The Home Book of Verse, American and English, 1580-1918

Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots, and gillyflowers.

August brings the sheaves of corn,
Then the harvest home is borne.

Warm September brings the fruit;
Sportsmen then begin to shoot.

Fresh October brings the pheasant;
Then to gather nuts is pleasant.

Dull November brings the blast;
Then the leaves are whirling fast.

Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire, and Christmas treat.

Sara Coleridge [1802-1852]

RIDDLES

THERE was a girl in our town,

Silk an' satin was her gown,

Silk an' satin, gold an' velvet,

Guess her name, three times I've telled it. (Ann.)

As soft as silk, as white as milk,

As bitter as gall, a thick green wall,

And a green coat covers me all. (A walnut.)

Make three fourths of a cross,

And a circle complete;

And let two semicircles

On a perpendicular meet;

Next add a triangle

That stands on two feet;

Next two semicircles,

And a circle complete. (TOBACCO.)

Flour of England, fruit of Spain,

Met together in a shower of rain;

Put in a bag tied round with a string,

If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a ring. (A plum-pudding.)

Riddles

In marble walls as white as milk,
Lined with a skin as soft as silk,
Within a fountain crystal clear,
A golden apple doth appear.

No doors there are to this stronghold,

Yet thieves break in and steal the gold. (An egg.)

Little Nanny Etticoat,

In a white petticoat,

And a red nose;

The longer she stands,

The shorter she grows. (A candle.)

Long legs, crooked thighs,

Little head and no eyes. (A pair of tongs.)

Thirty white horses upon a red hill,

Now they tramp, now they champ, now they stand still.

Formed long ago, yet made to-day,

Employed while others sleep; What few would like to give away, Nor any wish to keep. (A bed.)

Lives in winter,

Dies in summer,

And grows with its root upwards. (An icicle.)

Elizabeth, Lizzy, Betsy and Bess,

All went together to seek a bird's nest;
They found a nest with five eggs in it;

They each took one and left four in it.

Thomas a Tattamus took two T's,
To tie two tups to two tall trees,

(The teeth.)

To frighten the terrible Thomas a Tattamus!
Tell me how many T's there are in all THAT!

Old Mother Twitchett had but one eye,

And a long tail which she let fly;

And every time she went over a gap,

She left a bit of her tail in a trap. (A needle and thread.)

As I went through a garden gap,

Who should I meet but Dick Red-Cap!

A stick in his hand, a stone in his throat,

If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a groat.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

All the king's horses and all the king's men

(A cherry).

Cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again. (An egg.)

Two legs sat upon three legs,

With one leg in his lap;

In comes four legs

And runs away with one leg;

Up jumps two legs,

Catches up three legs,

Throws it after four legs,

And makes him drop one leg.

(A man, a stool, a leg of mutton, and a dog.)

PROVERBS

IF wishes were horses,
Beggars would ride;

If turnips were watches,

I'd wear one by my side.

A MAN of words, and not of deeds,

Is like a garden full of weeds;
For when the weeds begin to grow,
Then doth the garden overflow.

Proverbs

HE that would thrive

Must rise at five;

He that hath thriven

May lie till seven;

And he that by the plough would thrive, I
Himself must either hold or drive.

A SWARM of bees in May

Is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June
Is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July
Is not worth a fly.

THEY that wash on Monday
Have all the week to dry;
They that wash on Tuesday
Are not so much awry;
They that wash on Wednesday
Are not so much to blame;

They that wash on Thursday,

Wash for shame; h

They that wash on Friday,

Wash in need;

And they that wash on Saturday,

Oh, they are slovens, indeed,,

NEEDLES and pins, needles and pins,

When a man marries, his trouble begins.

FOR every evil under the sun, ́.

There is a remedy, or there is none.

If there be one, try and find it;

If there be none, never mind it.

TOMMY's tears, and Mary's fears,
Will make them old before their years.

IF "ifs" and "ands" " IN 5 KA
Were pots and pans,

There would be no need for tinkers!.

FOR want of a nail, the shoe was lost; '
For want of the shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of the horse, the rider was lost;
For want of the rider, the battle was lost;\/
For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost;
And all from the want of a horseshoe nail. 1

WEATHER WISDOM

A SUNSHINY Shower

Won't last half an hour.

RAIN before seven,
Fair by eleven.

THE South wind brings wet weather,
The North wind wet and cold together;
The West wind always brings us rain,"

The East wind blows it back again.