THE POSY RING
is a companion volume to
Golden Numbers
A Book of Verse for Youth
Edited by
Kate Douglas Wiggin and
Nora Archibald Smith
THE POSY RING
A BOOK OF VERSE FOR CHILDREN
CHOSEN AND CLASSIFIED BY
Kate Douglas Wiggin
AND
Nora Archibald Smith
"A box of jewels, shop of rarities, A ring whose posy was 'My pleasure'" George Herbert
MCCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO.
NEW YORK
MCMVI
McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO.
Published, February, 1903, N
Fifth Impression.
A NOTE
Charles Scribner's Sons, for permission to use the following poems by Robert Louis Stevenson: "Windy Nights," "Where Go the Boats?" "The Little Land," "The Land of Story Books" and "Bed Time"; for the following poems by Mary Mapes Dodge: "Nearly Ready," "Now the Noisy Winds are Still," "Snowflakes," "Birdies with Broken Wings," and "Night and Day"; for the following poems by Eugene Field: "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod," and "Nightfall in Dordrecht"; for "Rockaby, Lullaby," by J. G. Holland; and for "One, Two, Three," by H. C. Bunner. G. P. Putnam's Sons, for permission to use "High and Low," by Dora Goodale. D. Appleton & Son, publishers of Bryant's Complete Poetical Works, for permission to reprint "Robert of Lincoln," by W. C. Bryant. E. P. Dutton & Co., for permission to reprint "The Birds in Spring," by Thomas Nashe. A. C. McClurg & Co., for permission to reprint "Baby Seed Song" and "Bird's Song in Spring," by E. Nesbit. The Century Company, for permission to reprint the "Seal Lullaby," by Rudyard Kipling. The "Independent," for permission to reprint "Baby Corn," Anon. Dana, Estes & Co., for permission to reprint "The Blue Jay," by Susan Hartley Swett. Small, Maynard & Co., for permission to reprint the following poems by John B. Tabb: "The Fern Song," "A Bunch of Roses," "The Child at Bethlehem." George Routledge & Sons, for permission to reprint the following poems by W. B. Rands: "The Child's World," "The Wonderful World," "Love and the Child," "Dolladine," "Dressing the Doll," "The Pedlar's Caravan," and "Little Christel"; also for "Little White Lily" and "What Would You See?" by George Macdonald, and "The Wind," by L. E. Landon. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., for the right to reprint the following poems: "Marjorie's Almanac," by T. B. Aldrich; "Dandelion," by Helen Grey Cone; "The Fairies' Shopping" and "The Christmas Silence," by Margaret Deland; "The Titmouse" and "Fable," by Ralph Waldo Emerson; "Hiawatha's Chickens" and "Hiawatha's Brothers," by Henry W. Longfellow; "The Fountain," by James Russell Lowell; "The Rivulet," by Lucy Larcom; "The Coming of Spring," by Nora Perry; "May," "The Waterfall," "Clouds," and "Bells of Christmas," by Frank Dempster Sherman; "What the Winds Bring" and "The Singer," by E. C. Stedman; "Spring," "Wild Geese," "Chanticleer," and "Little Gustava," by Celia Thaxter. Little, Brown & Co., for the right to reprint "September," by Helen Hunt Jackson; "When the Leaves Come Down," by Susan Coolidge; and "Summer Days," "A Year's Windfalls," "The Flower Folk," "There's Nothing Like the Rose," "Milking Time," "A Chill," and "A Birthday Gift," by Christina G. Rossetti. St. Nicholas, for permission to reprint "The Little Elf," by John Kendrick Bangs. The Macmillan Company, for permission to reprint "O Lady Moon," by Christina G. Rossetti. Frederick Warne & Co., for permission to reprint "By Cool Siloam's Shady Rill," by Reginald Heber. Cassell & Co., Ltd., for permission to reprint "The Last Voyage of the Fairies," by W. H. Davenport Adams.
