or ^j iiaaL ' -r' ' i ' 1 1 i.ii*i VNNETTE WYNNE f ■■'■ • ' ''"''^ ''' 't ' t Class Book.. 5 5^^ \j .1 Copyright})^. O I o. CDHfRIGHT DEPOSm ^i' mm^^^^^^mm % § m> FOR DAYS AND DAYS MY BOOK A little gate my book can be That leads to fields of minstrelsy And though you think I sit at home Afar in foreign fields I roam. FOR DAYS AND DAYS A YEAR-ROUND TREASURY OF CHILD VERSE BY ANNETTE WYNNE WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR BY ALICE BEARD NEW YORK , FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS <^. h / y ^ ^'^\ Copy right p 1919, by Frederick A. Stokes Company All rights reserved 0-:: i4 !9I9 >C!.A530941 THIS BOOK OF SONGS I DEDICATE TO ROBERT WHOSE MOTHER WENT AWAY TO BETTY AND JENNIE AND TO PATRICIA A LITTLE MAID OF HOONAH, ALASKA FOREWORD The aim of these verses is to please children-— and others. They were written, and arranged calendar-wise, for school children's entertain- ments. Most teachers and parents find a dearth of usable material for young people's recita- tions ; it is a commonplace that all good poetry is not good for such purposes. An attempt has been made to furnish, for all sorts of days, ma- terial that is close to the children's experience and at the same time timely. This book, therefore, is offered in the hope that it will facilitate the search of parents and teachers for joyous relax- ation in the Land of School and otherwheres. Annette Wynne, M. A. vfi ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author desires to thank the pubHshers of the following magazines for permission to use certain copyright poems in this book: St. Nich- olas, Youth's Companion, The Woman's Week- ly, The Portland Spectator, Little Folks, The Primary Kinder gartner. The Liberator, The Beacon, New Fiction, Munsey's and The Survey. IX Come, pretty songs, and fill my pages. Songs for children — little sages. Songs that laugh and love the sun. Songs that scamper, leap, and run. Songs for bright and darkened places. Songs for gay or saddened faces. Come out from your haunts again. Troop out from the rock and glen. Fill my eager little pen! CONTENTS Janiiary A Little Calendar . The World's a Moving Picture Play I'm January .... The Little New Year's Come to Stay Twelve Months in a Row . This Is God's Day . Each New Little Day Slips Out of My Hand To-day Sea With Good Arms . 1 Marred a Day The Song Shop . If It Were January All the Year It Isn't Only Flakes That Fall . For a Child's Book . Who Would Tear a Page . Good-Morning, Sun . Each Dawn .... The Wires Are So Still and High If Love Were Mine . Family Cares .... The Little Window . The Little Plant on the Window Speaks Indian Children Fierce Parents .... The Scholar .... My Book Holds Many Stories . A Wish Is Quite a Tiny Thing . zi FAQB 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 10 11 12 12 IS 14 14 15 16 17 17 18 19 19 20 20 Xll CONTENTS PAGE God's House Has a Ceiling . . . .21 Letters Are Small Angels .... 21 "Guck-Acht-che?" . 22 The Happy Little Clock . 23 Days . . . , 24 The Rhinoceros 25 The Elephant . 25 O Little Road . 26 Song of Our Land . 26 Book, Book 27 The Poor Trees Stand and Shiver So 28 Little Maid of Far Japan 29 Mighty Things .... SO The Little New Pupil .... 30 Little Tiger Cat ... . 31 Where, Do Thoughts Come From? . 32 The Sunshine Has a Pleasant Way . 33 February I'm Not Just February 37 Leap Year .... 38 A Little Boy and a Cherry Tree 38 Washington .... . 39 Lincoln ..... . 39 Greeting ...... 40 Hearts Were Made to Give Away 40 Winter ..... 41 Great Washington 41 It Must Have Been Quite Queer 42 Land of School . 43 When Our Land Was New 43 The Postman .... 44 Books Never Tell . • • < 44 CONTENTS xiu PAGE Man and Dog and Horse and Tree . 45 Outside the Door .... 46 Where Is Our Flag's Home? . 46 Books Are Soldiers .... 47 The Water Falls Upon the Ground . 48 The Pleasant Dark .... 48 A Letter Is a Gipsy Elf . 49, High and Mighty .... 49 Friendly Little Wishes . 50 The Children Clap Their Hands . 50 My Candle Most Absurdly Small . 50 The Foreign Children Never Know . 51 The Telegraph 51 I Know a Man 52 My Book ....