Sing-Song: Minnie Bakes Oaten Cakes

Minnie bakes oaten cakes,
Minnie brews ale,
All because her Johnny’s coming
Home from sea.
And she glows like a rose,
Who was so pale,
And “Are you sure the church clock goes?”
Says she.

A white hen sitting

A white hen sitting
On white eggs three:
Next, three speckled chickens
As plump as plump can be.

An owl, and a hawk

An owl, and a hawk,
And a bat come to see:
But chicks beneath their mother’s wing
Squat safe as safe can be.

Currants on a bush

Currants on a bush,
And figs upon a stem,
And cherries on a bending bough,
And Ned to gather them.

Playing at bob cherry

Playing at bob cherry
Tom and Nell and Hugh:
Cherry bob! cherry bob!
There’s a bob for you.

Tom bobs a cherry

Tom bobs a cherry
For gaping snapping Hugh,
While curly-pated Nelly
Snaps at it too.

Look, look, look—

Look, look, look—
Oh what a sight to see!
The wind is playing cherry bob
With the cherry tree.

I have but one rose in the world

I have but one rose in the world,
And my one rose stands a-drooping:
Oh, when my single rose is dead
There’ll be but thorns for stooping.

Rosy maiden Winifred

Rosy maiden Winifred,
With a milkpail on her head,
Tripping through the corn,
While the dew lies on the wheat
In the sunny morn.
Scarlet shepherd’s-weatherglass
Spreads wide open at her feet
As they pass;
Cornflowers give their almond smell
While she brushes by,
And a lark sings from the sky
“All is well.”

Blind from my birth

Blind from my birth,
Where flowers are springing
I sit on earth
All dark.
Hark! hark!
A lark is singing,
His notes are all for me,
For me his mirth:—
Till some day I shall see
Beautiful flowers
And birds in bowers
Where all Joy Bells are ringing.