When We Were Very Young, Page 3
A. A. Milne
Whenever I tell him
Politely to stop it, he
Says he can’t possibly stop.
If he stopped hopping,
he couldn’t go anywhere,
Poor little Christopher
Couldn’t go anywhere….
That’s why he always goes
Hoppity, hoppity,
Hoppity,
Hoppity,
Hop.
At Home
I want a soldier
(A soldier in a busby),
I want a soldier to come and play with me.
I’d give him cream-cakes
(Big ones, sugar ones),
I’d give him cream-cakes and cream for his tea.
I want a soldier
(A tall one, a red one),
I want a soldier who plays on the drum.
Daddy’s going to get one
(He’s written to the shopman)
Daddy’s going to get one as soon as he can come.
The Wrong House
I went into a house, and it wasn’t a house,
It has big steps and a great big hall;
But it hasn’t got a garden,
A garden,
A garden,
It isn’t like a house at all.
I went into a house, and it wasn’t a house,
It has a big garden and a great high wall;
But it hasn’t got a may-tree,
A may-tree,
A may-tree,
It isn’t like a house at all.
I went into a house and it wasn’t a house—
Slow white petals from the may-tree fall;
But it hasn’t got a blackbird,
A blackbird,
A blackbird,
It isn’t like a house at all.
I went into a house, and I thought it was a house,
I could hear from the may-tree the blackbird call….
But nobody listened to it,
Nobody
Liked it,
Nobody wanted it at all.
Summer Afternoon
Six brown cows walk down to drink
(All the little fishes blew bubbles at the may-fly).
Splash goes the first as he comes to the brink,
Swish go the tails of the five who follow….
Twelve brown cows bend drinking there
(All the little fishes went waggle-tail, waggle-tail)—
Six from the water and six from the air;
Up and down the river darts a blue-black swallow.
The Dormouse and the Doctor
There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red),
And all the day long he’d a wonderful view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).
A Doctor came hurrying round, and he said:
“Tut-tut, I am sorry to find you in bed.
Just say ‘Ninety-nine,’ while I look at your chest….
Don’t you find that chrysanthemums answer the best?”
The Dormouse looked round at the view and replied
(When he’d said “Ninety-nine”) that he’d tried and he’d tried,
And much the most answering things that he knew
Were geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).
The Doctor stood frowning and shaking his head,
And he took up his shiny silk hat as he said:
“What the patient requires is a change,” and he went
To see some chrysanthemum people in Kent.
The Dormouse lay there, and he gazed at the view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue),
And he knew there was nothing he wanted instead
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red).
The Doctor came back and, to show what he meant,
He had brought some chrysanthemum cuttings from Kent.
“Now these,” he remarked, “give a much better view
Than geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).”
They took out their spades and they dug up the bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red),
And they planted chrysanthemums (yellow and white).
“And now,” said the Doctor, “we’ll soon have you right.”
The Dormouse looked out, and he said with a sigh:
“I suppose all these people know better than I.
It was silly, perhaps, but I did like the view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).”
The Doctor came round and examined his chest,
And ordered him Nourishment, Tonics, and Rest,
“How very effective,” he said as he shook
The thermometer, “all these chrysanthemums look!”
The Dormouse turned over to shut out the sight
Of the endless chrysanthemums (yellow and white).
“How lovely,” he thought, “to be back in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red).”
The Doctor said, “Tut! It’s another attack!”
And ordered him Milk and Massage-of-the-back,
And Freedom-from-worry and Drives-in-a-car,
And murmured, “How sweet your chrysanthemums are!”
The Dormouse lay there with his paws to his eyes
And imagined himself such a pleasant surprise:
“I’ll pretend the chrysanthemums turn to a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red)!”
The Doctor next morning was rubbing his hands,
And saying, “There’s nobody quite understands
These cases as I do! The cure has begun!
How fresh the chrysanthemums look in the sun!”
The Dormouse lay happy, his eyes were so tight
He could see no chrysanthemums, yellow or white,
And all that he felt at the back of his head
Were delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red).