•• 52 Geography Journeys 52 Some Curious Folks .... 54 A Busy Street 54 The House-Cat .... 55 My Window Looks upon the Sky 55 The Stars Are Blinking . 56 The Dark , 56 To an Old Tree .... 57 Lands and Oceans . . 57 A Sailor Bold , 58 When a Boy Plays in the Yard . . 59 March March, March . 63 Never Mind, March . • • . 64 Jack Frost in March • • . 64 March . . . . • • • . 65 Every One Knows March's Way . • . 65 XIV CONTENTS There's So Much in the World to Play St. Patrick's Day .... Before the Fountains Flow The Windy Day . . . My Land Is God's Land . The Small Clouds Nestled in the Sky The Winds of March End of March The March Wind Comes . You Can Measure the Steeple . Clear Away ..... Tired of Snow Riches ...... The Teacher Loves to Keep the Rule The Far North The Windows ..... Poets Have the Best of Times . The Little Bird upon the Tree . End of Winter ..... The Sea That Comes to Meet My Hand The Milky Way Safe and Sound .... April Calling the Roll April Is a Baby When Parents Go Out Shopping Pretty Nearly Everybody . Mother's Fingers When the Day Is Over . Sleep Time .... One, Two, Winter's Through . Mothers PAGE 66 66 67 67 68 69 69 70 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 76 76 77 78 79 83 83 84 84 84 85 85 86 86 «» CONTENTS XV The Fairy School ..... Suppose You Were a Little Seed Underground April, the Magician .... The Roofs All Day .... A Beggar-Bird ..... The Teacher Here's a Lazy Pussy When the Rain Came Down The Little Seed Speaks . The Spring Race .... Good-Morning, Day .... Piping Robin ..... Thoughts and Flowers Beginning to Grow .... April's Shiny New .... In the Garden ..... The Flower Children Underground . An Orphan ..... I Shall Play a Little Song on My Pipe Pussy Willow Days .... Here's the Seed, First I Dig . Rain, Rain, April Rain . Spring ...... Spectators ..... What Does the Seed Wait for Underground? Are You Frowning, April-Child? The Grass Is Very Glad for Rain . Spring Signs Out .... Work to Do . Dandelions in the Sun The Curly White Cloud Loves the Sky Spring Came Walking Let's Take the Road and Follow April PAQB 87 88 89 90 90 91 91 92 94 94 95 96 96 97 97 98 98 99 99 100 100 101 101 102 102 lOS 103 104 105 106 106 107 107 XVI CONTENTS March and April Little Bird, O Will You Be? . The Beggar-Trees Crocuses, Crocuses, How You Grow Gold Hunting .... The Little Cloud Comes Down . Little Baby Pussies . Easter Day .... Trees to Let .... I Know a Pussy May **Moon of Green Leaves'* . All the World Is Right for Play May ...... May Is Pretty, May Is Mild . All the Things a Bird Is . Little Folks in the Grass . May Has Such a Winsome Way Spring Comes with Wand in Hand The Tree Outside . A Thousand Thoughts Twilight .... To a Bird .... Who Is It Sits at the Top of the Hill? How a Fairy Spends the Day The Peeping Vine . To a Tree The Garden Wasn't a Garden The Friendly Tree . May Snow Some People Like the Great Things Flowers Laugh and Talk and Play PAGE 108 109 109 110 110 112 113 114 115 116 119 119 120 120 121 122 123 124 124 125 126 126 127 128 128 129 129 130 130 131 132 CONTENTS xvii Blue-Eyed Grass of May . The Glad Sun . Gods Gold .... Friendly Tree, This Is Your Day One Little Cloud Is Out To-day The First of May . A Bird May Sit and Sing . The Fountain Is So Happy Arbor Day .... The Tree That Lives Beside the Brook I'm a Pirate .... Ocean Mightier Than the Land Who Would Hurt a Horse or Tree Thoughts .... A Cat Might Sit up in a Tree Memorial Day . . . If a Bird May Think . May Has Decked the World The Sparrow's Little Wings May Baskets The Airplane . 132 133 133 1S4, 135 135 136 136 137 138 138 139 140 140 141 141 142 142 14S 143 144 June, J lily y August Why Was June Made? . Sputtering Glow-Worm June ....-• Daisies Standing in the Rain . There's No Land Like Our Land Sky and Tree and Hill and All . Up Clover Lane The Grassy-Meadow-School The Fairy Trail The Meadow Brook . 147 148 148 149 149 150 150 151 152 153 XVlll CONTENTS PAQB Songs 154 I Like to Wander OS Alone . 155 A Butterfly Talks .... . 156 World of Clover, White and Red . 156 Wave, Wave, Wave .... 