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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


HOW TO BE GREENAWAYS by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS

First Line: DAINTY KATE GREENAWAY LASSIE, AND BRIGHT LITTLE GREENAWAY LAD
Last Line: THEY ARE THE GREEN-A(L)WAY PEOPLE, THAT NEVER GROW WRINKLED AND OLD!
Subject(s): GREENAWAY, CATHERINE (KATE) (1846-1901);

Dainty Kate Greenaway lassie, and bright little Greenaway lad,
Where did you get your gay raiment, and pray, is there more to be had?
How can the rest of us mortals, homely and clumsy and queer,
Grow to be Greenaway people through all the fair Greenaway year?
Hark! I will whisper the secret. Look at the evergreen tree,
Fresh in the sprucest of garments whatever the season may be;
Ready for nests in the springtime, ready for cones in the fall,
Ready for candles in winter, the merriest season of all!
So will the lads and the lassies, and so will the women and men,
Just by the doing of kindnesses, gladly, again and again,
Get them the evergreen garments that shine with a beauty untold;
They are the Green-a(l)way people, that never grow wrinkled and old!



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