Oliver
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NY PUBLIC LIBRARY THE BRANCH LIBRARIES
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Oliver
THE PETER PAN
ALPHABET
BOOKS BY OLIVER HERFORD
WITH PICTURES BY THE AUTHOR
PUBLISHED BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
THE BASHFUL EARTHQUAKE . . .$1.25
A CHILD'S PRIMER OF NATURAL
HISTORY 1.25
OVERHEARD IN A GARDEN .... 1.25
MORE ANIMALS net, 1.00
THE RUBAIYAT OF A PERSIAN
KITTEN net, 1.00
THE FAIRY GODMOTHER-IN-LAW net, 1.00
A LITTLE BOOK OF BORES . . . net, 1 .00
THE PETER PAN ALPHABET net, 1.00
THE PETER PAN
i
ALPHABET
By
OLIVER HERFORD
New York
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1907
COPYRIGHT 1907
BY OLIVER HERFORD
PUBLISHED JANUARY 1907
\
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*
PROPERTY OF THE
l 3 f 9*75
L ^ *
CITY OF NEW YORK
A ROUND ROBIN ' V j
TO
From His Humble and Devoted Servants
J. M. BARRIE
s Humble and Devoted
THE ALPHABET
~
The Lord forgive if we transgress
Thus to familiarly address
One of our betters.
But Jamie, do you no recall
The slate whereon you learned to scrawl
Your Humble Letters ?
^O
Well we remember how you drew
Our shapely features all askew,
Unflattering really.
You made A lame and B too fat
And C too curly what of that!
We loved you dearly.
From that first day we owned your spell,
And just because you used us well
We served you blindly.
Why, even when you put us through
A fearsome Scottish Reel, we knew
You meant it kindly.
Jamie, 'tis said Grand Tales there be
^
t your golden net.
e grandest yet
In store for you.
Jamie, ns said Lrand 1<
Still biding in the ABC
If this be true,
Quick Jamie ! Cast your golden net.
Maybe we have the grandest yet
In store rnr von.
is for Adams
So A is for Adams, Oh ! fortunate A
Luck certainly seems to be coming
your way.
In the Days of my Infancy, A I recall
Stood for Ant or for Apple or anything
small.
Now A stands for Adams, Maude
Adams, Hurray!
I always said A would be Famous
some day.
stands for the Boys
JD'S for the Boys, all as Busy as B
as Dees
They are building a Little House
under the Trees
With funny red walls and mossy
green roof
Where Wendy may live from danger
aloof
C is the Crocodile
is the Crocodile Creepy who ate
The right hand of Hook and covets
its mate
He makes a loud ticking wherever he
goes
For he swallowed a Clock (To kill time
I suppose)
is for Doodledoo
L) is the Dire and Dread DoodleDoo
With which Peter Daunted the Pirate
crew,
And demolished a foolish old Proverb
for good
By crowing before he was out of the
wood
E is the Exit
is the Exit the three children made
With Peter and Tinker for guides,
Who's afraid?
They sailed through the window as
calm as could be
Like three little Cherubim out for a
Spree.
F is the Fight
L is the Fight, Peter Fought unafraid
And I 1 is his Falchion (Poetic for
Blade)
And l""s the Fine Feeling all Fearless
Boys Feel
When they give a Fierce Pirate a taste
of Cold Steel.
G is Old Glory
Cj is Old Glory that Peter upreared,
When Hook in the Crocodile's smile
disappeared,
And the Decks were still wet with the
terrible stains
Of Invisible Gore from the Pirate's
veins.
H stands for Hook
I'm sorry forO t tho' I don't call Hook
mean
For wanting to Blow Up his own
Magazine.
I've known a Good Author blow up,
in a Huff,
A Magazine just for not printing his
Stuff.
*"**
Fs for the Indian Girl
Peter Pan was too coy for the Indian
Miss;
She sighed for his scalp all she got
was a kiss.
J is for John
is for John (No, he hasn't a Pain;
He is Red -Handed Jack of the Pirate
Main)
K stands for a Kiss
stands for a Kiss ? Oh, stern
featured r. \
Who would have suspected You'd
leanings that way !
Peter called his a Thimble (/ think
it sounds tame
To call Kisses Thimbles but what's
in a Name !)
.
-^
V
L is the Lion
is the Lion who lashed his Fierce
Tail,
And did Peter Tremble? did Peter
turn Pale ?
Not Much ! 'Twas the Lion who
moved to adjourn,
He couldn't turn Tail, Peter left none
to "urn.
m
^>j
cM is for Michael
JVl is for Michael ssssh ! whisper
it low !
In Pirate Circles he's called Blackbeard
Joe!
is for Napoleon and
Nana
IN is Napoleon Mystic Profound
And N is for Nana the Noble Nurse
Hound
Two wonderful natures each great
in his way,
One's dead and the other is "Having
his Day"
.
.- . r
.
c. -
O's for Odds-fish !!
' s for Odds-fish the Pirate's Oath.
To print such a word, Gentle Reader,
I'm loth.
And should You be guilty of language
so low,
1 should have to stop calling you
" Gentle," you know.
-
is for Peter
I is for Peter, and so are we all,
May he ever keep young and his
Shadow stay Small.
Yet I think 'tis a pity the White House
is Bann'd.
As President, Peter would simply be
Grand !
Quiver
v^/ is the Quiver from which Tootles
drew
The Arrow that nearly pierced poor
Wendy through.
'Twas Peter's Kiss Button that
stopped it Ah me!
If Kisses <were Buttons how safe
they would be!
5 for the Redskins
Iv s for the Redskins, who Guarded
the Cave.
What a Treat to see " Injuns " sit up
and Behave !
/
- ,
S is the Shadow
is the Shadow tho' not of much
use,
You'd surely be Sorry if Yours Should
get loose.
So See to your Shadow be sure its
on tight,
When Peter lost his he was in a sad
plight.
T is for Tinker Bell
Poor Tinker Bell's dying, Quick! say
you Believe
In Fairies, that Tinker New Life may
receive
U is the Underground
Home
U 's the underground home mid the
roots of the trees,
Where when not slaying Pirates, the
boys take their ease.
While Wendy sits mending their shirt-
waists and hose,
And the Redskins above Keep watch
against foes.
is the Verse
V's the Vile Verse that the Pirate
Bawled
It was not his language so much that
appalled,
Nor the Tune nor his Voice which
was Raucus and Deep
'Twas the <way that he sang it That
made your flesh creep.
> .
9
W's Wolves
Vv 's wolves 'Tis said they will fly
If you look through your legs at them
straight in the eye.
That's how the Boys did it, but if I
were you,
I'd experiment first on a wolf in the
Zoo.
X is the X Ray
-A. is the X Ray by whose light
alone,
This last fleeting picture of Hook may
be shown.
ft*
Y is for Youth
Y is for Youth to which Peter clung,
But where is the land where he learned
to Stay Young ?
Ask Peter, he'll tell you, Geography
scorning,
" Second Turn to the Right and keep
straight on till Morning "
-.
Z is the Zebra
is the Zebra the Boys didn't meet,
But without which no Alphabet's
really complete.
