Jingles

Chapter 29: Wise Replies

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About This Book

A compact anthology of short rhymes and playful verse written in early childhood and arranged by the ages at which they were composed. The pieces use a childlike voice to render animal songs, holiday verses, riddles, light moral observations, and wordplay, occasionally experimenting with other languages and invented turns of phrase. Humorous sketches and simple portraits of daily life alternate with fanciful imaginings, and lively illustrations accompany the poems to emphasize their spontaneous charm and the development of a young poet’s imagination.

Wise Replies

(Written for Uncle Thomas Cresswell, London, Eng.)

"Joan of Arc, and who was she?"

Asked the teacher of little Leigh.

"Wife of Noah, of course," said she,

"Who sailed the ark upon the sea."

"John's so wise he laughed at Leigh

When she tried to answer me,

So in the future for replies

We'll always go to John the wise.

Now what is lava, Johnnie, dear,

Can it be found in places near?"

"Why, certainly," said smiling John,

"Most every day Dad puts it on,

And covers nearly his whole face

With lava thick in every place."