 | A merry-go-round of song |  |
33
THE NEW FRIEND
He's lying lazy on his back, and staring in my eyes
With a sort of stony steadfastness, and breathing little sighs.
With a sort of stony steadfastness, and breathing little sighs.
He's wondering why such monsters come so frequently, to bend
Above his kingdom in a cot. He hopes I am a friend.
Above his kingdom in a cot. He hopes I am a friend.
I make a kind of chicken-noise—a clucking as of fowls
Contented in a rickyard; but Baby Bunting scowls.
Contented in a rickyard; but Baby Bunting scowls.
I coo, as though I were a dove delighted in an oak
By eggs his wife has laid for him; and Baby sees the joke.
By eggs his wife has laid for him; and Baby sees the joke.
At last he twists his mouth about in several awkward styles,
Displaying knots and corners; and then suddenly he smiles!
Displaying knots and corners; and then suddenly he smiles!
And next he makes a woodland sound, to show his Uncle Hugh
That even at a tender age a little bird can coo!
That even at a tender age a little bird can coo!
No more he fears the giant who is bending o'er the bed,
With such a mass of yellow hair upon his monster head!
With such a mass of yellow hair upon his monster head!
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But takes him to his little heart, confidingly aware
That nothing mischievous is meant by all that curly hair!
That nothing mischievous is meant by all that curly hair!
Thus Baby wins a loving slave, who frequently will come
And beat upon the nursery door as if it were a drum;
And beat upon the nursery door as if it were a drum;
And, either as a camel or a buffalo, will spend
An hour before the tub receives his Baby Bunting friend.
An hour before the tub receives his Baby Bunting friend.
| A merry-go-round of song | |