Introduction
A Child's Garden:    1-10    11-20    21-30    31-41
The Child Alone,    Garden Days,    Envoys


    
XXI. Escape at Bedtime

The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out
    Through the blinds and the windows and bars;
And high overhead and all moving about,
    There were thousands of millions of stars.
There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,
    Nor of people in church or the Park,
As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,
    And that glittered and winked in the dark.

The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,
    And the star of the sailor, and Mars,
These shone in the sky, and the pail by the wall
    Would be half full of water and stars.
They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,
    And they soon had me packed into bed;
But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,
    And the stars going round in my head.
Vetus Me Caelo Interesse?

Luminibus domus alta nitet; distincta fenestris
    Atria, non aliter luce culina nitet.
Et super in caelo, variis dum cursibus instant,
    Stellarum nobis milia multa micant.
Non tot vere novo tremulis stat frondibus arbor,
    Tantaque non Campum templava turba petit,
Quanta mihi in tenebris astrorum turba refulget
    Motibus ut gaudent ire corusca suis.
Vergilias calidumque Canem vidique Booten,
    Cum Marte Orion conspiciendus erat;
In caelo haec; simul ad murum quae forte jacebat
    Commixtos latices astraque praebet hama.
Me tandem inveniunt; profugum clamore sequuntur;
    Captum dat calido dextera firma toro;
Ante oculos sed lucet adhuc mihi gloria mundi,
    Mentem agitat moles sidereusque chorus.
 
XXII. Marching Song

Bring the comb and play upon it!
    Marching, here we come!
Willie cocks his highland bonnet,
    Johnnie beats the drum.

Mary Jane commands the party
    Peter leads the rear;
Feet in time, alert and hearty,
    Each a Grenadier!

All in the most martial manner
    Marching double-quick;
While the napkin like a banner
    Waves upon the stick!

Here's enough of fame and pillage,
    Great commander Jane!
Now that we've been round the village,
    Let's go home again.
Victrices Aquilas Alium Laturus in Orbem

Nunc est canendum pectine corneo,
Pulsanda tellus nunc pede militum,
    Nunc tympanorum vox reultet;
        Femina dux Mariana facti.
Dum pilleatus Scotus adest decus
Primariorum, certa novissimi
    Tutela Petreius tribunus
        Agminis it. Baculoque fixam
Mappam cohortis signifer in modum
Profert vetustum. Jam legio simul,
    Virtutis exemplar Sabellae,
        Jussa ducis facit expedite.
Famae et rapinae cui satis est. piget
Longi duelli. Te duce quaerimus
    Vico pererrato reverti;
        Pace domi melius fruemur.
 
XXIII. The Cow

The friendly cow all red and white,
    I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
    To eat with apple-tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,
    And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
    The pleasant light of day;

And blown by all the winds that pass
    And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
    And eats the meadow flowers.
Nivei Quam Lactis Abundans

Vacca, quae tergum varias colore
Candidum rubro, pueris amata,
Spumeum donas operosa potum,
        Mente benigna.
Crusta quae Pomona Ceresque praebent
Lacte quid privata tuo saporis
Elaborabunt? Per amoena prata
        Tuta vagaris.
Voce jucunda resonare parvos
Terminos gaudes, neque saepta temnis,
Laeta sub claro Jove, laeta et auras
        Carpere dulces.
Flabra ventorum toleras et imbres
Comis aestivos; tibi mollis herba
Semper arridet; tibi cena mire
        Florea cordi est.
 
XXIV. Happy Thought

The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.
Perfecta Absolutaque Elegantia Mundus

Nescioquae sed tot mundus diversa ministrat;
Reges laetitia quis superare nequit?
 
