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                       Songs for the Little Ones
                                at Home




[Illustration: Mother with children]




                         Songs for the Little
                             Ones at Home


                           _REVISED EDITION_

                           _350th Thousand_


                        AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY
                      150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK


                     Copyright, 1884 and 1911, by
                        AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY




TABLE OF CONTENTS


                             PAGE

  HEART AND HEARTHSTONE         7

  HOUR BY HOUR                 47

  LITTLE POOR RELATIONS        81

  THE GREAT OUTDOORS          135

  ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN       175

  THE CHRIST CHILD            219

  HEROES AND PATRIOTS         231

  INDEX                       253




ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


Acknowledgments are made to Charles Scribner’s Sons for the use of _My
Shadow_, from A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES:

To Houghton, Mifflin & Company for _The Leak in the Dike_, from THE
POEMS OF PHŒBE CARY:

To the American Book Company for _The Reindeer and the Rabbit_, from
the old MCGUFFEY SECOND ECLECTIC READER; and for _Young Soldiers_ and
_The Lord’s Prayer_, from the old MCGUFFEY THIRD ECLECTIC READER.

Thanks are also rendered to Mrs. Margaret E. Sangster for the use of
_Dear Little Heads in the Pew_; and to Professor Irsay de Irsa and
others for advice and encouragement.




HEART AND HEARTHSTONE


    Some precious words are born of earth,
      Some others by the angels given;
    But sweetest of celestial birth
      Are these: “My Mother,” “Home,” and “Heaven.”

[Music:
THE FATHER’S WILL

    Air, with bass accompaniment

    1. How sweet the home of Nazareth Where Mary mother smiled,
    And flow’rs of daily duty bloom’d About the holy Child.
    His Father’s will was all His task Within that earthly home,
    That will for ever done in Heav’n Whence He so late had come.

    2. Obedient, gentle, loving, meek, He worked at Joseph’s side;
    Does nothing from that daily toil Thro’ all the years abide?
    We scan the wide world o’er, nor find. In any clime or land,
    One single, sacred, treasured thing Wrought out by Jesus’ hand.

    3. But wheresoe’er a Christian child Does on the earth fulfil....
    With humble, rev’rent, tender heart The heav’nly Father’s will,
    The work, tho’ mean and poor to view With heav’nly grace is
        fraught,
    Since age to age it passes on The lesson Jesus taught.
]


HEART AND HEARTHSTONE


THE FATHER’S WILL

    How sweet the home of Nazareth,
      Where Mary mother smiled,
    And flowers of duty daily bloomed
      About the holy Child.

    His Father’s will was all his task
      Within that earthly home,
    The will forever done in heaven,
      Whence he so late had come.

    Obedient, gentle, loving, meek,
      He worked at Joseph’s side:
    Does nothing from that daily toil
      Through all the years abide?

    We scan the wide world o’er, nor find,
      In any clime or land,
    One single, sacred, treasured thing
      Wrought out by Jesus’ hand;

    But wheresoe’er a Christian child
      Does on the earth fulfil
    With humble, reverent, tender heart,
      The heavenly Father’s will,

    The work, though mean and poor to view,
      With heavenly grace is fraught,
    Since age to age it passes on
      The lesson Jesus taught.


WHEN FATHER COMES HOME

    When my father comes home in the evening from work,
      Then I will get up on his knee,
    And tell him how many nice lessons I’ve learned,
      And show him how good I can be.

    He’ll ask me what number I know how to count,
      I’ll tell him what words I can spell;
    And if I can learn something new every day,
      I hope soon to read very well.

[Illustration: Jesus, Mary and Joseph in carpenter’s shop]

    I’ll repeat to him all the good verses I know,
      And tell him how kind we must be,
    That we never must hurt little creatures at all;
      And he will be glad, and love me.

    I’ll tell him we always must try to please God,
      And never be cruel nor rude,
    For God is the Father of all living things,
      He cares for and blesses the good.


