LESSON 65 THE WATCHMAKER'S SHOP

THE WATCHMAKER'S SHOP

1. A street in our town has a queer little shop,

With tumble-down walls and a thatch [1] on the top;

And all the wee windows with crookedy panes

Are shining and winking with watches and chains.

2. All sorts and all sizes in silver and gold,

And brass [2] ones and tin ones, and new ones and old;

And clocks for the kitchen, and clocks for the hall,

High ones and low ones, and wag-at-the-wall [3] .

3. The watchmaker sits on a long-legged seat,

And bids you the time of the day, when you meet;

And round and about him there's ticketting-tock,

From the tiniest watch to the grandfather's clock.

4. I wonder he doesn't get tired of the chime,

And all the clocks ticking and telling the time;

But there he goes winding lest any should stop,

This queer little man in the watchmaker's shop.

—ELIZABETH FLEMING

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[1] thatch: Roof made of straw or rushes.

[2] brass: A yellow metal.

[3] wag-at-the-wall: A clock fixed to the wall, with swinging pendulum; sometimes called a grandmother clock.