That these are the specimens left at the gate
Of Pinafore Palace, exact to date,
In the hands of the porter, Curlypate,
Who sits in his plush on a chair of state,
By somebody who is a candidate
For the office of Lilliput Laureate.
William Brighty Rands.
CONTENTS
A YEAR'S WINDFALLS Marjorie's Almanac. By Thomas Bailey Aldrich 3 In February. By John Addington Symonds 5 March. By William Wordsworth 6 Nearly Ready. By Mary Mapes Dodge 7 Spring Song. By George
THE CHILD'S WORLD The Wonderful World. By William Brighty Rands 27 A Day. By Emily Dickinson 28 Good-Morning. By Robert Browning 29 What the Winds Bring. By Edmund Clarence Stedman 29 Lady Moon. By Lord Houghton 30 O Lady Moon. By Christina G. Rossetti 31 Windy Nights. By Robert Louis Stevenson 31 Wild Winds. By Mary F. Butts 32 Now the Noisy Winds are Still. By Mary Mapes Dodge 33 The Wind. Letitia E. Landon 33 The Fountain. By James Russell Lowell 34 The Waterfall. By Frank Dempster Sherman 35 The Voice of the Grass. By Sarah Roberts Boyle 36 The Wind in a Frolic. By William Howitt 38 Clouds. By Frank Dempster Sherman 40 Signs of Rain. By Edward Jenner 41 A Sudden Shower. By James Whitcomb Riley 43 Strange Lands. By Laurence Alma Tadema
HIAWATHA'S CHICKENS The Swallows. By Edwin Arnold 53 The Swallow's Nest. By Edwin Arnold 53 The Birds in Spring. By Thomas Nashe 54 Robin Redbreast. By William Allingham 54 The Lark and the Rook. Unknown 56 The Snowbird. By Hezekiah Butterworth 57 Who Stole the Bird's Nest? By Lydia Maria Child 59 Answer to a Child's Question. By Samuel Taylor Coleridge 62 The Burial of the Linnet. By Juliana H. Ewing 63 The Titmouse. By Ralph Waldo Emerson 64 Birds in Summer. By Mary Howitt 65 An Epitaph on a Robin Redbreast. By Samuel Rogers 67 The Bluebird. By Emily Huntington Miller 68 Song. By John Keats 69 What Does Little Birdie Say? By Alfred, Lord Tennyson 69 The Owl. By Alfred, Lord Tennyson 70 Wild Geese. By Celia Thaxter 71 Chanticleer. By Celia Thaxter 72 The Singer. By Edmund Clarence Stedman 73 The Blue Jay. By Susan Hartley Swett 74 Robert of Lincoln. By William Cullen Bryant 75 White Butterflies. By Algernon C. Swinburne 78 The Ant and the Cricket. Unknown 78
THE FLOWER FOLK
HIAWATHA'S BROTHERS My Pony. By "A." 109 On a Spaniel, Called Beau, Killing a Young Bird. By William Cowper 111 Beau's Reply. By William Cowper 112 Seal Lullaby. By Rudyard Kipling 113 Milking Time. By Christina G. Rossetti 113 Thank You, Pretty Cow. By Jane Taylor 114 The Boy and the Sheep. By Ann Taylor 114 Lambs in the Meadow. By Laurence Alma Tadema
OTHER LITTLE CHILDREN Where Go the Boats? By Robert Louis Stevenson 125 Cleanliness. By Charles and Mary Lamb 126 Wishing. By William Allingham 127 The Boy. By William Allingham 128 Infant Joy. By William Blake 129 A Blessing for the Blessed. By Laurence Alma Tadema 129 Piping Down the Valleys Wild. By William Blake 131 A Sleeping Child. By Arthur Hugh Clough 132 Birdies with Broken Wings. By Mary Mapes Dodge 133 Seven Times One. By Jean Ingelow 133 I Remember, I Remember. By Thomas Hood 135 Good-Night and Good-Morning. By Lord Houghton 136 Little Children. By Mary Howitt 137 The Angel's Whisper. By Samuel Lover 139 Little Garaine. By