The Best Hopper

With skips and stops the little boy hops
     On one leg and no more;
The Kangaroo hops freely on two,
     And the ‘hop-toad’ uses four:
But better than he, the wicked flea
On his six good legs out-hops the three!

It is not in the beat of the nimblest feet
     That wisdom and wit are heard;
They may trip and run for duty or fun
     Yet never can spell a word!
The Boy, instead, in his bright little head
Can think and tell what the wise have said.

Old Kangaroo your hopping will do,
     But you don’t know avoirdupoise!
Poor toad you win when you swallow yur skin,
     But in school the game is the Boys.
And there’s no flea can “jump” as he
On the cheeker-board, as you must agree.

The grasshopper hops on the “timothy” tops
     Yet the hops on the pole are higher:
And there was a lad went “hopping mad”
     When his peg-top hopped in the fire!
Best-hopper of all is the youngster small
Who hops out of bed at the very first call!