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I
When my first are, trust them first and last.
You did my second when you broke your fast.
My Whole.
I once was clothed in white in days gone by:
For place and honor now you see me try.
II
My first is the length of a moderate walk:
My second's a substance much harder than chalk:
These joined together direct the unknown
And set right the traveller though he's alone.
III
Fifty is my first, nothing is my second,
Five just makes my third, my fourth's a vowel reckoned;
Now to fill my whole, put all my parts together;
I die if I get cold, but never mind cold weather.
IV
My first a piece of water is;
My second an exclamation;
My third is used by fishermen,
My whole defends the nation.
V
With letters five my name you spell,
Or numerals call them quite as well;
My first 100 you may see.
My fifth just half as much will be.
My second and third will give us four,
And third and fourth will make two more;
My whole is what we all must be
To make us patterns of courtesy.
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VI
My first gives light and heat, no doubt:
My second keeps the robbers out;
My whole is heard in deadly strife
Destroying or preserving life.
VII
My first to my whole my second should be
Then all would be members of one family.
VIII
My first is a plaything, my second no one wishes to play with, and my whole plays
with nobody.
IX
When parched earth in sunshine basks,
Or rain and hail in torrents fall,
My second shelters from them all
And schoolboys busy at their tasks
Do what my first imports,
And are my whole when they are done,
And they resume their sports.
X
Five letters do comprise my name,
From every point I'm still the same;
Pray, read me, and you'll quickly see,
What time will make both you and me.
XI
Four member's I can bless myself withal;
My last is worth my whole, my whole's worth naught at all.
(Original Charades by Andrews Norton and Others.)
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