Quite a Trick
It’s quite a trick
ball to kick
And very hard to catch it:
Yet children say
they love to play.
And nothing else can match it.
Come Into Our Store
Will you come into our store
and spend your money?
Will you come into our store
and buy some honey?
We have gingerbread and pies,
And a host of naughty flies
Think that eating up our stock is very funny!
The Bandit
The Bandit is a handsome man,
In operas he sings;
He wears a wig and fierce moustache
And many other things.
He looks just like a robber bold,
When on the stage he stands:
Real bandits lived in times of old
In distant, foreign lands.
Miss Nancy Puts on Airs
Miss Nancy puts on airs
When her sister’s dress she wears.
And thinks a grown up woman
she can be.
She courtesies and bows
And struts in furbelows
As fine
as any
lady you
may see.
The Bossie-Cow
The Bossie-Cow is big and red,
Her eyes are round and bright,--
And those great horns upon her head
Are quite a horrid site.
And yet the Bossie’s very kind
And good to us, I think:
She’s full of beefsteaks, you will find,
And gives us milk to drink.
Standing on the Sidewalk
Standing on the sidewalk,
As if it were his lair,
Before McFarlan’s window,
Was a big black Bear,
His eyes were very small and fierce
And wickedly did glare,
A fact which all the children did deplore.
But never once
he left his post,
In weather foul or fair,
And though this may surprise you,
It won’t when I declare
This awful brute was stuffed,
And McFarlan put him there
To serve
as sign before his
clothing store!
A Man Last Tuesday
A man last Tuesday
built a house
Without a window in it;
It had no roof,
it had no floor,
No doorway to go in it.
It had no chimney,
had no walls,
Nor stairs of
any kind;
Because the man had
built this house
Entirely in his mind.
Goodness Me!
Goodness me!
Into the baby’s mouth there goes
A fat little tootsie with five little toes!
Why baby does it, nobody knows.
Thinks they are good to eat, I suppose--
Goodness me!
Civilized Boy
Pray, what can a civilized
boy do now,
When all the Dragons all
are dead,
And the Giants stout,
that we have read about,
Have never one a head?
Now, wasn’t it mean that Jack o’the
Bean
Should slay these monsters fast,
And the other Jack should cut and hack
When there weren’t enough to last?
The boys today are as bold as they say,
As ever they were of yore;
And they’d spill a flood
of Dragon’s Blood
If Dragons lived
any more.
Babies’ Serenade
Hear the babies’ serenade:
Tink-
a-
Tink-
a-
Tink!
Sweetest music ever made,
So the babies think.
Johnny-boy will twang the string:
Tum-
te-
tum-
tum-
tum!
To the music’s joyous swing,
Lullabies he’ll hum.
Dolly’s Run Away
Dolly’s run away today,
Dolly’s run away!
Gone from home abroad to roam
And with the Gnome to play.
Dolly’s such a naughty girl
When she does appear
I am sure she must endure
A scolding quite severe!
Annie Waters
When Annie Waters lies asleep
She’s very fair to see,
And mama thinks no little girl
Could any sweeter be.
When Annie Waters wakens up
She romps with such a noise
That mamma thinks she’s really worse
Than six or seven boys!
A Bee Flew Down
A bee flew down and ate an ant,
A bug he ate the bee;
A hen then gobbled down the bug
But failed the hawk to see.
The hawk had eaten up the hen
Before he saw the cat
Which ate him up, but then a dog
Ate pussy quick as scat!
A wolf now sprang upon the dog
And ate him in a trice,
And then a lion ate the wolf
And found him very nice.
But when the lion fell asleep
He said, “I really can’t
Imagine why that wolf should taste
Exactly like an ant!
There Was a Whale
There was a whale
Who had no tail.
And he was full of sorrow;
He swam around
Long Island Sound
And tried a tail to borrow.
“Your tale is sad
And quite too bad,”
The fishes all confided
“But while our fins
Are in our skins
We’ll never be divided.”
