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JACK FROST
- NOW listen: Once upon a time,
- There lived a foolish boy,
- Who would not be contented
- With any pretty toy.
- But one thing he did wish for,
- You’ll think it very droll—
- For sure enough he wanted
- To see the great North Pole.
- He rode upon a donkey,
- Once in the summer weather,
- These two fit companions
- Went on their way together.
- They travelled through great deserts,
- And forests that were greater;
- They waded through the seas, and then
- Jumped over the Equator.
- And so they journeyed Northward,
- A long, long, weary way;
- It was a toilsome journey
- For the longest summer day.
- At last they reached the great North Pole,
- And it, with age, was white;
- To see it there so stiff and still
- It was a wondrous sight.
- Then, foolish boy, he touched it
- With one finger—only one—
- But quickly he repented
- What he had rashly done!
- For three tall icebergs round him,
- Each shook its great white head,
- And then there were no icebergs there,
- But three tall men instead.
- “Foolish little boy,” said one,
- “You shall be always cold.”
- The second said, “And you shall live
- Till you are very old.”
- The third said, “You may tremble,
- For all we say is true,
- And everything you breathe upon
- Shall be as cold as you.”
- And so it is—we always know
- When that little boy is near,
- And when our lips are pinched and blue,
- We say, “Jack Frost is here.”
- He walks about at nightfall,
- And kills the poor field‐mice;
- He breathes upon the rivers,
- And they are turned to ice.
- He passes through our gardens,—
- We see where he has been,
- For every little blade of grass
- Is white instead of green;
- And if a foolish snowdrop
- Lifts up too soon its head,
- He holds it in his prickly hand
- Till the little thing is dead.
- He stays here all the winter,
- Sometimes till almost May,
- Then come the gentle summer winds
- And blow him quite away.
E.K.
