When We Went Out With Grandmamma.
By Kate Greenaway
When we went out with Grandmamma--
Mamma said for a treat--
Oh, dear, how stiff we had to walk
As we went down the street.
One on each side we had to go,
And never laugh or loll;
I carried Prim, her Spaniard dog,
And Tom--her parasol.
If I looked right--if Tom looked left--
"Tom--Susan--I'm ashamed;
And little Prim, I'm sure, is shocked,
To hear such naughties named."
She said we had no manners,
If we ever talked or sung;
"You should have seen," said Grandmamma,
"Me walk, when I was young."
She told us--oh, so often--
How little girls and boys,
In the good days when she was young,
Never made any noise.
She said they never wished then
To play--oh, indeed!
They learnt to sew and needlework,
Or else to write and read.
She said her mother never let
Her speak a word at meals;
"But now," said Grandmamma, "you'd think
That children's tongues had wheels
"So fast they go--clack, clack, clack, clack;
Now listen well, I pray,
And let me see you both improve
From what I've said to-day."