And that is the reason (Aunt Emily said)
If a Dormouse gets in a chrysanthemum bed),
You will find (so Aunt Emily says) that he lies
Fast asleep on his front with his paws to his eyes.
Shoes and Stockings
There’s a cavern in the mountain where the old men meet
(Hammer, hammer, hammer…
Hammer, hammer, hammer…)
They make gold slippers for my lady’s feet
(Hammer, hammer, hammer…
Hammer, hammer, hammer…)
My lady is marrying her own true knight,
White her gown, and her veil is white,
But she must have slippers on her dainty feet.
Hammer, hammer, hammer…
Hammer.
There’s a cottage by the river
where the old wives meet
(Chatter, chatter, chatter…
Chatter, chatter, chatter…)
They weave gold stockings for my lady’s feet
(Chatter, chatter, chatter…
Chatter, chatter, chatter…)
My lady is going to her own true man,
Youth to youth, since the world began,
But she must have stockings on her dainty feet.
Chatter, chatter, chatter…
Chatter.
Sand-Between-the-Toes
I went down to the shouting sea,
Taking Christopher down with me,
For Nurse had given us sixpence each—
And down we went to the beach.
We had sand in the eyes and the ears and the nose,
And sand in the hair, and sand-between-the-toes.
Whenever a good nor’ wester blows,
Christopher is certain of
Sand-between-the-toes.
The sea was galloping grey and white;
Christopher clutched his sixpence tight;
We clambered over the humping sand—
And Christopher held my hand.
We had sand in the eyes and th
e ears and the nose,
And sand in the hair, and sand-between-the-toes.
Whenever a good nor’ wester blows,
Christopher is certain of
Sand-between-the-toes.
There was a roaring in the sky;
The sea-gulls cried as they blew by;
We tried to talk, but had to shout—
Nobody else was out.
When we got home, we had sand in the hair,
In the eyes and the ears and everywhere;
Whenever a good nor’ wester blows,
Christopher is found with
Sand-between-the-toes.
Knights and Ladies
There is in my old picture-book
A page at which I like to look,
Where knights and squires come riding down
The cobbles of some steep old town,
And ladies from beneath the eaves
Flutter their bravest handkerchiefs,
Or, smiling proudly, toss down gages….
But that was in the Middle Ages.
It wouldn’t happen now; but still,
Whenever I look up the hill
Where, dark against the green and blue,
The firs come marching, two by two,
I wonder if perhaps I might
See suddenly a shining knight
Winding his way from blue to green—
Exactly as it would have been
Those many, many years ago….
Perhaps I might. You never know.
Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy Blue
“What have you done with your sheep,
Little Bo-Peep?
What have you done with your sheep,
Bo-Peep?”
“Little Boy Blue, what fun!
I’ve lost them, everyone!”
“Oh, what a thing to have done,
Little Bo-Peep!”
“What have you done with your sheep,
Little Boy Blue?
What have you done with your sheep,
Boy Blue?”
“Little Bo-Peep, my sheep
Went off, when I was asleep.”
“I’m sorry about your sheep,
Little Boy Blue.”
“What are you going to do,
Little Bo-Peep?
What are you going to do,
Bo-Peep?”
“Little Boy Blue, you’ll see
They’ll all come home to tea.”
“They wouldn’t do that for me,
Little Bo-Peep.”
“What are you going to do,
Little Boy Blue?
What are you going to do,
Boy Blue?”
“Little Bo-Peep, I’ll blow
My horn for an hour or so.”
Isn’t that rather slow,
Little Boy Blue?”
“Whom are you going to marry,
Little Bo-Peep?
Whom are you going to marry,
Bo-Peep?”
“Little Boy Blue, Boy Blue,
I’d like to marry you.”
“I think I should like it too,
Little Bo-Peep.”
“Where are we going to live,
Little Boy Blue?
Where are we going to live,
Boy Blue?”
