The Works of John Hookham Frere In Verse and Prose ::

A little boy had bought a Top,
The best in all the toyman's shop;
He made a whip with good eel's-skin,
He lash'd the top, and made it spin;
All the children within call,
And the servants, one and all,
Stood round to see it and admire.
At last the Top began to tire,
He cried out, “Pray don't whip me, Master,
“You whip too hard,—I can't spin faster,
“I can spin quite as well without it.”
The little Boy replied, “I doubt it;
“I only whip you for your good,
“You were a foolish lump of wood,
“By dint of whipping you were raised
“To see yourself admired and praised,
“And if I left you, you'd remain
“A foolish lump of wood again.”

Explanation.

Whipping sounds a little odd,
It don't mean whipping with a rod,
It means to teach a boy incessantly,
Whether by lessons or more pleasantly,
Every hour and every day,
By every means, in every way,

264

By reading, writing, rhyming, talking,
By riding to see sights, and walking:
If you leave off he drops at once,
A lumpish, wooden-headed dunce.

FABLE II. Of the Boy and the Parrot

Parrot, if I had your wings,
“I should do so many things.
“The first thing I should like to do
“If I had little wings like you,
“I should fly to uncle Bartle.
“Don't you think 'twould make him startle,
“If he saw me when I came,
“Flapping at the window-frame,
“Exactly like the print of Fame?”
All this the wise old Parrot heard,
The Parrot was an ancient bird,
And paused and ponder'd every word.
First, therefore, he began to cough,
Then said,—“It is a great way off,—
“A great way off, My Dear:”—and then
He paused awhile, and cough'd again,—
“Master John, pray think a little,
“What will you do for beds and victual?”
—“Oh! parrot, uncle John can tell—
“But we should manage very well.
“At night we'd perch upon the trees,
“And so fly forward by degrees.”—
—“Does uncle John,” the parrot said,
“Put nonsense in his nephew's head?
“Instead of telling you such things,
“And teaching you to wish for wings,
“I think he might have taught you better;
“You might have learnt to write a letter:—
“That is the thing that I should do
“If I had little hands like you.”

265

FABLE III. Of the Boy and the Wolf.

A little boy was set to keep
A little flock of goats or sheep.
He thought the task too solitary,
And took a strange perverse vagary,
To call the people out of fun,
To see them leave their work and run,
He cried and scream'd with all his might,—
“Wolf! wolf!” in a pretended fright.
Some people, working at a distance,
Came running in to his assistance.
They search'd the fields and bushes round,
The Wolf was no where to be found.
The Boy, delighted with his game,
A few days after did the same,
And once again the People came.
The trick was many times repeated,
At last they found that they were cheated.
One day the wolf appeared in sight,
The Boy was in a real fright,
He cried, “Wolf! wolf!”—The Neighbours heard,
But not a single creature stirr'd.
“We need not go from our employ,—
“'Tis nothing but that idle boy.”
The little boy cried out again,
“Help, help! the Wolf!”—he cried in vain.
At last his master went to beat him,
He came too late, the wolf had eat him.

This shews the bad effects of lying,
And likewise of continual crying;
If I had heard you scream and roar,
For nothing, twenty times before,
Although you might have broke your arm,
Or met with any serious harm,
Your cries could give me no alarm,

266

They would not make me move the faster,
Nor apprehend the least disaster;
I should be sorry when I came,
But you yourself would be to blame.

FABLE IV. Of the Piece of Glass and the Piece of Ice.

Once on a time, it came to pass,
A piece of ice and piece of glass
Were lying on a bank together.
There came a sudden change of weather,
The sun shone through them both.—The ice
Turn'd to his neighbour for advice.
The piece of glass made this reply,—
“Take care by all means not to cry.”
The foolish piece of ice relied
On being pitied if he cried.
The story says—That he cried on
Till he was melted and quite gone.

This may serve you for a rule
With the little boys at school;
If you weep, I must forewarn ye,
All the boys will teaze and scorn ye.

FABLE V. Of the Cavern and the Hut.

