 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
543
A MODEL NURSERY.
Two tiny girls and two too naughty boysAmong a heap of shattered hopes and toys
And broken legs and arms, and dreams of dolls
That never lived nor will, and pretty Polls
And ugly apes, a Noah's ark, a pail
Without a bottom, and without a tail
A donkey, picture books all thumbed and torn,
With pages tattered scattered soiled and worn,
And manners queer (all wanting mending), carts
That draw their horses and defy the arts,
Four little voices and one big white lie,
Eight hands (just washed but dirty) in one pie
Of the worst mischief, and Dadda's best hat,
In peace a cradle for the Persian cat,
In war a drum and thunder-box of coals,
A tortoise and a bird, and shadowy shoals
For the unconscious nursemaid, scraps of buns
And soap and bread and butter and spring-guns,
White mice and marbles and Mamma's new dress,
Old boots and shoes and caps and every mess
Known and unknown, cups, brushes, combs, and knives
That threaten murder to unwary lives,
A three-legged chair, a topsy-turvy table,
The sights of Bedlam and the sounds of Babel.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |