HUMOR.

From the world of make-belief there is an easy step to the humorous. The make-believe becomes mirth-provoking as soon as absurdity of situation can be realized. In the little child whose power to think has not yet been tried out on the wings of imagination the absurdities do not appear. Hence Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussy Cat" may appear a serious reality to such a one; but after a while the fantastic oddities appear and the humor is enjoyed.

It is certain that the power to appreciate humor does not appear till the child can reason well. Hence the full beauty is not evident till the little one is well along in the grades. Eugene Field's "The Duel" appeals more humorously to younger children than perhaps any other poem. Close to this ranks Stevenson's "A Birdie With a Yellow Bill." Riley's "The Tree-Toad" herewith given in full, is a type of the piece in which childish make-belief is tempered into delicious fun.

"Scurious-like," said the tree-toad,
"I've twittered fer rain all day;

And I got up soon,

And I hollered 'till noon

But the sun, hit blazed away,

'Till I jest clumb down in a crawfish-hole,
Weary at heart, and sick at soul!

"Dozed away fer an hour,

And I tackled the thing again;

And I sung, and sung,

"Till I knowed my lung

Was jest about give in,

And then, thinks I, ef hit don't rain now
There're nothin' in singin' anyhow!

And stop and sigh

"Till I jest laid back, at last.

And hollered rain 'till I thought my th'oat
Would bust right open at ever' note!

"But I fetched her! O I fetched her!

'Cause a little while ago,

As I kind o' set,

With one eye shet,

And a-singin' soft and low,

A voice drapped down on my fevered brain,
Sayin', 'Ef you'll jest hush I'll rain!'"

-James Whitcomb Riley.

(With the permission of Bowen-Merrill Co., Publishers.)

The pun requires the exercise of so fine a discrimination in the use of words that, except in the higher grades, the poem depending for its amusement upon, does not appeal. Many a child who at twelve or thirteen has tried to read Hood's "Faithless Nellie Gray," while perhaps understanding a few of the hits, waits 'till adulthood before he grins at the "Stake in His Inside," or "Badajo's Breaches," or

"The girl that loves a scarlet coat

Should be more uniform."

Good humor always carries with it an important lesson in that it makes us see ourselves as we see others. It therefore always is a gentle chiding. "Suppose" by Phoebe Cary well illustrates this influence of a humorous production,

Suppose, my little lady,

Your doll should break her head,
Could you make it whole by crying
'Till your eyes and nose are red?
And wouldn't it be pleasanter
To treat it as a joke,

And say you're glad "twas Dolly's,
And not your head, that broke?"

Suppose you're dressed for walking,
And the rain comes pouring down,
Will it clear off any sooner
Because you scold and frown?
And wouldn't it be nicer
For you to smile than pout,

And so make sunshine in the house
When there is none without?

Suppose your task, my little man,

Is very hard to get,

Will it make it any easier
For you to sit and fret?
And wouldn't it be wiser
Than waiting, like a dunce,
To go to work in earnest,
And learn the thing at once?

Suppose that some boys have a horse,

And some a coach and pair,

Will it tire you less while walking
To say, "It isn't fair"?

And wouldn't it be nobler
To keep your temper sweet,
And in your heart be thankful

You can walk upon your feet?

And suppose the world don't please you,
Nor the way some people do,
Do you think the whole creation
Will be altered just for you?
And isn't it, my boy or girl,
The wisest, bravest plan,

Whatever comes or doesn't come,

To do the best you can?

-Phoebe Cary.

"The Fiddler from Dooney" by William Butler Yeats is a fine example of a humorous poem bearing a gentle moral:

When I play on my fiddle in Dooney,
Folks dance like a wave of the sea;
My cousin is priest in Kilvarnet,
My brother in Moharabuiee.

I passed my brother and cousin ;
They read in their books of prayer;
I read in my book of songs
I bought at the Sligo fair.

When we come at the end of time,
To Peter sitting in state,

He will smile on the three old spirits,
But call me first through the gate.

For the good are always the merry
Save by an evil chance,
And the merry love the fiddle
And the merry love to dance.

And when the folk there spy me,

They will all come up to me,

With "Here is the fiddler of Dooney!"

And dance like a wave of the sea.

(By permission of The Macmillan Co., Publishers.)

Closely allied to humorous poetry and most useful in the school-room for touching the uninitiated in lower grades, and giving them an initiatory experience with verse, is the rhythmed puzzle or riddle illustrated in the following stanzas:

"Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall;
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

Not all the king's horses, nor all the king's men
Could put Humpty Dumpty together again."

"Little Nanny Etticott,

In a white petticoat,

And a red rose;

The longer she stands,

The shorter she grows."

From the rhymed riddle, the step is easy to the verse in which the figure is simply and plainly symbolic; for it often requires the same effort of mind to interpret the quaint figure of speech as it does the puzzle, as in the following:

"Kind hearts are the gardens,
Kind thoughts are the roots,

Kind words are the blossoms,

Kind deeds are the fruits."

Again the verse containing the humorous play on words, or other striking conceits, adds to the interest