MOTIONS. (1.) School rise and stand erect. (2.) Raise hands ready
to strike. (3.) Clap hands in correct time. (4.) Turn round twice
while repeating this line. (5.) Tread, left and right foot.
(6.) Right arm across waist, left at side. (7.) Touch right hand
to forehead, like military salute. (8.) Keep marching time with feet.
(9.) Raise hands, palms out, spread fingers. (10.) Hands on hips,
elbows out, look sideways at each other. (11.) Make a low bow.
(12.) Hop lightly on each foot. (13.) Let arms hang and swing.
(14.) Fold arms, grow sleepy. (15.) Drop heads. (16.) Glide into
seats, sing slowly and softly, nodding heads, and diminishing tone
gradually to last note, finally resting arms on the desks and
supporting heads asleep. After a moment of dead silence, teacher
may strike bell suddenly, when all must raise heads (17.) and hands
as if frightened and go on (all seated). (18.) Rub eyes with knuckles.
(19.) Take books hurriedly. (20.) Turn leaves quickly with thumbs.
(21.) Throw heads from side to side with careless good-nature. The
last line of every verse should be repeated.
(1.) With shoulders erect and toes turned out,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Now let us in unison gayly shout,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
(2.) With hands upraised as we sing the rhyme,
(3.) We strike them together to keep the time,
||: (4.) And we'll wheel quite round while singing our motion song. :||
(5.) Now left and right we'll march along,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We fill the air with our merry song,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
(6.) We carry our muskets like heroes of old,
(7.) Saluting our captain so brave and so bold,
||: (8.) And we march, march, march while singing our motion song. :||
(9.) Our fingers and thumbs are eight and two,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
There's plenty of work for them to do,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
(10.) With elbows akimbo and looks so shy,
(11.) We bow to our partners so gracefully,
||: (12.) And we hop and dance while singing our motion song.:||
(13.) As back and forth our arms we throw,
Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho!
It's pretty hard work now, you may know,
Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho!
(14.) For trying our best our eyes open to keep,
(15.) We drop all our heads as if going to sleep,
||: (16.) And we nod, nod, nod, while singing our motion song.:||
(17.) What terrible noise is that we hear?
Dear me! Dear me!
(18.) We've all been snoozing, that's quite clear.
Dear me! Dear me!
(19.) So let us take books and be ready for work,
(20.) For we are not willing our lessons to shirk,
||: (21.) Though it's jolly good fun, when singing our motion song.: ||
COM. Very good, children, very good. Yew hev a very well behaved
school, Mr. Snodgrass. (_Sits down on his hat, crushing it all out
of shape. Pupils all laugh._ COM. _picks it up and points at it
indignantly. TEACHER apologizes in pantomime._ COM. _resentfully turns
and starts to set it on the stove, but burns himself in so doing.
Pupils laugh._ COM. _shakes his fist at them and exit[s] angrily._)
BOY (_raising hand_). Teacher, Matildy Weeks keeps laughing at me.
TEACHER. You shouldn't look at her, then.