Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber’s Note
Italic text displayed as: _italic_

Designed by Poems by
Walter Saterlee. Josephine Pollard.

NEW YORK:
GEORGE W. HARLAN & CO.

PAGE

A Garden Party for Three, 37

A Light-Headed Family, 16

A Lily Race, 30

A Little Brittany Maid, 26

A Very Handsome Mermaid, 10

Black Eyed Susan, 38

Greeting, 6

Little Dame Pansy, 25

Pretty Little Nieces, 36

Seven Little Fairies, 21

The Bee’s Mistake, 15

The Dance on the Beach, 14

The Fan Tribe, 28

The Grimalkin Family, 7

The Japanese Family, 32

The Man in the Moon, 8

“The Moon has a Host of Children,” 29

The Peacock’s Train, 12

The Sunflower Dance, 19

The Very Polite Little Boy, 27

Tulips, 35

Very Æsthetic, 39

Which Shall Win? 23

_Here and there and everywhere.
On the earth and in the air.
Sport a merry Elfin crew,
Ready for a romp with you._

_Set your hearts and windows wide,
Let them in on every side.
And with this delightful band,
Take a stroll through Elfin-Land._

MY LADY WEARS A PRETTY TRAIN,
THAT REACHES FAR, AND STRETCHES WIDE,
AND SILK OR SATIN THOUGH IT BE,
THE WHOLE GRIMALKIN FAMILY
WILL CUT BEHIND AND TAKE A RIDE.

THE MAN IN THE MOON

The man in the moon once had a wife,
And she was really the plague of his life.

They used to sail in a bright canoe,
From east to West, o’er the sky so blue.

But she was restless and he was rough,
And said he hadn’t half room enough.

One night in turning the boat around,
The woman fell out, and she was drowned.

And down in the lake she sails alone
In a lovely boat that is all her own!

A Very Handsome Mermaid.

A VERY HANDSOME MERMAID,
FATHER NEPTUNE’S ONLY DAUGHTER;
HAS A VERY LOVELY BOWER.
ALL HER OWN, BENEATH THE WATER.

SHE HAS SLAVES TO DO HER BIDDING;
ALL THE BIG AND LITTLE FISHES,
BRING HER JEWELS WITHOUT NUMBER,
AND PREPARE HER DAINTY DISHES.

WE HEAR ABOUT HER GRACEFUL FORM,
THE CHARMS WITH WHICH SHE’S LADEN,
BUT NO ONE YET HAS EVER SEEN
THIS WONDERFUL SEA-MAIDEN.

The Peacock’s Train.

_The peacock spreads his brilliant train,
And struts about with pride,
No other bird seems quite so vain,
In all the regions wide._

_Each plume is like a sparkling gem,
Of rich and radiant dyes;
Some cherub must have painted them,
And all those shining eyes._

_And if I had as fine a gown
As his, upon my word
I’d strut a little, up and down;
And be as vain a bird._

THE DANCE ON THE BEACH

A star-fish stood on the sandy shore
To list to the seaside band.
As with rumble-tumble dash and roar
The waves swept over the land.

The man in the moon from his binnacle soon
Suspended the beacon-light.
“Aha!” cried the star-fish, full of glee,
“I’ll have a nice dance to-night!”

A jig and a hornpipe all alone
He danced to a lively tune.
And capered about with his shadow there
In the silvery light of the moon.

Then up came others by twos and twos,
Some of them real old salts.
Who danced the Polka, Virginia Reel,
And the new Society Waltz.

With twinkling feet they skipped about
Like elves on the shining sand,
And kept good time to the rhyme and chime
Of the famous seaside band.

They danced and capered, and skipped and tripped.
As merry as they could be,
Till the tide came up with a sudden rush
And swept them into the sea.

The Bee’s Mistake.

_A little girl by the name of Rose,
In a quiet corner sat.
When a honey-bee sailed round and round
The rim of her garden-hat._

_Said the bee, “ah me! so sweet a flower
I haven’t beheld to-day!”
And he came so near to the pretty Rose,
That she screamed as she ran away._

A Light Headed Family