Read When We Were Very Young Page 3


  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?