Page 81—Play Land

The Rabbit on the Wall
The children shout with laughter,
The uproar louder grows;
Even grandma chuckles faintly,
And Johnny chirps and crows.
There ne'er was gilded painting,
Hung up in lordly hall,
Gave half the simple pleasure
As this rabbit on the wall.
The cottage work is over,
The evening meal is done;
Hark! thro' the starlight stillness
You hear the river run.
The little children whisper,
Then speak out one and all;
"Come, father, make for Johnny,
The rabbit on the wall."
He—smilingly assenting,
They gather round his chair;
"Now, grandma, you hold Johnny;
Don't let the candle flare."
So speaking, from his fingers
He throws a shadow tall,
That seems, a moment after,
A rabbit on the wall.
Holiday Time
With these three little girls and two little boys
There is sure to be plenty of laughter and noise;
But nobody minds it, because don't you see,
At school they are quiet with lessons to say—
But when the holidays come they can play the whole day.
The Fairy Queen
Let us laugh and let us sing,
Dancing in a merry ring;
We'll be fairies on the green,
Sporting round the Fairy Queen.
Like the seasons of the year,
Round we circle in a sphere;
I'll be Summer, you'll be Spring,
Dancing in a fairy ring.
Harry will be Winter wild;
Little Annie, Autumn mild;
Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring,
Dancing in a fairy ring.
Spring and Summer glide away,
Autumn comes with tresses grey;
Winter, hand in hand with Spring,
Dancing in a fairy ring.
Faster! faster! round we go
While our cheeks like roses glow;
Free as birds upon the wing,
Dancing in a fairy ring.
Come and Play in the Garden
Little sister, come away,
And let us in the garden play,
For it is a pleasant day.
On the grassplot let us sit,
Or, if you please, we'll play a bit,
And run about all over it.
But the fruit we will not pick,
For that would be a naughty trick,
And, very likely, make us sick.
Nor will we pluck the pretty flowers
That grow about the beds and bowers,
Because, you know, they are not ours.
We'll pluck the daisies, white and red,
Because mamma has often said,
That we may gather them instead.
And much I hope we always may
Out very dear mamma obey,
And mind whatever she may say.
Little Romp
I am tired to death of keeping still
And being good all day.
I guess my mamma's company
Forgot to go away,
I've wished and wished they'd think of it,
And that they would get through;
But they must talk for ever first,
They almost always do.
I heard Tom calling to me once,
He's launched his boat, I know;
I wanted to get out and help,
But mamma's eyes said no.
The ladies talk such stuff to me,
It makes me sick to hear—
"How beautiful your hair curls!" or,
"How red your cheeks are, dear!"
I'd ten times rather run a race,
Then play my tunes and things;
I wouldn't swop my dogs and balls
For forty diamond rings.
I've got no 'finement, aunty says,
I 'spect she knows the best;
I don't need much to climb a tree,
Or hunt a squirrel's nest.
"Girls are like berries," papa says,
"Sweeter for running wild,"
But Aunt Melissa shakes her head,
And calls me "Horrid child!"
I'll always be a romp she knows—
But sure's my name is Sadie,
I'll fool 'em all some dreadful day,
By growing up a lady.
Hide and Seek
"We will have a game of hide and seek,
Now mind you do not look."
And Willie went and hid himself
In a dark and lonely nook.
Then the children went to find him;
They hunted all about.
It was a funny way in which
At last they found him out.
Just as they got where he was hid,
In his nose he felt a tickling
That made him sneeze, and so you see
They found him in a twinkling.

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