doesn't seem to snap, so I must be polite, And when she says, "Oh please, stand still, the sun is not just right," I have to pull up where I am, and see that house burn down, For Auntie doesn't understand, even when I twist and frown. She only says, "Don't squirm, my pet! Oh, what a cunning pose! Your scowl is better than a smile,"—so that's the way it goes— A p'liceman or an admiral, no matter what I am, I have to face that camera as quiet as a lamb. [34] [34] JACK FROST JACK FROST Oh! it is little Margery who has a garden-bed, Wherein grow purple pansies and geraniums white and red, With feverfew and dahlias, and delicate pink phlox, And grandmother's fair favorites, old-fashioned hollyhocks. One night we feared Jack Frost might come to blight the tender flowers— We almost felt his cruel breath in the early evening hours; So Margery took coverings and spread them, thick and warm, To shield the flowers, as blankets wrap a sleeping baby's form. Then in the morning, when we looked across the dewy grass, And saw the traces Jack Frost leaves where he is wont to pass— For each spreading tree and slender bush had felt his chill caress, And some had drooped, and some had blushed in crimson loveliness— We hastened to the garden-bed, and there, in bright array, The little flowers looked blithely up to greet the smiling day. Safe hid from Jack Frost's piercing breath, he never saw them there, And the flowers still bloom for Margery, to thank her for her care. [35] [35] A CURIOSITY A CURIOSITY I knew a little boy, not very long ago, Who was as bright and happy as any boy you know. He had an only fault, and you will all agree That from a fault like this a boy himself might free. "I wonder who is there, oh, see! now, why is this?" And "Oh, where are they going?" and "Tell me what it is?" Ah! "which" and "why" and "who," and "what" and "where" and "when," We often wished that never need we hear those words again. He seldom stopped to think; he almost always knew The answer to the questions that around the world he threw. To children seeking knowledge a quick reply we give, But answering what he asked was pouring water through a sieve. Yet you'll admit his fate was as sad as it was
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