In My Nursery

Birds, birds, in the linden-tree,
Low, low let your music be!
Bees, bees, in the garden bloom,
Hushed, hushed be your drowsy hum!
Wind, wind, through the lattice waft
Still, still, thy breathing soft!
Flowers, sweet be the breath you shed:
Two little children are going to bed.

Eyes, eyes, 'neath your curtains white,
Veiled, veiled be the sunny light!
Lips, lips, like the roses red,
Soft, soft be your sweet prayers said!
Feet, feet, that have danced all day,
Now, now must your dancing stay.
Low, low lay each golden head!
Two little children are going to bed.

"A Bee Came Tumbling"

A bee came tumbling into my ear,
And what do you think he remarked, my dear?
He said that two tens make up a score,
And really and truly I knew that before.

JINGLE

I jumped on the back of a dragon-fly,
And flew and flew till I reached the sky.

I pulled down a cloud that was hiding the blue,
And all the wee stars came tumbling through.

They tumbled down and they tumbled round,
And turned into flowers as they touched the ground.

So come with me, little children, come,
And down in the meadow I'll pick you some.

LITTLE OLD BABY

Little old baby, pretty old baby,
Screams and cries at his little old bath,
Pours on the head of his little old mother
All the full vials of baby wrath.

Little old baby, pretty old baby,
If you could see just how queer you look, —
Arms and legs in a knot together,
Face twisted up in a terrible crook, —

How you would straighten out every feature,
Masculine vanity all aflame!
Fie! what a noise from a little wee creature!
Did they abuse him! and was it a shame!

Little old baby, pretty old baby,
Curls himself over and goes to sleep.
Ah! such is life, my little old baby,
Sleep and forget it, or wake and weep!

BABY'S JOURNEY

Hoppety hoppety ho!
Where shall the baby go?
Over dale and down,
To Limerick town,
And there shall the baby go.

Hoppety hoppety ho!
How shall the baby go?
In a coach-and-seven,
With grooms eleven,
And so shall the baby go.

Hoppety hoppety ho!
When shall the baby go?
In the afternoon,
By the light of the moon,
And then shall the baby go.

Hoppety hoppety ho!
Why shall the baby go?
To dance a new jig,
And to buy a new wig,
And that's why the baby shall go.

THE BUMBLEBEE

The bumblebee, the bumblebee,
He flew to the top of the tulip-tree.
He flew to the top, but he could not stop,
For he had to get home to his early tea.

The bumblebee, the bumblebee,
He flew away from the tulip-tree;
But he made a mistake, and flew into the lake,
And he never got home to his early tea.

THE OWL AND THE EEL AND THE WARMING-PAN