JACK FROST - A LEGEND

Now listen : Once upon a time,
There lived a foolish boy,
Who would not be contented
With any pretty toy.

But one thing did he 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.