But still his tail
He did bewail
To one fish or the other,
‘Til they said “Oh
Why don’t you go
And try to grow another!”
A Little Man
Once there was a little man
Who stepped upon my toes.
He would not apologise
And so I pulled his nose.
Buy a Goose
Don’t you want to buy a goose
or else a gander?
I’ve one to sell that could’nt
well be grander;
For his voice is loud and sweet
And his meat is good to eat--
To refuse to buy would surely
be a slander.
Miss Nancy Brown
Miss Nancy Brown
she came to town,
A basket by her side,
All filled with mud-pies
neat and round
That in the sun she’d dried.
She wandered up and wandered down
And tried to sell her pies,
But only met with sneer and frown,
To her intense surprise.
Miss Nancy Brown
she left the town
And carried home her pies.
And on the ground
she threw them down,
Which showed that she was wise.
Cootchie Cooloo
Cootchie Cooloo
Was a girl of Hindoo,
Who was rather too
large for her size;
Her teeth were
quite white
And her nose
was all right,
But she had a bad squint
to her eyes.
Here Is Paddy Geegan
Here is Paddy Geegan, digging,
Trying hard to make a well.
Here is Paddy’s billy goat, and
Looking cross, I grieve to tell.
With bowed head and eye that flashes
Quickly at poor Pat he dashes.
Now there’s nothing more to tell--
Both have fallen in the well.
Tim Jenkins Tried
Tim Jenkins tried
A horse to ride
Which was so fond of shying
That I declare
High in the air
The boy was quickly flying.
Rough Riders
Rough Riders are
The pride of war.
But bucking bronchos truly
Make riding rough
And tough enough
When they become unruly.
The Coogie Bird
Oh have you heard the Coogie Bird?
It sings a song that’s quite absurd.
It sings a song that is n’t long,
And the song that it sings at it flaps its wings
Is “Qwee-wee-wee” and “Qwee-wee-wird!”
Now isn’t that song quite absurd,
That’s sung by the foolish Coogie Bird?
The Ship Will Go
When breezes blow the ship will go
A sailing o’er the sea;
A flag apeak, she’ll sail to seek
Her country’s enemy
And win a name of glorious fame
Ere she
returns
to me.
Donnegan
There was a man named Donnegan
Who wandered up and down,
And always in the country stayed
Unless he came to town.
The people to him kindly said
“What to you want, my man?”
“‘Tis work I want, oh, give me work!”
Replied bold Donnegan.
But though he wandered north and south,
And traveled east and west,
No work came to brave Donnegan
Who passed his days at rest.
Chickens at Night
Where do the chickens go at night--
Heigh-ho! Where do they go?
Under the breast of their mother they rest,
Finding her feathers a soft fluffy nest;
And that’s where the chicks go at night,
Heigh-ho!
Yes, there’s where the chicks go at night.
Cats Babies Have
These are the cats the babies have
In China, far away;
They carry them where e’re they go
And love with them to play.
When baby pulls their heads way down
The cats will say “mie-ew,”
As if they really were alive
And knew the baby, too.
Sun Bear Dances
The Sun-Bear dances merrily
Upon the ball so round,
And has to balance warily
Or fall upon the ground.
To emulate a juggler great
No better bear is found.
The Soldier
The soldier is a splendid man
When marching on parade;
And when he meets the enemy
He never is afraid.
And when he fires his musket off
He loads it up again;
And when he charges on the foe
Resistance is in vain.
The soldier is a fearless man
When he to war does go;
He faces guns and never runs
Unless ‘tis at the foe.
And when he marches home again
He’s called a hero bold.
And many very wondrous tales
Are by the soldier told.
Betsy Baker
Once a girl named Betsy Baker
Thought she’d like to be a Quaker;
On her head she put a shaker
Thinking that the shaker ‘d make her
Very like a real Quaker.
One Old Cat!
One Old Cat!
Batter’s at the bat.
Pitch and catch--the batter’s out!
Laugh and run and slide and shout--
A very merry game is that.
