Here is this weekend’s Children’s Hour post. Enjoy!

Good Night and Good Morning

A fair little girl sat under a tree,
Sewing as long as her eyes could see;
Then smoothed her work, and folded it right,
And said, “Dear work, good night! good night!”

Such a number of rooks came over her head,
Crying, “Caw! Caw!” on their way to bed;
She said, as she watched their curious flight,
“Little black things, good night! good night!”

The horses neighed, and the oxen lowed,
The sheep’s “Bleat! bleat!” came over the road;
All seeming to say, with a quiet delight,
“Good little girl, good night! good night!”

She did not say to the sun, “Good night!”
Though she saw him there like a ball of light,
For she knew he had God’s time to keep
All over the world, and never could sleep.

The tall pink foxglove bowed his head,
The violets curtsied and went to bed;
And good little Lucy tied up her hair,
And said on her knees her favourite prayer.

And while on her pillow she softly lay,
She knew nothing more till again it was day;
And all things said to the beautiful sun,
“Good morning! good morning! our work is begun!
~Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton

Now the Day is Over

[A minor note regarding the below poem: As the second to last verse pleas that God would see you pure and sinless, know that this is only possible by the work of Jesus Christ. We are still corrupted with sin, but when God sees you with the cloak of Christ’s righteousness, He remembers the sin no more.]

Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh,
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.

Now the darkness gathers,
Stars began to peep,
Birds and beasts and flowers
Soon will be asleep.

Jesus, give the weary
Calm and sweet repose;
With thy tenderest blessing
May our eyelids close.

Grant to little children
Visions bright of thee;
Guard the sailors tossing
On the deep blue sea.

Comfort every sufferer
Watching late in pain;
Those who plan some evil
From their sin restrain.

Through the long night-watches
May thine angels spread
Their white wings above me,
Watching round my bed.

When the morning wakens,
Then may I arise
Pure and fresh and sinless
In thy holy eyes.

Glory to the Father,
Glory to the Son,
And to thee, blest Spirit,
Whilst all ages run.
~Sabine Baring-Gould

Humpty Dumpty’s Song

In winter, when the fields are white,
I sing this song for your delight.

In Spring, when woods are getting green,
I’ll try and tell you what I mean.

In Summer, when the days are long,
Perhaps you’ll understand the song.

In Autumn, when the leaves are brown,
Take pen and ink, and write it down.

I sent a message to the fish:
I told them “This is what I wish.”

The little fishes of the sea,
They sent an answer back to me.

The little fishes’ answer was
“We cannot do it, Sir, because-”

I sent to them again to say
“It will be better to obey.”

The fishes answered, with a grin,
“Why, what a temper you are in!”

I told them once, I told them twice:
They would not listen to advice.

I took a kettle large and new,
Fit for the deed I had to do.

My heart went hop, my heart went thump:
I filled the kettle at the pump.

Then someone came to me and said
“The little fishes are in bed.”

I said to him, I said it plain,
“Then you must wake them up again.”

I said it very loud and clear:
I went and shouted in his ear.

But he was very stiff and proud:
He said “You needn’t shout so loud!”

And he was very proud and stiff:
He said “I’d go and wake them, if-”

I took a corkscrew from the shelf:
I went to wake them up myself.

And when I found the door was locked,
I pulled and pushed and kicked and knocked.

And when I found the door was shut,
I tried to turn the handle, but-
~Lewis Carroll