Page:Field Poems of Childhood.djvu/132



AMBINO in his cradle slept;

And by his side his grandam grim

Bent down and smiled upon the child,

And sung this lullaby to him,—

This "ninna and anninia":

"When thou art older, thou shalt mind

To traverse countries far and wide,

And thou shalt go where roses blow

And balmy waters singing glide—

So ninna and anninia!

"And thou shalt wear, trimmed up in points,

A famous jacket edged in red,

And, more than that, a peakèd hat,

All decked in gold, upon thy head—

Ah! ninna and anninia!

"Then shalt thou carry gun and knife,

Nor shall the soldiers bully thee;

Perchance, beset by wrong or debt,

A mighty bandit thou shalt be—

So ninna and anninia!