Runaway Donkey and Other Rhymes for Children

<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/022.jpg" alt="What his name should be?" style="width: 50%" /></div> <h3>IV. THE PONY NAMED.</h3> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">With them all, the pretty pony<br/></span> <span class="i2">Was the theme for days;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Parents, children, groom, and coachman<br/></span> <span class="i2">Joined in words of praise.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Soon arose the weighty question<br/></span> <span class="i2">What his name should be,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And the children long debated<br/></span> <span class="i2">Ere they could agree.<br/></span> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"Call him 'Beauty.'" "That's too common!"<br/></span> <span class="i2">"Merrylegs." "Too long!"<br/></span> <span class="i0">Gipsy, Bijou, Firefly, Diamond,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Names in plenty throng.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">But, not suited yet, the children<br/></span> <span class="i2">One and all discard.<br/></span> <span class="i0">If the pony were less precious,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Choice would be less hard!<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">But at last they named him "Rollo,"<br/></span> <span class="i2">Saying, "For you know<br/></span> <span class="i0">One of his best tricks is rolling,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And he loves it so."<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">And ere long the clever pony<br/></span> <span class="i2">To the children came<br/></span> <span class="i0">From the stall or from the pasture<br/></span> <span class="i2">When they called his name.<br/></span></div> </div> <hr class="tb" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />