Harley's Dream

I know a little brown-eyed boy,

His name is Harley Hart;

And with a naughty boy or girl,

Our Harley has no part.



He cons his lessons o'er and o'er,

And once he fell asleep,

With finger marking A, B, C,

As 'twere the place to keep.



And then he dreamed a funny dream--

The page jumps up to dance,

The letters laugh and by and by,

Like imps they leap and prance.







Now Harley oft had wondered whence

The letters first had come;

And I'm afraid he sometimes wished

They all had staid at home,



Instead of teasing him with quirks,

And bothering him with names

That seemed to help him hardly more

In learning words than games.



One little imp squeaked: "I am A;

You could not be a man

Without me." Then another cried:

"I am E" and quickly ran,



Exclaiming: "And without us both

You could not have a head."

Another says: "You'd have no limbs

If I were lost or dead."



Then O, "You'd have no nose nor toes,

If it were not for me;"

"And what is more, were I not here,"

Says U, "you could not be."









And thus they each and all lay claim

To parcel and to part

Of what he was, or what should do

With hand, or head, or heart.



They hung a ladder 'gainst the tree,

And clambered up and down;

They played a thousand pranks as wild

As any gipsey clown.



They whispered that they came from Rome,

And that, if rightly placed,

They'd serve our Harley with a feast

A king would joy to taste.



So when he woke and knew they were

The little mystic keys

That open Learning's gates so wide,

He loved his A, B, C's.