O what a joy to clamber there, O what a place for play, With the sweet, the dim, the dusty air, The happy hills of hay.

XL

FAREWELL TO THE FARM

THE coach is at the door at last; The eager children, mounting fast And kissing hands, in chorus sing: Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

To house and garden, field and lawn, The meadow-gates we sw.a.n.g upon, To pump and stable, tree and swing, Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

And fare you well for evermore, O ladder at the hayloft door, O hayloft where the cobwebs cling, Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

Crack goes the whip, and off we go; The trees and houses smaller grow; Last, round the woody turn we swing: Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

XLI

NORTH-WEST Pa.s.sAGE

1. GOOD NIGHT

When the bright lamp is carried in, The sunless hours again begin; O'er all without, in field and lane, The haunted night returns again.

Now we behold the embers flee About the firelit hearth; and see Our faces painted as we pa.s.s, Like pictures, on the window-gla.s.s.

Must we to bed indeed? Well then, Let us arise and go like men, And face with an undaunted tread The long black pa.s.sage up to bed.

Farewell, O brother, sister, sire!

O pleasant party round the fire!

The songs you sing, the tales you tell, Till far to-morrow, fare ye well!

2. SHADOW MARCH

All round the house is the jet-black night; It stares through the window-pane; It crawls in the corners, hiding from the light, And it moves with the moving flame.

Now my little heart goes a-beating like a drum, With the breath of the Bogie in my hair; And all round the candle the crooked shadows come And go marching along up the stair.

The shadow of the bal.u.s.ters, the shadow of the lamp, The shadow of the child that goes to bed-- All the wicked shadows coming, tramp, tramp, tramp, With the black night overhead.

3. IN PORT

Last, to the chamber where I lie My fearful footsteps patter nigh, And come from out the cold and gloom Into my warm and cheerful room.

There, safe arrived, we turn about To keep the coming shadows out, And close the happy door at last On all the perils that we past.

Then, when mamma goes by to bed, She shall come in with tip-toe tread, And see me lying warm and fast And in the Land of Nod at last.

THE CHILD ALONE

I

THE UNSEEN PLAYMATE

WHEN children are playing alone on the green, In comes the playmate that never was seen.

When children are happy and lonely and good, The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.

n.o.body heard him and n.o.body saw, His is a picture you never could draw, But he's sure to be present, abroad or at home, When children are happy and playing alone.

He lies in the laurels, he runs on the gra.s.s, He sings when you tinkle the musical gla.s.s; Whene'er you are happy and cannot tell why, The Friend of the Children is sure to be by!

He loves to be little, he hates to be big, 'Tis he that inhabits the caves that you dig; 'Tis he when you play with your soldiers of tin That sides with the Frenchmen and never can win.

'Tis he, when at night you go off to your bed, Bids you go to your sleep and not trouble your head; For wherever they're lying, in cupboard or shelf, 'Tis he will take care of your playthings himself!

[Ill.u.s.tration: MY SHIP AND I

And my ship it keeps a-turning all around and all about]

II

MY SHIP AND I

O IT'S I that am the captain of a tidy little ship, Of a ship that goes a-sailing on the pond; And my ship it keeps a-turning all around and all about; But when I'm a little older, I shall find the secret out How to send my vessel sailing on beyond.

For I mean to grow as little as the dolly at the helm, And the dolly I intend to come alive; And with him beside to help me, it's a-sailing I shall go, It's a-sailing on the water, when the jolly breezes blow And the vessel goes a divie-divie dive.

O it's then you'll see me sailing through the rushes and the reeds, And you'll hear the water singing at the prow; For beside the dolly sailor, I'm to voyage and explore, To land upon the island where no dolly was before, And to fire the penny cannon in the bow.