157 Lions Running Over the Green . 157 Flag, Our Flag .... 158 Things That Walk with Feet . 159 Flags 159 I Like the Brook . , . , 160 The Leader 160 Hills . 161 A Paper Moon ..... 161 I Wonder Did Each Flower Know? . 162 The Lady Has a Garden . 162 The Poor Little Rich Flower . . 163 June's Picture ..... 164 "June" Sang the River . . 165 God's Garden .... . 166 Harebells ..... . 166 The Harebells Ring . . 167 June's Flag .... . 167 If Your Nurse Is Cross or Mean . 168 Butterfly, Lend Me Your Wings, I I 'ray . 168 June Is Such a Bonny Time . . 169 I Heard a Little Fairy Say . . 169 I Took a Little Seed to You . . 170 Red and White Roofs . 170 July ...... . 171 Holidays ..... . 171 There's Many a Lonesome Daisy . 172 Two Skies .... . 172 The Sea Rolls Up ... , , 178 CONTENTS XIX To the Cornflower . Summer Glory . . . • August People Buy a Lot of Things . Long Ago and Far Away . Bright Shines the Star-Dipped Flag Harebells in June . All Day the Happy Indian It's Fun to Have a Secret . Lamps Little Eskimo . Being a Fairy . Being a Hermit The Sun . Bird of the Sky September September Eugene Field End of Fun After Vacation Magic The Little Words Within My Book The Traffic Man The Mayor's Children The Fairies Do Not Like the Dark Trains in the Grass . Pens Make Word Pictures The Tree Stands Very Straight and The Forest . . . • When Children Play and Romp About Alone and Together . Little Room Still 173 174 175 175 176 177 177 178 179 180 181 182 184 185 186 189 189 190 191 191 192 192 193 193 194 196 196 197 197 198 199 XX CONTENTS PAGE Lazy Little Firefly 200 The Tall Trees Look Out Very Far . 201 The Straight Young Trees . 201 Giant Land . . . . . 202 Weather Cock .... . 202 Waifs . 203 A Dream ..... . 203 The Mountain May Seem Very Hig h . 204 Sometimes .... . 204 Colored Countries . 205 In Land and Sea and Sky and Air . 206 Once When You Were Walking . 206 The Sky Loves the Tall Hills . . 207 Good Words , . 207 Blue , . 208 The Moon Walked . . 208 In School .... > . 209 October October 213 Autumn Play . 213 Before It's Time to Go to Bed , . 214 I Love These Days . . 215 Cars Go Fast . . . , . 216 Across the Bridge . . 217 Worktime and Sleeptime . . 217 Song for Columbus Day . . 218 The Three Little Ships . . 219 Little Columbus . 220 Columbus ..... . 221 Song of Columbus , . 222 Palos, Spain^ 1492 . . 223 In Columbus* Time . . 224 CONTENTS XXI PAG£] Isabel . 224 Old Witch Riding By . 225 Seeing . . , . , . 226 Christopher Columbus . 226 Chairs . . . . , . 228 Hallowe'en . 228 Boxes . 229 A Hermit on an Island . . 229 The Leaves Do Not Mind at All . . 230 The Little Leaf .... . 231 Novemher November . 235 The Autumn Wind . 236 Thanksgiving Day . . . • , . 236 The World Is So Tired, Sky . . 237 Not Thankful . 237 The Grown-Ups .... . 238 My Little Star . 238 When People Grow Too Big and Wise . 239 God's House . 239 When Days Are Crisp and Bright . . 240 The Pilgrims Came . . . . , . 241 Sun, Dear Sun ...... . 242 Tusitala . . . . . . 243 The Library ...... . 244 Where Bananas Grow . . . . . 244 The Moon and I . 245 I Wonder if the Lion Knows . . 245 I Think I'd Like You Better, Star . . 246 Fierce Adventures . . . . , . 247 A Friendly Word . 248 To Our Good House . ^ ^ . 248 XXll CONTENTS God Made the Mountain Very High To Make a House . Homes 249 249 249 December December ..... The Postman Is a Happy Man . Every Day's a Little Year . Snow in Schooltime .... Feathery Snow ..... Work Wanted Yesterday the School Was Red . I Wish You Were More Friendly, Sky For Every Star ..... The Letter Man .... Sheep That Keeps Me Warm To-day If Santa Did Not Like His Work . On the Ice Behind Each Star . Song of the Snowflakes . The Fir Tree . Great White World . Our Christmas Tree . Pretty Fir Tree Going to the Poor . It Must Be Fine to Stand and Sell 253 253 254 254 255 256 257 258 258 259 259 260 260 261 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 © INTRODUCTION Y the rarest intuition Miss Wynne has come to know the full experience of childhood. That's an uncommon posses- sion among grown-ups ; the rarest of uncommon possessions among poets — even