EUGENE FIELD
America, 1850-1895
The Night Wind[3]
Have you ever heard the wind go "Yoooo"?
'Tis a pitiful sound to hear!
It seems to chill you through and through
With a strange and speechless fear.
'Tis the voice of the night that broods outside 5
When folks should be asleep,
And many and many's the time I've cried
To the darkness brooding far and wide
Over the land and the deep:
"Whom do you want, O lonely night, 10
That you wail the long hours through?"
And the night would say in its ghostly way:
"Yoooooooo!
Yoooooooo!
Yoooooooo!" 15
My mother told me long ago
(When I was a little lad)
That when the wind went wailing so
Somebody had been bad;
And then, when I was snug in bed,
Whither I had been sent,
With the blankets pulled up round my head, 5
I'd think of what my mother'd said,
And wonder what boy she meant!
And "Who's been bad to-day?" I'd ask
Of the wind that hoarsely blew,
And the voice would say in its meaningful way: 10
"Yoooooooo!
Yoooooooo!
Yoooooooo!"
That this was true I must allow—
You'll not believe it, though! 15
Yes, though I'm quite a model now,
I was not always so.
And if you doubt what things I say,
Suppose you make the test;
Suppose, when you've been bad some day 20
And up to bed are sent away
From mother and the rest—
Suppose you ask, "Who has been bad?"
And then you'll hear what's true;
For the wind will moan in its ruefulest tone:
"Yoooooooo!
Yoooooooo! 5
Yoooooooo!"
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
America, 1836-
Marjorie's Almanac[4]
Robins in the tree top,
Blossoms in the grass,
Green things a-growing
Everywhere you pass
Sudden little breezes, 5
Showers of silver dew,
Black bough and bent twig
Budding out anew;
Pine tree and willow tree,
Fringed elm, and larch,—
Don't you think that May-time's
Pleasanter than March?
Apples in the orchard 5
Mellowing one by one;
Strawberries upturning
Soft cheeks to the sun;
Roses faint with sweetness,
Lilies fair of face, 10
Drowsy scents and murmurs
Haunting every place;
Lengths of golden sunshine,
Moonlight bright as day—
Don't you think that summer's 15
Pleasanter than May?
Roger in the corn patch
Whistling negro songs;
Pussy by the hearth side
Romping with the tongs; 20
Chestnuts in the ashes,
Bursting through the rind;
Red leaf and gold leaf
Rustling down the wind;
Mother "doin' peaches"
All the afternoon,— 5
Don't you think that autumn's
Pleasanter than June?
Little fairy snow-flakes
Dancing in the flue;
Old Mr. Santa Claus, 10
What is keeping you?
Twilight and firelight
Shadows come and go;
Merry chime of sleigh bells
Tinkling through the snow; 15
Mother knitting stockings,
Pussy's got the ball,
Don't you think that winter's
Pleasanter than all?