She went to the joiner’s
  To buy him a coffin;
But when she came back. 
  The poor dog was laughing.

She took a clean dish
  To get him some tripe;
But when she came back,
  He was smoking his pipe.

She went to the fishmonger’s
  To buy him some fish;
And when she came back,
  He was licking the dish.

She went to the ale-house
  To get him some beer;
But when she came back,
  The dog sat in a chair.

She went to the tavern
  For white wine and red;
But when she came back,
  The dog stood on his head.

She went to the hatter’s
  To buy him a hat;
But when she came back,
  He was feeding the cat.

She went to the barber’s
  To buy him a wig;
But when she came back,
  He was dancing a jig.

She went to the fruiterer’s
  To buy him some fruit;
But when she came back,
  He was playing the flute.

She went to the tailor’s
  To buy him a coat;
But when she came back,
  He was riding a goat.

She went to the cobbler’s
  To buy him some shoes;
But when she came back,
  He was reading the news.

She went to the seamstress
  To buy him some linen;
But when she came back,
  The dog was spinning.

She went to the hosiers
  To buy him some hose;
But when she came back,
  He was dressed in his clothes.

The dame made a curtsy,
  The dog made a bow;
The dame said, Your servant,
  The dog said; Bow, wow.

RUNAWAY BROOK.

“Stop, stop, pretty water!”
  Said Mary one day,
To a frolicsome brook,
  That was running away.

“You run on so fast! 
  I wish you would stay;
My boat and my flowers
  You will carry away.

“But I will run after: 
  Mother says that I may;
For I would know where
  You are running away.”

So Mary ran on;
  But I have heard say,
That she never could find
  Where the brook ran away.

BED IN SUMMER.

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light. 
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 grown-up 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?

AT THE SEASIDE

When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
  To dig the sandy shore.

My holes were empty like a cup,
In every hole the sea came up,
  Till it could come no more.

THE MEETING OF THE SHIPS.