DEAR MAMMA

    My own mamma; my dear mamma!
      How happy shall I be
    To-morrow night at candlelight,
      When she comes home to me!

    ’Tis just one week since on my cheek
      She pressed the parting kiss:
    It seems like two; I never knew
      So long a week as this.

    My tangled hair she smoothed with care,
      With water bathed my brow;
    And all with such a gentle touch--
      I wish she’d do it now.

    But she will come; she’ll be at home
      To-morrow night; and then
    I hope that she will never be
      So long away again.


MY MOTHER

    My mother, my kind mother,
      I hear thy gentle voice;
    It always makes my little heart
      Beat gladly and rejoice.

    When I am ill it comes to me,
      And kindly soothes my pain;
    And when I sleep, then in my dreams
      It sweetly comes again.

    It always makes me happy,
      Whene’er I hear its tone;
    I know it is the voice of love,
      From a heart that is my own.

    My mother, my dear mother,
      O may I never be
    Unkind or disobedient,
      In any way, to thee.


FOR MOTHER

    I give my mother lots of kisses,
    There’s really never one she misses:
    A “wake-up kiss” right in the morning,
    A “good-night kiss” when I am yawning,
    A “sorry kiss” when I’ve been bad,
    A “happy kiss” when I am glad.
    Once she was sick; I went to stay
    At auntie’s house, oh, miles away!
    Then I sent kisses in a letter;
    She said they truly made her better.
    There’s never really one she misses,
    Oh, I give mother lots of kisses.


PAPA IS COMING

    I know he’s coming by this sign,—
    The baby’s almost wild!
    See how he laughs and crows and starts--
    Heaven bless the merry child!
    He’s father’s self in face and limb,
    And father’s heart is strong in him.
    Shout, baby, shout! and clap thy hands,
    For father on the threshold stands.


MY FATHER BLESSED ME

    My father raised his trembling hand
      And laid it on my head;
    “God bless thee, O my son, my son!”
      Most tenderly he said.

    He died, and left no gems or gold:
      But still I was his heir,
    For that rich blessing which he gave
      Became a fortune rare.


WELCOME

    Welcome, welcome, little stranger,
      To this busy world of care;
    Nothing can thy peace endanger,
      Nothing now thy steps ensnare.

    Mother’s heart is filled with pleasure,
      All her feelings are awake;
    Gladly would she, little treasure,
      All thy pains and sufferings take.

    Mayest thou, if designed by heaven
      Future days and years to see,
    Soothe her, make her passage even;
      Let her heart rejoice in thee.

    May her anxious cares and labors
      Be repaid by filial love;
    And thy soul be crowned with favors
      From the boundless source above.

    —_Taylor._


THE PRINCE COMES!

    “What is this pretty little thing,
    That nurse so carefully doth bring,
    And round its head a blanket fling?
                                A baby!

    “Oh, dear, how very soft its cheek;
    Why, nurse, I cannot make it speak,
    And it can’t walk, it is so weak.
                                A baby!

    “Oh, I’m afraid that it will die;
    Why can’t it eat as well as I,
    And jump, and talk? Do let it try.
                                Poor baby!”

    “Why, you were once a baby too,
    And could not jump as now you do,
    But good mamma took care of you,
                                Like baby.

    “And then she taught your little feet
    To pat along the carpet neat,
    And called papa to come and meet
                                His baby.

    “O dear mamma, to take such care,
    And no kind pains and trouble spare
    To feed and nurse you when you were
                                A baby.”


WHERE DID YOU COME FROM, BABY DEAR?

    Where did you come from, baby dear?
    Out of the everywhere into here.

    Where did you get your eyes so blue?
    Out of the sky as I came through.

    Where did you get that little tear?
    I found it waiting when I got here.

    What makes your forehead so smooth and high?
    A soft hand stroked it as I went by.

    What makes your cheek like a warm, white rose?
   