y
To the great Tree the leaflets clung,
Frolicked and danced and had their way
Upon the autumn breezes swung,
Whispering all their sports among,

"Perhaps the great Tree will forget
And let us stay until the spring,
If we all beg and coax and fret."
But the great Tree did no such thing;
He smiled to hear their whispering.

"Come, children all, to bed," he cried;
And ere the leaves could urge their prayer,
He shook his head, and far and wide,
Fluttering and rustling everywhere,
Down sped the leaflets through the air.

I saw them; on the ground they lay,
Golden and red, a huddled swarm,
Waiting till one from far away,
White bedclothes heaped up on her arm,
Should come to wrap them safe and warm.

The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
"Good-night, dear little leaves," he said;
And from below each sleepy child
Replied, "Good-night," and murmured,
"It is _so_ nice to go to bed."

The poems for young readers produced by the
sisters Alice Cary (1820-1871) and Phoebe Cary
(1824-1871) constitute the most successful body
of juvenile verse yet produced in this country.
One of Alice Cary's poems, "An Order for a
Picture," is of a very distinguished quality,
but as its appeal is largely to mature readers,
two of Phoebe Cary's poems of simpler quality
are chosen for use here. The first of these
marks, by means of three illustrations within
the range of children's observation, a very
common defect of child nature and is, by the
force of these illustrations, a good lesson in
practical ethics. The appeal of the second is
to that inherent ideal of disinterested heroism
which is so strong in children. The setting of
the story amidst the ever-present threat of the
sea affords a good chance for the teacher to do
effective work in emphasizing the geographical
background. This should be done, however, not
as geography merely, but with the attention on
the human elements involved.

280

THEY DIDN'T THINK

PHOEBE CARY

Once a trap was baited
With a piece of cheese;
Which tickled so a little