University of Virginia Library

Giant Despair lived down in a den,
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
Behind was a mountain, before was a fen;
Ding-dong!
Giant Despair look'd out and saw
Little Prince Goodchild play at the ball,
Outside the court and the castle wall;
And he grumbled, and said, “I've a hungry maw;
I have never enough! Oh! that some fine day
That sweet little Prince would come this way!
Aha! how I'd catch him, in spite of his moans,
And nibble his flesh, and pick his bones!”
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
Little Prince Goodchild play'd at the ball;
Oh! the merry wind's piping!
Outside the court and the castle wall;
Oh! the merry wind's piping!
A good little lad was he, and light
His innocent heart, and pure and bright
The smiles that went rippling, one by one,
Over his lips, in the summer sun.
“Oh! the earth,” he said, “is green and gay—
Thank God!” he said, “for the summer day.”
A nightingale warbled the woods among;
“Thank God!” he said, “for the sweet bird's song.”
And at night, when he knelt by his bed to pray,
“Thank God!” said he, “for a happy day;
God bless my night!” and he slept so well,
That he never heard the terrible yell
Of Giant Despair, in his darksome den,
'Twixt the dismal mountain and doleful fen,
As he wail'd and lamented, down below,
“It's a world of woe! a world of woe!”
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
Little Prince Goodchild woke with the light;
Oh! the merry bird's piping!
“Thank God!” he said, “for a quiet night.”
Oh! the merry bird's piping!
“God bless my day!” Then forth he went
To his sport and his little tasks, content;
He was good to all and gentle and mild,
And a blessing hover'd about the child.
So at noon he wander'd down the hill,
And through the meadow, and past the rill,
Till he came to the mouth of the darksome den,
'Twixt the dismal mountain and doleful fen,
Where Giant Despair lay moaning sore,
And calling and beckoning o'er and o'er;
But the child pass'd on, nor so much as saw
That dark and angry vision of awe.
And Giant Despair, though he had but to raise
His arm to catch him in dire amaze,
Felt all his strength ooze out, and fell
Deep down in his den with a bitter yell;
While the child, in his sport, pass'd to and fro,
Nor so much as heard the wail below—
“Its a world of woe! a world of woe!”
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

So the Prince grew up to be a man;
Oh! the bonny bud's blowing!
And ever the same fair course he ran;
Oh! the bonny bud's blowing!
Stedfast and brave, and kind and good,
Honest to man, and true to God;
Strong as the oak, and blithe as the bird,
Pure in thought and simple in word;
With a heart unclouded and light as air;
What chance, pray tell me, had Giant Despair?
And little folks all, who hear my lay,
If you will but grow up the self-same way,
You may pass, when you please, the darksome den
'Twixt the dismal mountain and doleful fen,
And never the shape of Giant Despair
Shall trouble your heart, or your senses scare,
Nor your ear be struck by his wail below—
“It's a world of woe! a world of woe!”
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!