if unconscious, influence. The mind
that has been filled in youth with many such thoughts and images will
surely bear fruit in fine and gracious actions.

To the teachers who are persuaded of this truth, the present
collection of poems has much to recommend it. The selections have been
chosen both for their moral influence and for their permanent value as
literature. They have been carefully graded to suit the needs of every
class from the primary to the high school. Either the whole poem or a
sufficiently long quotation has been inserted to give the child a
complete mental picture.

The teacher will thus escape the difficulty of choosing among a too
great abundance of riches, or the still greater one of finding for
herself, with few resources, what serves her purpose. This volume has
a further advantage over other books of selections. It is so moderate
in price that it will be possible to place it in the hands of the
children themselves.

The compilers desire to thank Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Charles
Scribner's Sons, Bowen, Merrill & Co., Whittaker & Ray Co., and
Doubleday & McClure Co., for their kindness in permitting the use of
copyrighted material.

S. D. WATERMAN.

CONTENTS.

FIRST GRADE.

The Baby _George Macdonald_
The Little Plant _Anon._
Sleep, Baby, Sleep _E. Prentiss_
One, Two, Three _Margaret Johnson_
Three Little Bugs in a Basket _Alice Cary_
Whenever a Little Child is Born _Agnes L. Carter_
Sweet and Low _Alfred Tennyson_
The Ferry for Shadowtown _Anon._
My Shadow _R. L. Stevenson_
Quite Like a Stocking _Anon._
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat _Edward Lear_
Forget-me-not _Anon._
Who Stole the Bird's Nest? _Anon._
Two Little Hands _Anon._
The Dandelion _Anon._
A Million Little Diamonds _M. Butts_
Daisy Nurses _Anon._
At Little Virgil's Window _Edwin Markham_
Dandelions _Anon._
Memory Gems _Selected_

SECOND GRADE.

Seven Times One _Jean Ingelow_
Christmas Eve _Anon._
Morning Song _Alfred Tennyson_
Sup