Blue Shoes.

Little Blue Shoes
Mustn't go
Very far alone, you know
Else she'll fall down,
Or, lose her way;
Fancy--what
Would mamma say?
Better put her little hand
Under sister's wise command.
When she's a little older grown
Blue Shoes may go quite alone.

Kate Greenaway

Kate Greenaway was a renowned English Victorian artist and writer known for her children's book illustrations. Her work, characterized by quaint, nostalgic depictions of children and rural life, achieved remarkable popularity in the late 19th century. Greenaway's unique style, often inspired by Regency-era fashion, has had a lasting influence on children's literature and illustration.

Kate Greenaway

From Market.

Kate Greenaway, Simple Poetry

The Cats Have Come To Tea.

Kate Greenaway, Simple Poetry

Street Show.

Kate Greenaway, Simple Poetry

The Little London Girl.

Kate Greenaway, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

My Little Girlie.

Little girlie tell to me
What your wistful blue eyes see?
Why you like to stand so high,
Looking at the far off sky.

Does a tiny Fairy flit
In the pretty blue of it?
Or is it that you hope so soon
To see the rising yellow Moon?

Or is it as I think I've heard
You're looking for a little Bird
To come and sit upon a spray,
And sing the summer night away?

Kate Greenaway

Susan Blue.

Oh, Susan Blue,
How do you do?
Please may I go for a walk with you?
Where shall we go?
Oh, I know--
Down in the meadow where the cowslips grow!

Kate Greenaway

When We Went Out With Grandmamma.

When we went out with Grandmamma--
Mamma said for a treat--
Oh, dear, how stiff we had to walk
As we went down the street.

One on each side we had to go,
And never laugh or loll;
I carried Prim, her Spaniard dog,
And Tom--her parasol.


If I looked right--if Tom looked left--
"Tom--Susan--I'm ashamed;
And little Prim, I'm sure, is shocked,
To hear such naughties named."

She said we had no manners,
If we ever talked or sung;
"You should have seen," said Grandmamma,
"Me walk, when I was young."

She told us--oh, so often--
How little girls and boys,
In the good days when she was young,
Never made any noise.

She said they never wished then
To play--oh, indeed!
They learnt t...

Kate Greenaway

Little Blue-Ribbons.

"Little Blue-Ribbons!" We call her that
From the ribbons she wears in her favourite hat;
For may not a person be only five,
And yet have the neatest of taste alive?--
As a matter of fact, this one has views
Of the strictest sort as to frocks and shoes;
And we never object to a sash or bow,
When "little Blue-Ribbons" prefers it so.

"Little Blue-Ribbons" has eyes of blue,
And an arch little mouth, when the teeth peep through;
And her primitive look is wise and grave,
With a sense of the weight of the word "behave;"
Though now and again she may condescend
To a radiant smile for a private friend;
But to smile for ever is weak, you know,
And "little Blue-Ribbons" regards it so.

She's a staid little woman! And so as well
Is her ladyship's doll, "Mis...

Henry Austin Dobson

To Baby.

Oh, what shall my blue eyes go see?
Shall it be pretty Quack-Quack to-day?
Or the Peacock upon the Yew Tree?
Or the dear little white Lambs at play?
Say Baby.
For Baby is such a young Petsy,
And Baby is such a sweet Dear.
And Baby is growing quite old now
She's just getting on for a year.

Kate Greenaway

At School.

Five little Girls, sitting on a form,
Five little Girls, with lessons to learn,
Five little Girls, who, I'm afraid,
Won't know them a bit when they have to be said.

For little eyes are given to look
Anywhere else than on their book;
And little thoughts are given to stray
Anywhere ever so far away.

Kate Greenaway