POEMS FOR CHILDREN - Verse by W · A · FRISBIE - 1901

 

A FIRE IN FROGTOWN

One sultry night in Frogtown

The muskrats’ house caught fire;

The muskrats, with their babies,

Rushed out in scant attire.

Then all the Frogtown firemen,

In startled haste arose,

And ran to put the fire out

With dandelion hose.

THE PORCUPINE’S DILEMMA

A porcupine once played at golf

And wore a sweater red.

“I notice all the swells dress so.

“And so will I”, he said.

But when he found his stylish clothes

Were far too warm for golf,

His sharp quills held that sweater fast

He couldn’t get it off.

A monkey, sitting on a tree

Above a shady pool,

Looked down and saw a crocodile

Within the water cool.

The crocodile looked up and said,

“Come down my friend and swim.”

Intending, when the monkey came,

To make a meal of him.

The monkey knew this was his plan

But leaped as if to dive.

The crocodile spread wide his jaws

To catch his meal alive;

But he was disappointed much

To see his sharp game fail

For, as he leaped, the monkey caught

And hung there by his tail.

One beast there is which should be shunned

By little girls and boys;

That is the cross Whine-os-ce-ros,

Which makes an awful noise.

For if they see this animal

And do not run away,

They imitate its shrill, harsh voice

And whine the livelong day.

THE  PROUD  WISHBONE

The wishbone was a haughty thing

And high he held his head;

The Wing twins were but “common trash,”

And Drumsticks too, he said.

“It’s just as plain as anything

“That this is so,” quoth he,

“For there are two of each of them

“But only one of Me.”

And when two children at the feast

Each for the wishbone cried

The Wishbone said “I told you so”

And oh, he swelled with pride.

They took him each one by a foot

As children often do,

Then each one gave a sudden tug

And broke him right in two.

There was a dancing camel with a desert caravan;

His driver was a busy and an un-esthetic man,

Who made the camel work all day and gave him ne’er a chance

To lay his heavy load aside and do a fancy dance.

But when they reached a city and heard street musicians play,

The camel danced a step or two while jogging on his way,

And quickly people thronged about to wonder and to stare,

While the driver passed the hat and made his fortune then and there.

Young George Augustus William Bubb

Was far too dignified

To play at games like other boys

They grated on his pride.

He did not know how kites are made,

Nor how to play at ball,

Nor how to skate, nor how to swim,

Nor anything at all.

Said Mrs. Robin breathlessly

“The frosts are nearly due,

This moving south is troublesome,

The baggage heavy, too.”

Said Mr. Rob, “Oh, that’s all right,

We’ll bill the baggage through.”