Verse and Prose for Beginners in Reading Selected from English and American Literature

Excerpt

VERSE AND PROSE FOR BEGINNERS IN READING.

ALPHABET.

A was an apple-pie;
B bit it;
C cut it;
D dealt it;
E ate it;
F fought for it;
G got it;
H had it;
J joined it;
K kept it;
L longed for it:
M mourned for it;
N nodded at it;
O opened it;
P peeped into it;
Q quartered it;
R ran for it;
S stole it;
T took it;
V viewed it;
W wanted it;
X, Y, Z, and amperse-and,
All wished for a piece in hand.

A DEWDROP.

Little drop of dew,
  Like a gem you are;
I believe that you
  Must have been a star.

When the day is bright,
  On the grass you lie;
Tell me then, at night
  Are you in the sky?

Bees don't care about the snow;
I can tell you why that's so:

Once I caught a little bee
Who was much too warm for me!

* * * * *

Baa, baa, black sheep,
  Have you any wool?
Yes, marry, have I,
  Three bags full;

One for my master,
  And one for my dame,
But none for the little boy
  Who cries in the lane.

* * * * *

Bless you, bless you, burnie bee;
Say, when will your wedding be?
If it be to-morrow day,
Take your wings and fly away.

* * * * *

Bow, wow, wow,
Whose dog art thou?
Little Tom Tinker's dog,
Bow, wow, wow.

* * * * *

Bye, baby bunting,
Daddy's gone a-hunting,
To get a little rabbit skin
To wrap the baby bunting in.

* * * * *

Star light, star bright,
First star I see to-night;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish to-night.

* * * * *

The little moon came out too soon,
And in her fright looked thin and white,
  The stars then shone,
  And every one
Twinkled and winked and laughed and blinked.
The great sun now rolled forth in might
And drove them all quite out of sight.

TO A HONEY-BEE.

"Busy-body, busy-body,
  Always on the wing,
Wait a bit, where you have lit,
  And tell me why you sing."

Up, and in the air again,
  Flap, flap, flap!
And now she stops, and now she drops
  Into the rose's lap.

"Come, just a minute come,
  From your rose so red."
Hum, hum, hum, hum—
  That was all she said.

"Busy-body, busy-body,
  Always light and gay,
It seems to me, for all I see,
  Your work is only play."

And now the day is sinking to
  The goldenest of eves,
And she doth creep for quiet sleep
  Among the lily-leaves.

"Come, just a moment come,
  From your snowy bed."
Hum, hum, hum, hum—
  That was all she said.

But, the while I mused, I learned
  The secret of her way:
Do my part with cheerful heart,
  And turn my work to play.

* * * * *

A cat came fiddling out of a barn,
With a pair of bag-pipes under her arm;
She could sing nothing but fiddle-de-dee,
The mouse has married the bumble-bee;
Pipe, cat,—dance, mouse,—
We'll have a wedding at our good house.

* * * * *

  A dillar, a dollar,
  A ten o'clock scholar,
What makes you come so soon?
You used to come at ten o'clock,
But now you come at noon.

* * * * *

  As I was going to St. Ives,
  I met a man with seven wives;
  Every wife had seven sacks,
  Every sack had seven cats,
  Every cat had seven kits:
  Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?

* * * * *

As I was going up Pippen Hill,—
  Pippen Hill was dirty,—
There I met a pretty miss,
  And she dropped me a curtsy....