_You who to the rounded prime_ <br />_Of a life of toil and stress_, <br />_Still have kept the morning-time_ <br />_Of glad youth in heart and spirit_, <br />_So your laugh, as children hear it_, <br />_Seems their own, no less_,-- <br />_Take this book of childish rhyme_-- <br />_The Book of Joyous Children_. <br /> <br />_Their first happiness on earth_ <br />_Here is echoed--their first glee_: <br />_Rich, in sooth, the volume's worth_-- <br />_Not in classic lore, but rich in_ <br />_The child-sagas of the kitchen_;-- <br />_Therefore, take from me_ <br />_To your heart of childish mirth_ <br />_The Book of Joyous Children_.<br /><br />James Whitcomb Riley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/gratefully-and-affectionately-inscribed-to-joel-chandler-harris/
