nny,--
(Another tumble! That's his precious nose!)

Thy father's pride and hope!
(He'll break that mirror with that skipping rope!)
With pure heart newly stamped from nature's mint,
(Where did he learn that squint?)
Thou young domestic dove!
(He'll have that ring off with another shove,)

[Illustration: "THERE GOES MY INK!"]

Dear nursling of the hymeneal nest!
(Are these torn clothes his best?)
Little epitome of man!
(He'll climb upon the table, that's his plan,)
Touched with the beauteous tints of dawning life,
(He's got a knife!)

Thou enviable being!
No storms, no clouds, in thy blue sky foreseeing,
Play on, play on,
My elfin John!
Toss the light ball, bestride the stick,--
(I knew so many cakes would make him sick!)
With fancies buoyant as the thistle-down,
Prompting the face grotesque, and antic brisk,
With many a lamb-like frisk!
(He's got the scissors snipping at your gown!)
Thou pretty opening rose!
(Go to your mother, child, and wipe your nose!)
Balmy and breathing music like the south
(He really brings my heart into my mouth!)
Bold as a hawk, yet gentle as the dove;
(I'll tell you what, my love,
I cannot write unless he's sent above.)

The stanzas of this poem vary considerably in length, but it will
be interesting to examine them according to the plans suggested at
the end of the preceding poem, _The Country Squire_. The first
stanza here has eight lines, the first four of them rhyming
alternately in pairs, the next four in couplets. If now we apply
the plan that is suggested for writing out the rhyme scheme, the
word for the first stanza is _ababccdd_.

The second stanza has ten lines. Its rhyme scheme is evidently
quite different, for here the first six lines rhyme in couplets and
the last four alternately in pairs. The word to represent such a
scheme is _aabbccdede_.

Can you write out the words which will represent the rhyme scheme
in the other stanzas in this poem?

Find the other poems in this book and write out the rhyme scheme
for them. Notice that in most poems the stanzas have the same
number of lines, and that the rhyme scheme of one stanza is just
like that of another. Take the other books in this series and turn
to the poems, find what an endless variety of rhym