Who fought for ladies fair.

It was only a battered picture-book,

But ’twas worth its weight in gold,

For it spoke to the children’s tender hearts,

And its tales were never old.

It is an old old picture-book,

Battered, and torn, and brown;

But why does the mother sit and sigh?

Why do her tears run down?

She listens through the long long eves,