Little maidens, when you look
On this little story-book,
Reading with attentive eye
Its enticing history,
Never think that hours of play
Are your only HOLIDAY,
And that in a HOUSE of joy
Lessons serve but to annoy:
If in any HOUSE you find
Children of a gentle mind,
Each the others pleasing ever—
Each the others vexing never—
Daily work and pastime daily
In their order taking gaily—
Then be very sure that they
Have a life of HOLIDAY.
Lewis Carroll presented this poem to "the three Misses Liddell" tucked into a copy of Catherine Sinclair's Holiday House for Christmas, 1861. The acrostic spells out their names: Lorina, Alice, and Edith.
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