StoryTitle("caps", "How the Leaves Came Down") ?>
the Leaves Came Down," by Susan Coolidge (1845-1905), appeals to children
because it helps to reconcile them to going to bed. "I go to bed by day"
is one of the crosses of childhood.
PoemStart() ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"I'll tell you how the leaves came down,\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The great Tree to his children said:", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"You're getting sleepy, Yellow and Brown,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Yes, very sleepy, little Red.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "It is quite time to go to bed.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Ah!\" begged each silly, pouting leaf,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Let us a little longer stay;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Dear Father Tree, behold our grief!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "'Tis such a very pleasant day,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "We do not want to go away.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "So, for just one more merry day", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "To the great Tree the leaflets clung,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Frolicked and danced, and had their way,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Upon the autumn breezes swung,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Whispering all their sports among—", "") ?>
PagePoem(13, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Perhaps the great Tree will forget,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And let us stay until the spring,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "If we all beg, and coax, and fret.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "But the great Tree did no such thing;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "He smiled to hear their whispering.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Come, children, all to bed,\" he cried;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And ere the leaves could urge their prayer,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "He shook his head, and far and wide,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Fluttering and rustling everywhere,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Down sped the leaflets through the air.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "I saw them; on the ground they lay,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Golden and red, a huddled swarm,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Waiting till one from far away,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "White bedclothes heaped upon her arm,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Should come to wrap them safe and warm.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Good-night, dear little leaves,\" he said.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And from below each sleepy child", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Replied, \"Good-night,\" and murmured,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"It is so nice to go to bed!\"", "") ?>
PoemAttribution("100", SmallCapsText("Susan Coolidge.")) ?>
PoemEnd() ?>