow broke,

And my wife had a fall, Down came wheelbarrow,

Little wife and all.

THE BABES IN THE WOOD

My dear, do you know

How a long time ago,

Two poor little children,

Whose names I don't know,

Were stolen away

On a fine summer's day,

And left in a wood,
As I've heard people say?

And when it was night,

So sad was their plight,

The sun it went down,
And the moon gave no light!
They sobbed, and they sighed,
And they bitterly cried,

And the poor little things
They lay down and died.

And when they were dead,

The robins so red

Brought strawberry-leaves

And over them spread;

And all the day long,

They sang them this song

Poor babes in the wood!

Poor babes in the wood!

And don't you remember

The babes in the wood?

"Over the Water to Charley" 43

ROBIN REDBREAST

LITTLE Robin Redbreast sat upon a tree,
Up went pussy-cat, and down went he;
Down came pussy-cat, and away Robin ran;
Said little Robin Redbreast, "Catch me if you can."

Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a wall,
Pussy-cat jumped after him, and almost got a fall;

Little Robin chirped and sang, and what did pussy say?
Pussy-cat said naught but "Mew," and Robin flew away.

SOLOMON GRUNDY

SOLOMON Grundy,

Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday,
This is the end of
Solomon Grundy.

"OVER THE WATER TO CHARLEY "

OVER the water, and over the sea,
And over the water to Charley;
Charley loves good ale and wine,
And Charley loves good brandy,
And Charley loves a little lass,
As sweet as sugar-candy.

Over the water, and over the sea,
And over the water to Charley;
I'll have none of your nasty beef,
Nor I'll have none of your barley;

But I'll have some of your very best flour,

To make a white cake for my Charley.