19th Century Public Domain Poem: Good-Night by W.T. Peters (Poetry for Kids)

GOOD-NIGHT
by W.T. Peters
(Originally published 1881)

GOOD-NIGHT, happy stars,
With your yellow eyes,
Good-night, lady moon,
In the evening skies;
Good-night, dusky world
And the boundless deep;
I am tired out;
It is time to sleep ―
Time, time to sleep.
Good-night! Good-night!

Good-night, weary boy;
It has been decreed
That some mysteries
Only a child can read;
But the sweet child-heart
May you always keep,
And the stars will be yours
And the boundless deep ―
The boundless, boundless deep.
Good-night! Good-night!

Vintage 1912 photo of the mother and sleeping child above
can be downloaded as a 6" x 4" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

19th Century Public Domain Poem: Peas Porridge Hot (Poetry for Kids)

"Peas Porridge Hot"
Richly illustrated children's nursery rhyme/Victorian clapping game.
High-res 8.5" x 11" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.

Here's a real-life video from Lynn Public School to show you how it's played:




For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

19th Century Public Domain Poem: A Halloween Frolic (Poetry for Kids)

See link for printable poem at the bottom of this post.
Here is a sweet little Halloween poem (titled "A Hallowenn Frolic") written by Helen Gray Cone and originally published in a late 19th century issue of St. Nicholas Magazine.

The poem in full reads:
A little witch in steeple hat
Once tried a merry spell,
To make the hares come pit-a-pat
From dingle and from dell.

And pit-a-pat, beneath the moon,
The shy hares peeping came;
The little witch in buckled shoon,
She called them each by name.

"Come, 'Fairy-foot' and 'Sparkle-eyes'!
Come, 'Fine-ear,' 'Bob,' and 'Bun'!"
They gathered round in mild surprise,
But glad of any fun.

And when she told them what she willed,
They stamped and leaped in glee,
And all their velvet noses thrilled
With laughter strange to see.

What was the prank, do you suppose,
And what the merry spell? ―
The sleepy owlet only knows,
And she would never tell!

High-res 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Lovely to hand out with Halloween candy but can also be used in altered art, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

19th Century Public Domain Poetry for the Nursery: A Song from Mother to Daughter (Poem for Kids)

Here is the poem in full:

Play, baby, in thy cradle play --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And quick goes time, quick, quick!
Grow, baby, grow, with every day --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And babyhood will pass away,
For quick goes time, quick, quick!

Not long can mother watch thee so --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And quick goes time, quick, quick!
To pretty girlhood thou wilt grow --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
To womanhood, before we know,
For quick goes time, quick, quick!

Play, baby, in thy cradle play --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And quick goes time, quick, quick!
And some brave lad will come some day --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And steal my baby's heart away;
Ah, quick goes time, quick, quick!
You can download the full version of the poem as it was originally printed here. Lovely as a framed print but can also be used in a Mother's Day card or baby album.


Public domain poem is from my personal collection. All digitized work by Victorian Trends.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Free for personal use only. Please link back to VictorianTrends.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

19th Century Public Domain Poetry: Sing a Song of Sixpence (Nursery Rhyme)

An illustrated version (from 1883) of "Sing a Song of Sixpence," an old nursery rhyme that probably dates back to the 18th century. This printable sheet music with scenes from the song can be used as a gift wrap, in a decoupage creation or to embellish scrapbooking and graphic design projects.

You can download this free high-res 8" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


Vintage sheet music is from my personal collection. All digitized work by Victorian Trends.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Free for personal use only. Please link back to VictorianTrends.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

19th Century Public Domain Poetry: The Toll-Gate (Poem for Kids)

This little poem, entitled "The Toll-Gate" was written and illustrated by Rudolph F. Bunner (1860 - 1931), a noted illustrator and painter. It was originally published in the December 1895 issue of St. Nicholas Magazine. Here is how it goes:

There is a toll-gate hidden away,
Half in the fields, and half in the trees,
Where the children, the elves, and the fairies stray,
With footsteps facing the twilight breeze.

The fairies and elves can pass through free,
But a child must pay for the toll with a song,
Before the fairy land it can see,
And this must be said, or it all goes wrong:

"I believe in the Three Little Bears,
And the Prince that climbed the Mountain of Glass,
And I know how the Wild Swan's sister fares, --
So open the gate and let me pass."


Public domain poem is from my personal collection. All digitized work by Victorian Trends.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Free for personal use only. Please link back to VictorianTrends.com as your source when sharing or publishing.