And they call it
One old Cat!
Boy from Kalamazoo
There was a boy
from Kalamazoo
Who ate too much hot
celery stew.
He felt quite ill
But took a pill
And now he feels
as good
as new.
Boy, A Tiny Mite
There was a boy, a tiny mite,
Who tried to fly a mighty kite,
And then, alas!
It came to pass
Both boy and kite flew out of sight.
George Washington
When George Washington was young
And full of energy,
He took his little hatchet
And chopped a cherry tree.
His father grew quite angry,
This sorry sight to see,
For he was very fond indeed
Of that same cherry tree.
And so he questioned Georgie:
“Who did this thing?” said he.
“I cannot tell a lie,” said George,
“I chopped the cherry tree.”
The father then wept tears of joy,
At such brave honesty;
“Your truthfulness is worth far more
Than one small cherry tree.”
And when his father walked away
Georgie seized the ax with glee
And hacked away ‘till he had felled
Another cherry tree.
His father now returned in hast,
took Georgie on his knee,
And said “I’ll teach you to destroy
My pretty cherry tree!”
“Don’t spank!” cried George; “I’ll tell the truth,
For still I’ll honest be;
‘Twas I, dear father, took the ax
And chopped the cherry tree.”
“Oh, ho!” Said Mr Washington
“Unless I punish thee
Thy truth will cost to me the loss
Of every cherry tree!”
‘Twas full a week before poor George
Sat down with any ease,
His father sold the hatchet
And saved his cherry-trees.
Sammy Simpson
Sammy Simpson
all the day
Loves at “Soldier Boy”
to play.
When it comes to
candle-light
He is glad to say
“good night.”
Seymour Credit
All of the pages of verse in
Father Goose, His Book
have been hand-lettered
by
Ralph Fletcher Seymour
THE ARMY ALPHABET
George M. Hill Company published Baum’s, The Army Alphabet, in 1900, illustrated in color by Harry Kennedy. Baum’s primer for teaching the alphabet featured patriotic rhymes and illustrations depicting scenes from the Spanish-American War.
A first edition copy of The Army Alphabet
One of the poetry book’s illustrations
The Army Alphabet
A represents the Army great,
The safeguard of our nation.
Whene’er our country goes to war
It fights with desperation;
And when we do not care to fight
It forces arbitration.
B represents the Bayonet,
Tis useful in a fight;
For when tis pointed at the foe
He takes to instant flight,
Or else is pricked quite full of holes
Which spoils his appetite.
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C represents the tin Canteen,
A water bottle quaint.
It cheers the worn and weary, and
The wounded when they faint.
When soldiers have their canteens full
They seldom make complaint.
D represents the Drummer boys,
They’re young and frolicsome;
Drum majors drill the boys with skill
To beat and roll the drum,
And soldiers march in better time
Behind the drum’s “tum tum!”
E represents the Enemy,
He’s also called the foe.
In war he’s a necessity;
We could not fight, you know,
Unless an enemy stood near
In waiting for the blow.
F represents the starry Flag,
For which our soldiers fight.
When on the battle field it waves
It is a glorious sight,
And every one who sees it knows
Our cause is surely right.
G represents the General
Who issues the command
To march into the awful fray
And all repulse withstand,
Until the battle’s fairly won
And victory’s at hand.
H represents the Helmet worn
By brave artillerymen;
It shades their eyes so they can see
The foemen now and then,
And pop a shot, well aimed and hot,
To thin their ranks again.
I represents the Indian Scout
Employed to slyly creep
Upon the army of the foe,
And at its movements peep.
He’s full of cunning and of guile,
And harmless, when asleep.
J represents the Journalist,
He’s always in the van,
And wires his paper all the news
With truth, whene’re he can.
He’s very brave, and full of fun,
And quite a useful man.
K represents the big Knapsack
Each soldier has to bear.
It is his trunk, and cupboard too;
He packs it with great care.
For it contains his spare wardrobe,
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 875