"You think I am dead,"

The apple tree said, "Because I have never a leaf to show-- Because I stoop, And my branches droop, And the dull gray mosses over me grow!

But I'm still alive in trunk and shoot; The buds of next May I fold away-- But I pity the withered gra.s.s at my root."

"You think I am dead,"

The quick gra.s.s said, "Because I have parted with stem and blade!

But under the ground I am safe and sound With the snow's thick blanket over me laid.

I'm all alive, and ready to shoot, Should the spring of the year Come dancing here-- But I pity the flower without branch or root."

"You think I am dead,"

A soft voice said, "Because not a branch or root I own.

I never have died, But close I hide In a plumy seed that the wind has sown.

Patient I wait through the long winter hours; You will see me again-- I shall laugh at you then, Out of the eyes of a hundred flowers."

_Edith M. Thomas._

LITTLE DANDELION

Little bud Dandelion Hears from her nest, "Merry heart, starry eye, Wake from your rest!"

Wide ope the emerald lids; Robin's above; Wise little Dandelion Smiles at his love.

Cold lie the daisy-banks, Clad but in green, Where in the Mays agone Bright hues were seen.

Wild pinks are slumbering, Violets delay-- True little Dandelion Greeteth the May.

Meek little Dandelion Groweth more fair, Till dries the amber dew Out from her hair.

High rides the thirsty sun, Fiercely and high,-- Faint little Dandelion Closeth her eye.

Dead little Dandelion, In her white shroud, Heareth the angel-breeze Call from the cloud.

Tiny plumes fluttering Make no delay, Little winged Dandelion Soareth away.

_Helen L. Bostwick._

INDEX OF t.i.tLES

Afternoon in February _Henry W. Longfellow_ Ant and the Cricket, The _Anonymous_ April Day, An _Henry W. Longfellow_ April Welcome, An _Phoebe Cary_ Autumn _Alice Cary_ Autumn Fires _Robert Louis Stevenson_

Ballad of the Tempest, The _James T. Fields_ Birds in Summer _Mary Howitt_ Bluebird, The _Emily Huntington Miller_ Blue Jay, The _Susan Hartley Swett_ "Bob White" _George Cooper_ Brook-Song, The _James Whitcomb Riley_ Brown Thrush, The _Lucy Larcom_ Busy Day, A _Anonymous_

Calling the Violet _Lucy Larcom_ Camel's Hump, The _Rudyard Kipling_ Captain's Daughter, The (See "Ballad of the Tempest") Chestnut Burr, The _Anonymous_ Child's Prayer, A _Matilda B. Edwards_ Child's Thought of G.o.d, A _Elizabeth Barrett Browning_ Choosing a Name _Mary Lamb_ Christmas _Nahum Tate_ Christmas Carol, A _J.G. Holland_

Daisies, The _Bliss Carman_ Dandelion _Kate L. Brown_ Dandelions, The _Helen Gray Cone_ Day, A _Emily d.i.c.kinson_ Daybreak _Henry W. Longfellow_ Don't Kill the Birds _J. Colesworthy_ Dove, The _John Keats_ "Down to Sleep" _Helen Hunt Jackson_

Emperor's Bird's Nest, The _Henry W. Longfellow_

Fable, A _Ralph Waldo Emerson_ Fairies of the Caldon Low, The _Mary Howitt_ Fairy Queen, The _Anonymous_ Fairy Song _John Keats_ Fairy Tale, A _Helen Gray Cone_ Farewell, A _Charles Kingsley_ Fern Song, The _John Bannister Tabb_ Fir-Tree, The _Josephine Preston Peabody_ Fraidie-Cat _Clinton Scollard_

Gra.s.s, The _Emily d.i.c.kinson_

Hail, Columbia! _Joseph Hopkinson_ Hiawatha's Fishing _Henry W. Longfellow_ Hiawatha's Friends _Henry W. Longfellow_ Hiawatha's Hunting _Henry W. Longfellow_ Hiawatha's Sailing _Henry W. Longfellow_ How the Leaves Came Down _Susan Coolidge_ Hunting Song _Samuel T. Coleridge_

I Remember, I Remember _Thomas Hood_

Jack Frost _Gabriel Setoun_ Jack Frost _Hannah F. Gould_ Jack in the Pulpit _Clara Smith_ Jumblies, The _Edward Lear_

