Nursery Idyls (Rudyard Kipling)
A little sigh, a little shiver—
And that means liver.
A little liver when June is nigh,
And then we die.
———
DAFFODILS in English fields
And breezes in the clover,
But here's a sun would strike you dead
Seven times over.
Cook's Tourist comes and goes—
He is but a rover,
While I watch the turning sun
Turn over and over.
And I dream of daffodils,
And the breezy clover,
Turning on my little bed,
Over and over.
———
In England elm leaves fall
When Winter winds blow keen.
But the Indian Pipâl
Is always gay and green.
Ne'er in rain or sunshine
Leaf or blossom dies—
But I'd give the world for an English elm
Under English skies.
———
Here's a mungoose
Dead in the sluice
Of the bath-room drain.
How was he slain?
Days it is plain....
Stopper your nose,
Throw him out to the crows
———
TARA Chand is the Malli's mate,
And labours late and early,
But Dunni is my pony's syce,
And steals the golden barley.
Golden barley, roses red
Rejoice in your morning beauty,
For I have broken Tara's head,
And given Dunni chuti .