Johnny’s Frolic
Ho! for a frolic!
Said Johnny the stout;
“There’s coasting and sledding;
I’m going out!”
Scarcely had Johnny
Plunged in the snow
When there came a complaint
Up from his toes
“We’re cold,” said the toes,
“I and the rest ;
There are ten of us freezing,
Standing abreast.”
Then up spoke an ear;
“My! but it’s labour
Playing in winter.
Eh, Opposite neighbour?”
“Pooh!” said his nose,
Angry and red;
“Who wants to tingle?
Go home to bed!”
Eight little fingers,
Four to a thumb,
All cried together,
“Johnny, we’re numb!”
But Johnny the stout
Wouldn’t listen a minute;
Never a snow-bank
But Johnny was in it.
Tumbling and jumping,
Shouting with glee,
Wading the snow-drifts
Up to his knee,
Soon he forgot them,
Fingers and toes,
Never once heeded
The ear and the nose.
Ah what a frolic!
All in a glow,
Johnny grew warmer
Out in the snow.
Often his breathing
Came with a joke;
“Blaze away, Johnny!
I’ll do the smoke.”
“And I’ll do the fire,”
Said Johnny the bold,
“Fun is the fuel
For driving off cold.”