King Solomon and the Bees _John G. Saxe_ Kriss Kringle _Thomas Bailey Aldrich_

Land of Dreams, The _William Blake_ Land of Story-Books, The _Robert Louis Stevenson_ Laughing Chorus, A _Anonymous_ Laughing Song, A _William Blake_ Lesson of Mercy, A _Alice Cary_ Life Lesson, A _James Whitcomb Riley_ Little by Little _Anonymous_ Little Dandelion _Helen L. Bostwick_ Little Gottlieb _Phoebe Cary_ Little Ladybird, The _Caroline B. Southey_ Little Orphant Annie _James Whitcomb Riley_ Lobster Quadrille, A _Lewis Carroll_ Lost Doll, The _Charles Kingsley_ Lullaby for t.i.tania _William Shakespeare_ Lullaby of an Infant Chief _Sir Walter Scott_

Marjorie's Almanac _Thomas Bailey Aldrich_ Morning Song, A _William Shakespeare_

Night _William Blake_ Night Wind, The _Eugene Field_ n.o.body Knows _Walter de la Mare_ November _Alice Gary_

October's Bright Blue Weather _Helen Hunt Jackson_ Old Christmas _Mary Howitt_ "Old, Old Song," The _Charles Kingsley_ O Little Town of Bethlehem _Phillips Brooks_ Our Heroes _Phoebe Cary_ Owl, The _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_

Pig and the Hen, The _Alice Gary_ Pirate Story _Robert Louis Stevenson_ Pobble Who Has No Toes, The _Edward Lear_

Quangle w.a.n.gle's Hat, The _Edward Lear_

Rainbow, The _William Wordsworth_ Rain in Summer _Henry W. Longfellow_ Rainy Day, The _Henry W. Longfellow_ Red Riding-Hood _John G. Whittier_ Robert of Lincoln _William Cullen Bryant_ Robin Redbreast _William Allingham_ Romance _Gabriel Setoun_

Sandman, The _Margaret Vandegrift_ Sandpiper, The _Celia Thaxter_ September _Helen Hunt Jackson_ Snow-bird's Song, The _F.C. Woodworth_ Snowdrop, The _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ Song of the Fairy _William Shakespeare_ Song Sparrow, The _Henry van d.y.k.e_ Spider and the Fly, The _Mary Howitt_ Spring _Celia Thaxter_

Talking in Their Sleep _Edith M. Thomas_ Thanksgiving Fable, A _Oliver Herford_ Three Fishers, The _Charles Kingsley_ To a b.u.t.terfly _William Wordsworth_ Tragic Story, A _William M. Thackeray_ Tree, The _Bjornstjerne Bjornson_ Truants, The _Walter de la Mare_

Under the Greenwood Tree _William Shakespeare_ Unseen Playmate, The _Robert Louis Stevenson_

Violet, The _Jane Taylor_ Visit from St. Nicholas, A _Clement C. Moore_ Voice of Spring, The _Mary Howitt_

Waiting to Grow _Frank French_ Walrus and the Carpenter, The _Lewis Carroll_ Wanderers _Walter de la Mare_ We Are Seven _William Wordsworth_ While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night (See "Christmas") White Seal _Rudyard Kipling_ Will Ever? _Walter de la Mare_ Wind and the Moon, The _.George Macdonald_ Wind in a Frolic, The _William Howitt_ Wind, The _Robert Louis Stevenson_ Winter _William Shakespeare_ Winter-Time _Robert Louis Stevenson_ Wishing _William Allingham_ Wonderful World, The _William B. Rands_ World's Music, The _Gabriel Setoun_

INDEX OF FIRST LINES

A boy named Peter Across the German Ocean Across the narrow beach we flit "And where have you been, my Mary A silly young cricket, accustomed to sing A simple Child At evening when the lamp is lit "Awake, awake, my little boy!

A wee little nut lay deep in its nest A wind came up out of the sea

Come, follow, follow me Come up, April, through the valley

Dance to the beat of the rain, little Fern Dear little Violet Don't kill the birds, the pretty birds Down in a green and shady bed

Ere my heart beats too coldly and faintly

Forth into the forest straightway Forth upon the Gitche Gumee