Chapter I: Front Matter

THE POSY RING

_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

_Copyright, 1903, by_
McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO.

Published, February, 1903, N
Fifth Impression.

A NOTE

_THANKS are due to the following publishers for permission to reprint poems on which they hold copyright:_

_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._

PUBLIC NOTICE.--_This is to state,
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

Page

LILLIPUT NOTICE. By _William Brighty Rands_ ix

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 Eliot_ 7
In April. By _Elizabeth Akers_ 8
Spring. By _Celia Thaxter_ 9
The Voice of Spring. By _Mary Howitt_ 10
The Coming of Spring. By _Nora Perry_ 11
May. By _Frank Dempster Sherman_ 13
Spring and Summer. By "_A._" 14
Summer Days. By _Christina G. Rossetti_ 15
September. By _H. H._ 16
How the Leaves Came Down. By _Susan Coolidge_ 17
Winter Night. By _Mary F. Butts_ 19
A Year's Windfalls. By _Christina G. Rossetti_ 20

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_ 44
Guessing Song. By _Henry Johnstone_ 45
The Rivulet. By _Lucy Larcom_ 46
Jack Frost. By _Hannah F. Gould_ 47
Snowflakes. By _Mary Mapes Dodge_ 49
The Water! The Water. By _William Motherwell_ 49

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

Little White Lily. By _George Macdonald_ 83
Violets. By _Dinah Maria Mulock_ 85
Young Dandelion. By _Dinah Maria Mulock_ 86
Baby Seed Song. By _E. Nesbit_ 88
A Violet Bank. By _William Shakespeare_ 88
There's Nothing Like the Rose. By _Christina G. Rossetti_ 89
Snowdrops. By _Laurence Alma Tadema_ 89
Fern Song. By _John B. Tabb_ 90
The Violet. By _Jane Taylor_ 90
Daffy-Down-Dilly. By _Anna B. Warner_ 91
Baby Corn. _Unknown_ 93
A Child's Fancy. By "_A._" 95
Little Dandelion. By _Helen B. Bostwick_ 97
Dandelions. By _Helen Gray Cone_ 98
The Flax Flower. By _Mary Howitt_ 99
Dear Little Violets. By _John Moultrie_ 101
Bird's Song in Spring. By _E. Nesbit_ 102
The Tree. By _Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson_ 102
The Daisy's Song. By _John Keats_ 103
Song. By _Thomas Love Peacock_ 104
For Good Luck. By _Juliana Horatia Ewing_ 105

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_ 115
The Pet Lamb. By _William Wordsworth_ 116
The Kitten, and Falling Leaves. By _William Wordsworth_ 121

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_ 156
Lucy Gray. By _William Wordsworth_ 156
Deaf and Dumb. By "_A_." 159
The Blind Boy. By _Colley Cibber_ 160

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_ 201
A Lobster Quadrille. By _Lewis Carroll_ 202
The Fairies' Shopping. By _Margaret Deland_ 204
Fable. By _Ralph Waldo Emerson_ 206
A Midsummer Song. By _Richard Watson Gilder_ 207
The Fairies of the Caldon-Low. By _Mary Howitt_ 209
The Elf and the Dormouse. By _Oliver Herford_ 213
Meg Merrilies. By _John Keats_ 214
Romance. By _Gabriel Setoun_ 215
The Cow-Boy's Song. By _Anna M. Wells_ 217

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_ 243
High and Low. By _Dora Read Goodale_ 244
By Cool Siloam's Shady Rill. By _Reginald Heber_ 244
Sheep and Lambs. By _Katharine Tynan Hinkson_ 245
To His Saviour, a Child; A Present by a Child.
By _Robert Herrick_ 246
What Would You See? By _George Macdonald_ 247
Corn-Fields. By _Mary Howitt_ 248
Little Christel. By _William Brighty Rands_ 250
A Child's Prayer. By _M. Betham Edwards_ 252

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

THE POSY RING