 | Uncollected Poems of James Russell Lowell |  |
“LADY BIRD, LADY BIRD, FLY AWAY HOME”
Lady Bird, lady bird, fly away home!
Your house is on fire, your children will burn!
Send for the engines, and send for the men,
Perhaps we can put it out agen;
Send for the ladders, and send for the hose,
Perhaps we can put it out, nobody knows;
Sure, nobody's case was ever sadder,
To the nursery-window clap the ladder,
If they are there, and not done brown,
They'll open the window and hopple down!
Your house is on fire, your children will burn!
Send for the engines, and send for the men,
Perhaps we can put it out agen;
Send for the ladders, and send for the hose,
Perhaps we can put it out, nobody knows;
Sure, nobody's case was ever sadder,
To the nursery-window clap the ladder,
If they are there, and not done brown,
They'll open the window and hopple down!
Splish, splash! fizz and squirt!
All my ‘things’ ruined with water and dirt,
All my new carpets torn to flinders,
Trodden in with mud and cinders!
My mirrors smashed, my bedsteads racked,
My company tea-set chipped and cracked!
Save my child—my carpets and chairs,
And I'll give you leave to burn my heirs,
They are little six-legged, spotted things,
If they have any sense, they'll use their wings;
If they have any sense, they'll use their legs,
Or, at worst, it is easy to lay more eggs.
All my ‘things’ ruined with water and dirt,
All my new carpets torn to flinders,
Trodden in with mud and cinders!
My mirrors smashed, my bedsteads racked,
My company tea-set chipped and cracked!
Save my child—my carpets and chairs,
And I'll give you leave to burn my heirs,
They are little six-legged, spotted things,
If they have any sense, they'll use their wings;
If they have any sense, they'll use their legs,
Or, at worst, it is easy to lay more eggs.
| Uncollected Poems of James Russell Lowell | |