“I think I’m thankfulest of all
For that old house of ours;
The maple by the garden wall,
The borders full of flowers;
“The front doorsill that’s hollowed out
By many passing feet;
The different pictures hung about,
With faces kind and sweet.
“The firewood’s flame is red and gold
And makes a spicy smell;
There’s nothing half so clear and cold
As water from our well;
“And through the window, sleepy nights,
Just at the stairway’s head,
A white star like a candle lights
Me safely up to bed.
“So brightly all my blessings shine
That many thanks I give—
But mostly for that home of mine
Where I was put to live.”
The old lady was delighted with all this rhyming, and on the spur of the moment she made up a very good rhyme of her own. Amos and Ann thought it was the best of all that they had heard that day—and goodness knows they had heard a great many!
“Suppose you lived in a gingerbread house,
With a roof of jujube paste,
And sugar shutters, and peppermint pipes,
And doors that you could taste;
In a land where weather could do no harm,
Absurd as that may seem,
With chocolate ground and lemonade rain
And plenty of snow ice-cream?
“Plenty of snow ice-cream for you,
And a soda-water pump,
And a little garden where gumdrops grew,
And taffy all in a lump.
Taffy all in a lump, hurrah!
And tarts and cookies and all.
If ever you move to a house like that,
I’ll make an early call!”