XXV. 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--
    O 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 you 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, aare you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?
    O wind, a-blowing all day long,
    O wind, that sings so loud a song
Bene Qui Latuit

Vidi dracones, Eure, per aethera
Dum tendis, alto dum volucres polo
    Tu spargis; audivi susurros
        (Quale crepant chlamydes puellis)
Longas per herbas ut rapidus ruis.
Ned fallit aures quod recinis melos,
    Dum flamine indefessus omnes
        Assiduo properas per horas.
Sic te vocantem nec semel audio,
Vidique ludos, saepius impetum
    Sensi reluctantis; sed ipsum
        Te renuis fugiens videri.
O qui diurnos carmine temperas
Flatus, et adfers viribus integer
    Frigus, sed invisus, quis audis?
        Nomine quo potiore gaudes?
Dicam juventae robore te frui?
Vel te vetustum, vel similem mihi?
    Pennis an aptum te bicorni
        Fronte diem celerare cantu?
 
XXVI. Keepsake Mill

Over the borders, a sin without pardon,
    Breaking the branches and crawling below,
Out through the breach in the wall of the garden,
    Down by the banks of the river, we go.

Here is the mill with the humming of thunder,
    Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,
Here is the sluice with the race running under--
    Marvellous places, though handy to home!

Sounds of the village grow stiller and stiller,
    Stiller the note of the birds on the hill;
Dusty and dim are the eyes of the miller,
    Deaf are his ears with the moil of the mill.

Years may go by, and the wheel in the river
    Wheel as it wheels for us, children, to-day,
Wheel and keep roaring and foaming for ever
    Long after all of the boys are away.

Home from the Indies and home from the ocean,
    Heroes and soldiers we all shall come home;
Still we shall find the old mill wheel in motion,
    Turning and churning that river to foam.

You with the bean that I gave when we quarrelled,
    I with your marble of Saturday last,
Honoured and old and all gaily apparelled,
    Here we shall meet and remember the past.
Labitur et Labetur

Effugimus, ramis ausi subrepere fractis;
    Delictis veniam talibus esse putas?
Hortis egredimur, stamusque in margine ripae;
    Praebuerat muri nota ruina viam.
Hic rapidis euripus aquis, hic spumea moles,
    Hic mola perpetuo murmure magna tonat.
Mira quidem loca sunt; pagi vox auribus instat,
    Nec procul in clivo carmina fundit avis;
Haec primum audieris, sed mox miscentur in unum;
    Scottorum in patria sunt loca mira domi.
Surdus erit dominus, caecusque volante farina,
    Dum strepitu fruges aspera saxa terunt.
Anni labuntur, longinquas quaerimus oras;
    Sed rota continuas volvitur inter aquas;
Sed mola cum strepitu sua saxa frementia versat;
    Sed solet hic miris spuma volare modis.
Hic trans Oceanum miles, venietque relictis
    Ille Indis; ambos gloria magna manet.
Sed saxa hic reduces operosa videbimus illa,
    Dum rota cum spuma volvitur inter aquas.
Non ego perdiderim lapidem (tu nempe dedisti),
    Tu retinebis (erat maxima rixa) fabam;
Claros grandaevos picta quoque veste juvabit
    Annos praeteritos hoc revocare loco.
 
XXVII. Good and Bad Children

Children, you are very little,
And your bones are very brittle;
If you would grow great and stately,
You must try to walk sedately.

You must still be bright and quiet,
And content with simple diet;
And remain, through all bewild'ring,
Innocent and honest children.

Happy hearts and happy faces,
Happy play in grassy places--
That was how, in ancient ages,
Children grew to kings and sages.

But the unkind and the unruly,
And the sort who eat unduly,
They must never hope for glory--
Theirs is quite a different story!

