Now that the time has come for us to part,
Let us do so with a cheerful heart,
Since mamma says it is for the best
That children must have change of air and rest.
Our dear little chairs, how lonesome they'll look
Standing round these bare tables, not even a block!
We suppose they need rest, or their legs would give out,
They've had many a knock in our movings about.
A cheery good-bye to everything here,
Since in leaving them now, we have nothing to fear.
For of one thing we are certain, this we do know,
Kindergarten goes with us wherever we go.
Not packed in our trunks, with our dresses and shoes,
But here in our hearts, where it lives and it grows.
If we go to the mountains, high up, near the sky,
We will ask of the moon as she's passing by,
Something we all of us want to know
When the sunshine comes out where do the stars go?
It may be, like mamma, she'll say it's for the best,
When the sunshine comes out, for the stars to have rest.
If we go to the seashore, we'll sit on the beach,
And ask of the waves to lay at our feet;
Pebbles with faces, some curved and some fiat,
With these we can count, build and invent.
If we go to the country, Friend Peter we'll meet,
Mowing the grass so fragrant and sweet;
"Friend Peter," we'll say, "you're no stranger to us,
But how this is so, you never can guess;"
For our songs, and our games, to the pastures we'll go,
Our music, the rippling of brooklets that flow,
Buttercups and daisies our companions will be,
While the sunbeams join in our festive glee.