Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building Part 74

E was an elephant, Stately and wise: He had tusks and a trunk, And two queer little eyes.

_e_ Oh, what funny small eyes!

F was a fish Who was caught in a net; But he got out again, And is quite alive yet.

_f_ Lively young fis.h.!.+

G was a goat Who was spotted with brown; When he did not lie still He walked up and down.

_g_ Good little goat!

H was a hat Which was all on one side; Its crown was too high, And its brim was too wide.

_h_ Oh, what a hat!

I was some ice So white and so nice, But which n.o.body tasted; And so it was wasted.

_i_ All that good ice!

J was a jackdaw Who hopped up and down In the princ.i.p.al street Of a neighboring town.

_j_ All through the town!

K was a kite Which flew out of sight, Above houses so high, Quite into the sky.

_k_ Fly away, kite!

L was a light Which burned all the night, And lighted the gloom Of a very dark room.

_l_ Useful nice light!

M was a man, Who walked round and round; And he wore a long coat That came down to the ground.

_m_ Funny old man!

N was a net Which was thrown in the sea To catch fish for dinner For you and for me.

_n_ Nice little net!

O was an orange So yellow and round; When it fell off the tree, It fell down to the ground.

_o_ Down to the ground!

P was a pig, Who was not very big, But his tail was too curly, And that made him surly.

_p_ Cross little pig!

Q was a quail With a very short tail; And he fed upon corn In the evening and morn.

_q_ Quaint little quail!

R was a rabbit, Who had a bad habit Of eating the flowers In gardens and bowers.

_r_ Naughty fat rabbit!

S was the sugar-tongs, Nippity-nee, To take up the sugar To put in our tea.

_s_ Nippity-nee!

T was a tortoise, All yellow and black: He walked slowly away, And he never came back.

_t_ Torty never came back!

U was an urn All polished and bright, And full of hot water At noon and at night.

_u_ Useful old urn!

V was a veil With a border upon it, And a ribbon to tie it All round a pink bonnet.

_v_ Pretty green veil!

W was a whale With a very long tail, Whose movements were frantic Across the Atlantic.

_w_ Monstrous old whale!

X was King Xerxes, Who, more than all Turks, is Renowned for his fas.h.i.+on Of fury and pa.s.sion.

_x_ Angry old Xerxes.

Y was a yew, Which flourished and grew By a quiet abode Near the side of a road.

_y_ Dark little yew!

Z was a zebra, All striped white and black; And if he were tame, You might ride on his back.

_z_ Pretty striped zebra!

PAST HISTORY

BY EDWARD LEAR

_a_ A was once an apple-pie, Pidy, Widy, Tidy, Pidy, Nice insidy, Apple-pie!

_b_ B was once a little bear, Beary, Wary, Hairy, Beary, Take cary, Little bear!

_c_ C was once a little cake, Caky, Baky, Maky, Caky, Taky caky, Little cake!

_d_ D was once a little doll, Dolly, Molly, Polly, Nolly, Nursy dolly, Little doll!

_e_ E was once a little eel, Eely, Weely, Peely, Eely, Twirly, tweely, Little eel!

_f_ F was once a little fish, Fishy, Wishy, Squishy, Fishy, In a dishy, Little fis.h.!.+

_g_ G was once a little goose, Goosey, Moosy, Boosey, Goosey, Waddly-woosy, Little goose!

_h_ H was once a little hen, Henny, Chenny, Tenny, Henny, Eggsy-any, Little hen?

_i_ I was once a bottle of ink, Inky, d.i.n.ky, Thinky, Inky, Black minky, Bottle of ink!

_j_ J was once a jar of jam, Jammy, Mammy, Clammy, Jammy, Sweety, swammy, Jar of jam!

_k_ K was once a little kite, Kity, Whity, Flighty, Kity, Out of sighty, Little kite!

_l_ L was once a little lark, Larky, Marky, Harky, Larky, In the parky, Little lark!

_m_ M was once a little mouse, Mousy, Bousy, Sousy, Mousy, In the housy, Little mouse!

_n_ N was once a little needle, Needly, Tweedly, Threedly, Needly, Wisky, wheedly, Little needle!