Sir Gilbert Parker 140 A Letter. By Matthew Prior 141 Love and the Child. By William Brighty Rands 142 Polly. By William Brighty Rands 143 A Chill. By Christina G. Rossetti 144 A Child's Laughter. By Algernon C. Swinburne 145 The World's Music. By Gabriel Setoun 146 The Little Land. By Robert Louis Stevenson 148 In a Garden. By Algernon C. Swinburne 151 Little Gustava. By Celia Thaxter 152 A Bunch of Roses. By John B. Tabb 155 The Child at Bethlehem. By John B. Tabb 155 After the Storm. By W. M. Thackeray
PLAY-TIME A Boy's Song. By James Hogg 165 The Lost Doll. By Charles Kingsley 166 Dolladine. By William Brighty Rands 167 Dressing the Doll. By William Brighty Rands 167 The Pedlar's Caravan. By William Brighty Rands 170 A Sea-Song from the Shore. James Whitcomb Riley 171 The Land of Story-Books. By Robert Louis Stevenson 172 The City Child. By Alfred, Lord Tennyson 173 Going into Breeches. By Charles and Mary Lamb 174 Hunting Song. By Samuel Taylor Coleridge 176 Hie Away. By Sir Walter Scott 176
STORY TIME The Fairy Folk. By Robert Bird 181 A Fairy in Armor. By Joseph Rodman Drake 183 The Last Voyage of the Fairies. By W. H. Davenport Adams 184 A New Fern. By "A." 186 The Child and the Fairies. By "A." 187 The Little Elf. By John Kendrick Bangs 188 "One, Two, Three." By Henry C. Bunner 188 What May Happen to a Thimble. By "B." 190 Discontent. By Sarah Orne Jewett 193 The Nightingale and the Glowworm. By William Cowper 195 Thanksgiving Day. By Lydia Maria Child 196 A Thanksgiving Fable. By Oliver Herford 197 The Magpie's Nest. By Charles and Mary Lamb 198 The Owl and the Pussy-Cat. By Edward Lear
BED TIME Auld Daddy Darkness. By James Ferguson 221 Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. By Eugene Field 222 Rockaby, Lullaby. By Josiah Gilbert Holland 224 Sleep, My Treasure. By E. Nesbit 225 Lullaby of an Infant Chief. By Sir Walter Scott 226 Sweet and Low. By Alfred, Lord Tennyson 227 Old Gaelic Lullaby. Unknown 228 The Sandman. By Margaret Vandegrift 228 The Cottager to Her Infant. By Dorothy Wordsworth 230 A Charm to Call Sleep. By Henry Johnstone 231 Night. By Mary F. Butts 232 Bed-Time. By Lord Rosslyn 232 Nightfall in Dordrecht. By Eugene Field 233
FOR SUNDAY'S CHILD All Things Bright and Beautiful. By Cecil F. Alexander 237 The Still Small Voice. By Alexander Smart 238 The Camel's Nose. By Lydia H. Sigourney 240 A Child's Grace. By Robert Burns 241 A Child's Thought of God. By Elizabeth B. Browning 241 The Lamb. By William Blake 242 Night and Day. By Mary Mapes Dodge
BELLS OF CHRISTMAS The Adoration of the Wise Men. By Cecil F. Alexander 257 Cradle Hymn. By Isaac Watts 258 The Christmas Silence. By Margaret Deland 260 An Offertory. By Mary Mapes Dodge 261 Christmas Song. By Lydia Avery Coonley Ward 261 A Visit from St. Nicholas. By Clement C. Moore 262 The Christmas Trees. By Mary F. Butts 265 A Birthday Gift. By Christina G. Rossetti 267 A Christmas Lullaby. By John Addington Symonds 267 I Saw Three Ships. Old Carol 268 Santa Claus. Unknown 269 Neighbors of the Christ Night. By Nora Archibald Smith 271 Cradle Hymn. By Martin Luther 272 The Christmas Holly. By Eliza Cook 273 Lilliput Notice. By William Brighty Rands 274