From "Poems here at Home." Copyright, 1893-1898. Used by permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
APRIL FOURTH
The first train leaves at six P.M.
For the land where the poppy blows,
The mother dear is the engineer,
And the passenger laughs and crows;
The palace car is the mother's arms,
The whistle a low sweet strain,
And the passenger winks and nods and blinks
And goes to sleep on the train.
Edgar Wade Abbott
APRIL FIFTH
In the house of too-much-trouble
Lived a lonely little boy;
He was eager for a playmate,
He was hungry for a toy.
But 'twas always too much bother,
Too much dirt and too much noise:
For the house of too-much-trouble
Wasn't meant for little boys.
Albert Bigelow Paine
APRIL SIXTH
I long for every childish, loving word;
And for thy little footsteps, fairy light,
That hither, thither moved and ever stirred
My heart with them to gladness infinite.
Carmen Sylva
APRIL SEVENTH
A laugh of innocence and joy
Resounds like music of the fairest grace,
And gladly turning from the world's annoy,
I gaze upon a little radiant face
And bless internally the merry boy
Who makes a "son-shine in a shady place."
Hood
APRIL EIGHTH