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BED
IN SUMMER
In
winter I get up at night and dress by yellow candlelight,
In
summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day.
I
have to go to bed and see the birds still hopping on the tree,
Or
hear the grownup people's feet still going past me in the street.
And
does it not seem hard to you, when all the sky is clear and blue,
And
I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day?
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MY
SHADOW
I
have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, and what can be
the use of him is more than I can see. He is very, very like
me from the heels up to the head; and I see him jump before me, when
I jump into my bed.
The
funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow -- not at all
like proper children, which is always very slow; for he sometimes
shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball, and sometimes gets so
little that there's none of him at all.
He
hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play, and can only make
a fool of me in every sort of way. He stays so close beside
me, he's a coward you can see; I'd think shame to stick to nursie as
that shadow sticks to me!
One
morning very early, before the sun was up, I rose and found the
shining dew on every buttercup; but my lazy little shadow, like an
arrant sleepy-head; had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep
in bed.
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THE
WIND
I saw
you toss the kites on high and blow the birds about the sky; and all
around I heard you pass like ladies' skirts across the grass -- Oh
wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that sings so loud a song!
I saw
the different things you did, but always you yourself your
hid. I felt you push, I heard you call-- I could not see
yourself at all. O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that
sings so loud a song!
O you
that are so strong and cold, O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree, or just a stronger child then
me? O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that sings so loud
a song!
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WHOLE
DUTY OF CHILDREN
A
child should always say what's true
And
speak when he is spoken to,
And
behave mannerly at table;
At
least as far as he is able.
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