The Dolls

"Whenever you dress me dolls, mammy,
      Why do you dress them so,
And make them gallant soldiers,
      When never a one I know;
And not as gentle ladies
      With frills and frocks and curls,
As people dress the dollies
      Of other little girls?"

Ah—why did she not answer:—
      "Because your mammy's heed
Is always gallant soldiers,
      As well may be, indeed.
One of them was your daddy,
      His name I must not tell;
He's not the dad who lives here,
      But one I love too well."