Benjamin A.
Google
Good folk, attend, and lend your ear,
In Nürnberg town a house stands dear,
Where toys of old keep honest watch
And teach more sense than schoolmen catch.
The Spielzeughaus, though small of frame,
Holds craft and order, not mere game.
Here dolls stand stiff, yet manners show,
As burghers once did, long ago.
No gaudy tricks nor шум and glare,
But wood well-joined and painted fair.
A horse that rocks, a drum that sounds,
Each made to last through years and rounds.
The tin men march in sober line,
Not born for war, but rule and sign:
That play, when shaped by careful hand,
Prepares the child to understand.
Clockwork turns with measured pace,
As time itself were wound by grace.
Each toy declares, in quiet way,
That skill is joy that does not fray.
Here Nürnberg speaks, not loud, not proud,
But firm, as masters taught the crowd:
Make well, waste not, let reason guide—
Thus play and virtue walk allied.
So leave this house a wiser guest,
Not longing past, but thinking best:
That toys, like lives, are truest then
When made with care, for use by men.
