The land of Henry nod Dare you set a foot upon, The land of Henry Nod? Is it a place anyone has heard? This place I be so fond Well, I shall tell you of its grounds, If with quiet lips you set And if I speak, dare you to swear, No other dreams are you to pet For on this night, there is no other, Like it could I tell So fold your hands and sit still, So you may hear it well This place, one day came about, When someone touched a leaf It shook a twinkle, nay cast a spell, Nudged a snail and tinkled some feet One caterpillar grew his wings, And Mr. Jerry tripped and fell A brook it skipped, a berry popped And a pie it burst with smell Upon the street filled with the sun, And on our feet wet petals dropped A robin’s egg lay fast asleep, And the wagons wheels, they all but stopped Hovering over the silent bay, The willows all did weep But the chickens did not peck the ground, Nor Jarma’s porch did she sweep Purple flowers dangled merry, The lake it sparkled, much like a fairy Houses with chimneys sat about And on the trees hung many a cherry The green, so pleasant, calmed the soul And covered every part of you The fragrance made the air console, Entering your nose like cooling dew No one has ever seen a place Like the land of Henry nod No one has ever made a lace, To dress it up, nor could add sod But yet no one can enter its gates, Those drapes of dreamy blue With alert, open eyes has any, ever Waltzed on through You must be small and light of heart You don’t have to be clever, funny or smart You must always smile its way, A growl just might scare it off You can not make haste its way; Never run, but you may walk And whenever thinking of this place, The land of Henry nod There must be sleep somewhere on your face, And quiet as a curious cod So if you ever wish to see, The land of Henry nod Take one deep breathe and both eyes wink Turn off your mind, don’t let it think Your bed becomes an ocean, let you sink In your mind the rain shall fall, hear it tink? Let the snowflakes on your nose Wash down your face when they melt Let the breeze brush through your hair So all the moons rays came be felt Then ask your lashes, they will know Why they always have to blink The lips they have no time to show It is not time for them to speak The ears, they should be filled with feathers Hearing silence the whole night through The nose, it should not sniff or sputter Dare you make your pillow shutter! And if all these things come to pass Before the stars come make their way Then Henry nod shall visit you Through starry darkness he shall stay So the one that touched the leaf That one tremendous, twinkle day He is the One who created sleep And the silent breathes, your sheets to sway On any December, to float through any March, To dream through any May Henry will catch up to you He’ll tease and play tag, till alas Is killed and slowly, dies your day He’ll sprinkle shadows on your eyes And tells your teddy to guard your hay So the night should not scare you When Henry nod comes out to play . . . Tye~ |