Cruel children, crying babies,
All grow up as geese and gabies,
Hated, as their age increases,
By their nephews and their nieces.
Adbibe Puro Pectore Verba Puer

Quam fragile est pueris corpus, quam parvula forma
    Ossaque vel minimo volnere fracta jacent.
Siquis vult magnus, siquis procerior esse,
    Gressibus urbanis hic opus esse putet.
Contentusque cibo toleret miracula vitae,
    Immo hilaris lepide discat et esse bonus.
Si regum historias, si vis cognoscere vatum,
    Felices pueros Musa fuisse docet;
Laeta animo vixit, voltu quoque laeta juventus,
    Comiter herbosis ludere sueta locis.
Qui stomacho nimiusve gula est, qui jussa recusat,
    Gloria vitabit. Fabula qualis erit!
Crudelis puer atque infans lacrimosus, adultus
    Distat nil fatuis anseribusque nihil;
Hic erit invisus patruus, matertera parvis
    Illa odiosa; ambos dira senecta manet.
 
XXVIII. Foreign Children

    Little Indian, Sioux or Crow,
    Little frosty Eskimo,
    Little Turk or Japanee,
O! don't you wish that you were me?

    You have seen the scarlet trees
    And the lions over seas;
    You have eaten ostrich eggs,
    And turned the turtles off their legs.

    Such a life is very fine,
    But it's not so nice as mine:
    You must often, as you trod,
    Have wearied not to be abroad.

    You have curious things to eat,
    I am fed on proper meat;
    You must dwell beyond the foam,
    But I am safe and live at home.

    Little Indian, Sioux or Crow,
    Little frosty Eskimo,
    Little Turk or Japanee,
O! don't you wish that you were me?
Orientis Orae Seras et Indos

Inde, seu campos habitas patentes,
Sive tu mavis niveum lacunar,
Turce, tuque infans Garamantas ultra
        Natus et Indos,
Splendidas cocco siluas videtis,
Saepe vos terret fremitus leonum,
Saepe testudo resupina praedae est
        Poplite capta,
Ales et cursor sua praebet ova;
Mira sic vobis, meliora longe
Dat mihi Natura. Foris vagari
        Taedet, opinor.
Tuta cui tellus neque transmarina,
Nec peregrinus cibus at sit aptus,
Vos mihi, cui sit domus, invidetis,
        Vestraque nostris
Vos libet mutare. Dacota vitam
Mallet Anglorum, mea Corvus optat,
Optat et Turcus, subolesque creta
        Nippone magno.
 
XXIX. The Sun's Travels

The sun is not a-bed, when I
At night upon my pillow lie;
Still round the earth his way he takes,
And morning after morning makes.

While here at home, in shining day,
We round the sunny garden play,
Each little Indian sleepy-head
Is being kissed and put to bed.

And when at eve I rise from tea,
Day dawns beyond the Atlantic Sea,
And all the children in the West
Are getting up and being dressed.
Soles Occidere et Redire Possunt

Sol indefessus properat dum nocte cubamus,
    Et nova continua litora luce petit;
Inda procul, dum nos Phoebo laetamur et hortis,
    Pignora composuit somniculosa toro.
Hesperus huc veniat; trans aequora Atlantica cernes
    Induat ut vestem, Phosphore, quisque suam.
 
XXX. The Lamplighter

My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;
It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.

Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,
And my papa's a banker and as rich as he can be;
But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do,
O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you.

For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,
And Leerie stops to light it as he light so many more;
And O! before you hurry by with ladder and with light,
O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him to-night!
Facem Ducens Multa cum Luce Cucurrit

Sol ruit, et Lerius veniet; servare fenestram
    Jam praestat; nondum Serica calda datur.
Per plateam semper Lerium properare lucerna
    Et scala insgnem sole cadente vides.
Rem sine fine pater dives mensarius auget;
    Auriga esse Titus, navita Gaia cupit;
Sed mihi det Fortuna, Leri, sic currere tecum;
    Scala viro grandi sitque lucerna mihi.
At no felices lychnum quibus ante fenestras
    Accendas veniens lumine rite, Leri!
Te puer expectat scala insignemque lucerna;
    Hunc semel, et curres, tu modo aver jube.
 



Introduction
A Child's Garden:    1-10    11-20    21-30    31-41
The Child Alone,    Garden Days,    Envoys