But he did one thing that was hardly fair—

He peeped in the cupboard, and finding there

That all had forgotten for him to prepare,

“Now, just to set them a-thinking,

I’ll bite this basket of fruit,” said he,

“And this costly pitcher I’ll [burst in three]!

And the glass of water they’ve left for me,

Shall ‘tchick’ to tell them I’m drinking.”

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

Biography. Hannah F. Gould (1789-1865) was an American poet, born at Lancaster, Mass. At the age of eleven she removed with her parents to Newburyport, Mass., where she lived the rest of her life. A collection of her poems, entitled Hymns and Poems for Children, contains many beautiful selections.