The Book Of Joyous Children Gratefully And Affectionately Inscribed To Joel Chandler Harris

You who to the rounded prime
Of a life of toil and stress,
Still have kept the morning-time
Of glad youth in heart and spirit,
So your laugh, as children hear it,
Seems their own, no less, -
Take this book of childish rhyme -
The Book of Joyous Children.

Their first happiness on earth
Here is echoed - their first glee:
Rich, in sooth, the volume's worth -
Not in classic lore, but rich in
The child-sagas of the kitchen; -
Therefore, take from me
To your heart of childish mirth
The Book of Joyous Children.