Children's Corner.

Otago Witness, Issue 1583, 25 March 1882, Page 28

Children's Corner.

Little Polly's Voyage. By Eva L, Ooden. She had strained the milk, she had scalded the canß, She had washed the dishes, the pails, and the pans, She had scrubbed the floor By the kitchen door, She had blacked the stove quite neatly, She had baked a pudding, two pies, and a cake. And she was tired out, completely ! So she took a tin pail and a half-pint cup, And started out for the blackberry lot ; Down the lane, and over the railroad bridge, And across the top of the Old Pine ridge, To the very identical little spot Where the blackberries grow And the primroses blow, And you hear the sound of the waves' soft flow. Swish— swash, Pllsh— plash, On the rocks and aand of the shore below. Now there was a buoy, A whistling buoy, That rose and fell On the surges that swell Around the coast of Jersey, 0 ! < And there was a whale, A Greenland whale. Who swam one night, With a whale-oil light, Far up the coast of Jersey, 0 1 For dashing away Through the salt sea spray, He had heard the buoy down in Delaware Bay. And he laughed, and cried : ' Ha, ha 1 my bride Shall have music now till she's satisfied !' So he looked till he found the whistling buoy, A He a toSit e a^yf CbiW Witha *■*&•»&. And night and day Swam on to his home in Baffin's Bay. Little Polly had wandered as far as the beach, And sat down for a moment to rest. ' S wh»? ! 1° tired !> she didn ' fc know , Whether it wasn't-' really-best rEthr** 80 -' And then and the *>> Fast asleep on the edge of the water ! And Beized her and carried her out to sea. Th Z%fh le "S^ and took he * »» tow; Sailed over the cool green sea together. It was six o'clock in t

m .. t CK in the afternoon When the child woke up and looked about And the whale commenced to spout, ' And Poll was sure she heard him say : Now, small fry, get out of the way 1' It was seven o'clock when they pa33ed a show Wflere the mermaids sat in a row • By the shark who lives in the-BalHoaS, „^ n d none of them wanted to goBut they stood on their tails anß laughed tor lov When they heard the voice of the Sling buoy. It was ten o'clock on the sea • when the sky began to blossom, And great deep petals of fiery red Over the face of the stars was spread And over its own bl w bosom. Then faded the roae, and a passionflower Bloomed on the bending fieaven ; A crown of light was its ffeart, and a flame A™*** toutltuf iroSa. bid, Ml JjPP ««l PJipte Mid vrtlto sod rii, £ wish I could keep on dreaming still J' It was midnight before they came to the sea Where the great blue icebergs grow Where thejhale had his hSmf nlxfc down to the In the midst of the ice an<J the snow • But just as they reached it, down under the cliff. The voice of the buoy was frozen stiff ! ' Ah 1 1 well for the friends of the whistling buoy, And, alas ! for the friends of Polly I y He was sent home the very next day ( wVn« S l d *r*f, hi 5 voice thawed out > *he way), Little Polly her time is spending, She washes the seals, and she parts their hair, And she sings little songs to tie grizaly bear And she does the family mending. * ' And Bhe's promised she never will leave them until The pole-star seta and the waves are still w-?u e^ ear8 I the J?i cc ot the whip-poor-will, With the voice of the icebergs blending —St. Nicholas.