though poets be but grown-up children. The Heaven that "lies about us in our infancy" is a child's realization of the world we inhabit but do not, except on the rare occasion of visiting a Stevensonian "Gar- den" or "For Days and Days" spending a Wyn- nian year, share with it. To visit such a gar- den and to spend such a year is, for most of us, to taste the full experience of childhood's past in the now of grown-ups, and those vanished days which were our own are the common possession of humanity from generation to generation. "Shades of the prison-house" close upon nearly every one of us, swallowing up all our personal recogni- tions of infancy and childhood. To a few, a very few, the "shades" are but a curtain easily Hfted by the intuition, through which the imagination flows, illuminating the juvenile experience of the past. Only now and then a poet comes amongst ZXUl xxiv INTRODUCTION us who in the full development of adult faculties, still remains intuitionally and imaginatively a child ; who can, not with mere literary conjuration and wizardry, but with absolute mood and ex- perience, express, picture, and interpret the child's wonderful world. How few such poets are we know by the small number of books of verse that furnish us, and what is more important our children, with a chart for sailing the illimit- able seas of a child's wonder. The classic names that stand for the perfection of such a chart are very few. When we pronounce Lewis Car- roll, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Eugene Field — we hesitate to go on confidently to the fourth. That hesitation shall no longer exist for those who come to know and admire this collection of child-verse by Miss Annette Wynne. The right to be added in such classic company is not a whit too much of distinction to bestow upon this new poet. She begins from the very start in the possession of that engaging speech which is indispensably the gift to articulate the compound of wonder and curiosity in a child's thought, the happy, spontaneous, inimitable utterance, natural and unconscious of its audi- ence, and yet so bright and picturesque, so mag- ical — that's the term — in its artlessness. When Stevenson wrote — INTRODUCTION xxv The world is so full of a number of things I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings he reached this perfection of child's speech in verse by which I am going to test Miss Wynne's gift with this couplet — Letters are small angels flying in between All the houses of the town, red, and gray, and green — ' and leave it as a successful comparison of her gift to command the language of child-verse. What Miss Wynne accomplishes with that lan- guage is unique. There is no achievement like it, that I know of, in our literature. In this she has created a delight for the child and rendered a very important service for the parent and teacher. The child makes its world out of its thoughts and dreams to which the visible earth is but a decorated framework. This world Miss Wynne has visualized for him through a poetized calendar. It is a wonderful mirror of rhymes into which the child looks to see the reflection of its own nature. It is an inexhaustible foun- tain of interests from which the parent or the teacher draws to quench the child's thirst for entertainment. I will not so much as hint at all the infinite aspects of nature, or the variety of mood and experience, which have poured their riches into Miss Wynne's songs, because I wish xxvi INTRODUCTION to emphasize the pleasing and instructive feature of her book she has made in celebrating with the child all our holidays in verse. Indeed, for the child himself, for the home or for the school, noth- ing was ever more appropriately and consum- mately accomplished than this aspect of Miss Wynne's collection. All the treasures of the kingdom of childhood are given us in this calendar of songs. And I feel confident that future generations will cherish it as a classic. William Stanley Braithwaite. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Jfanuarp THE NEW YEAR DAYS BOOKS AND