One Misty, Moisty Morning

One misty, moisty morning,
When cloudy was the weather,
I chanced to meet an old man
Clothed all in leather.
He began to compliment,
And I began to grin,
How do you do?
And how do you do?
And how do you do, again?

A favorite verse memorized since childhood. I love over acting the first four lines, giving it a creepy, Igor kind of pantomine, then finish it with a happy, upbeat tone when reciting it for my daughters when they were young. Driving to them to school on mornings such as today's (visibility less than a 10th of a mile because of fog) would invariably evoke this poem. They would groan and roll their eyes. But, some day when the weather is pea soup, I bet I can hear the same verse being recited to their own children.

Growing up, I was an avid bookworm. One tome in particular, A Child's Book of Verse, was an old friend. This is another poem that stuck in my head, partly because the drawing of the little boy was so angelic:

Bobby Shaftoe went to sea,
Silver buckles on his knee.
He'll come back and marry me,
Pretty Bobby Shaftoe.

Bobby Shaftoe's fine and fair,
Combing down his auburn hair.
He's my friend for evermore,
Pretty Bobby Shaftoe.

Oh, and I love this poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Land of Counterpane:

Wen I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.

Can you remember a childhood verse? Reading to your children does have a payoff, even if you don't get the cash for many years later. Invest today, and spend some time yourself in the Land of Counterpane.