An ancient cavern, huge and wide,
Was hollow'd in a mountain's side,
It served no purpose that I know,
Except to shelter sheep or so,
Yet it was spacious, warm, and dry.
There stood a little hut hard by.—
The cave was empty quite, and poor,
The hut was full of furniture;

267

By looking to his own affairs,
He got a table and some chairs,
All useful instruments of metal,
A pot, a frying-pan, a kettle,
A clock, a warming-pan, a jack,
A salt-box and a bacon-rack;
With plates, and knives, and forks, and dishes,
And lastly, to complete his wishes,
He got a sumptuous pair of bellows.—
The cavern was extremely jealous:
“How can that paltry hut contrive
“In this poor neighbourhood to thrive?”—
“The reason's plain,” replied the hut,
“Because I keep my mouth close shut;
“Whatever my good master brings,
“For furniture, or household things,
“I keep them close, and shut the door,
“While you stand yawning evermore.”

If a little boy is yawning
At his lessons every morning,
Teaching him in prose or rhyme
Will be merely loss of time;
All your pains are thrown away,
Nothing will remain a day,
(Nothing you can teach or say,
Nothing he has heard or read,)
In his poor unfurnish'd head.

FABLE VI. Showing how the Cavern followed the Hut's Advice.

This fable is a very short one:
The cave resolved to make his fortune;
He got a door, and in a year
Enrich'd himself with wine and beer.

Mamma will ask you, can you tell her,
What did the cave become?—A cellar.

268

FABLE VII. By Master John's desire, about the Rod and the Whip.

The Rod and Whip had some disputes;
One managed boys, the other brutes,
Each pleaded his superior nature,
The Goad was chosen arbitrator,
A judge acquainted with the matter,
Upright, inflexible, and dry,
And always pointed in reply:—
“'Tis hard,” he said, “to pass a sentence,
“Betwixt two near and old acquaintance;
“The Whip alleges that he drives
“The plough, by which the farmer lives,
“And keeps his horses in obedience,
“And on this ground he claims precedence.
“The Rod asserts, that little boys,
“With nonsense, nastiness, and noise,
“Screaming, and quarrelling, and fighting,
“Not knowing figures, books, or writing,
“Would be far worse than farmer's horses,
“But for the rules which he enforces—
“He proves his claim as clear as day,
“So Whips and Goads must both give way.”

FABLE VIII. Of the Nine-pins.

[_]

(Being a Fable for Six Years Old.)

A ninepin that was left alone,
When all his friends were overthrown,
Every minute apprehending,
The destructive stroke impending,
Earnestly complain'd and cried;
But Master Henry thus replied:—

269

“Are you the wisest and the best?
“Or any better than the rest?
“While you linger to the last,
“How has all your time been past?
“Standing stupid, unimproved,
“Idle, useless, unbeloved;
“Nothing you can do or say
“Shall debar me from my play.”

The Nine-pins you perceive are men,
'Tis death that answers them again;
And the fable's moral truth,
Suits alike with age and youth.
How can age of death complain,
If his life has past in vain?
How can youth deserve to last
If his life is idly past?
And the final application,
Marks the separate obligation,
Fairly placed within our reach,
Your's to learn, and mine to teach.

270

A FABLE.

A dingy donkey, formal and unchanged,
Browzed in the lane and o'er the common ranged,
Proud of his ancient asinine possessions,
Free from the panniers of the grave professions
He lived at ease; and chancing once to find
A lion's skin, the fancy took his mind
To personate the monarch of the wood;
And for a time the stratagem held good.
He moved with so majestical a pace
That bears and wolves and all the savage race
Gazed in admiring awe, ranging aloof,
Not over anxious for a clearer proof—
Longer he might have triumphed—but alas!
In an unguarded hour it came to pass
He brayed aloud; and shewed himself an ass!

The moral of this tale I could not guess
Till Mr. Landor sent his works to press.

University of Virginia Library

FABLES FOR FIVE YEARS OLD.

FABLE I. Of the Boy and his Top.