“Little Bo-Peep, Bo-Peep,
Up in the hills with the sheep.”
“And you’ll love your little Bo-Peep,
Little Boy Blue?”
I’ll love you for ever and ever,
Little Bo-Peep.
I’ll love you for ever and ever,
Bo-Peep.”
“Little Boy Blue, my dear,
Keep near, keep very near.”
“I shall be always here,
Little Bo-Peep.”
The Mirror
Between the woods the afternoon
Is fallen in a golden swoon,
The sun looks down from quiet skies
To where a quiet water lies,
And silent trees stoop down to trees.
And there I saw a white swan make
Another white swan in the lake;
And, breast to breast, both motionless,
They waited for the wind’s caress…
And all the water was at ease.
Halfway Down
Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn’t any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I’m not at the bottom,
I’m not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.
Halfway up the stairs
Isn’t up,
And isn’t down.
It isn’t in the nursery,
It isn’t in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head:
“It isn’t really
Anywhere!
It’s somewhere else
Instead!”
The Invaders
In careless patches through the wood
The clumps of yellow primrose stood,
And sheets of white anemones,
Like driven snow against the trees,
Had covered up the violet,
But left the blue-bell bluer yet.
Along the narrow carpet ride,
With primroses on either side,
Between their shadows and the sun,
The cows came slowly, one by one,
Breathing the early morning air
And leaving it still sweeter there.
And, one by one, intent upon
Their purposes, they followed on
In ordered silence…and were gone.
But all the little wood was still,
As if it waited so, until
Some blackbird on an outpost yew,
Watching the slow procession through,
Lifted his yellow beak at last
To whistle that the line had passed….
Then all the wood began to sing
Its morning anthem to the spring.
Before Tea
Emmeline
Has not been seen
For more than a week. She slipped between
The two tall trees at the end of the green…
We all went after her. “Emmeline!”
“Emmeline,
I didn’t mean—
I only said that your hands weren’t clean.”
We went to the trees at the end of the green….
But Emmeline
Was not to be seen.
Emmeline
Came slipping between
The two tall trees at the end of the green.
We all ran up to her. “Emmeline!
Where have you been?
Where have you been?
Why, it’s more than a week!” And Emmeline
Said, “Sillies, I went and saw the Queen.
She says my hands are purfickly clean!”
Teddy Bear
A bear, however hard he tries,
Grows tubby without exercise.
Our Teddy Bear is short and fat
Which is not to be wondered at;
He gets what exercise he can
By falling off the ottoman,
But generally seems to lack
The energy to clamber back.
Now tubbiness is just the thing
Which gets a fellow wondering;
And Teddy worried lots about
The fact that he was rather stout.
He thought: “If only I were thin!
But how does anyone begin?”
He thought: “It really isn’t fair
To grudge me exercise and air.”
For many weeks he pressed in vain
His nose against the window-pane,
And envied those who walked about
Reducing their unwanted
stout.
None of the people he could see
“Is quite” (he said) “as fat as me!”
Then, with a still more moving sigh,
“I mean” (he said) “as fat as I!”
Now Teddy, as was only right,
Slept in the ottoman at night,
And with him crowded in as well
More animals than I can tell;
Not only these, but books and things,
Such as a kind relation brings—
Old tales of “Once upon a time,”
And history retold in rhyme.
One night it happened that he took
A peep at an old picture-book,
Wherein he came across by chance
The picture of a King of France
(A stoutish man) and, down below,
These words: “King Louis So and So,
Nicknamed ‘The Handsome’ ”! There he sat,
And (think of it!) the man was fat!
Our bear rejoiced like anything
To read about this famous King,
Nicknamed “The Handsome.” There he sat,
And certainly the man was fat.
Nicknamed “The Handsome.” Not a doubt
The man was definitely stout.
Why then, a bear (for all his tub)
Might yet be named “The Handsome Cub”!
“Might yet be named.” Or did he mean
That years ago he “might have been”?
For now he felt a slight misgiving:
“Is Louis So and So still living?
