At this the Father raised his hook, Not blither is the mountain roe; The storm came on before its time: The wretched parents all that night At daybreak on a hill they stood That overlooked the moor: And thence they saw the bridge of wood, A furlong from their door. They wept-and, turning homeward, cried, Half breathless from the steep hill's edge They tracked the footmarks small; And through the broken hawthorn hedge, And by the long stone wall. And then an open field they crossed; They followed from the snowy bank Into the middle of the plank; -Yet some maintain that to this day That you may see sweet Lucy Gray O'er rough and smooth she trips along, And never looks behind; And sings a solitary song Wordsworth. M WE ARE SEVEN. A simple Child, That lightly draws its breath, And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death? I met a little cottage Girl : She was eight years old, she said; Her hair was thick with many a curl That clustered round her head. She had a rustic, woodland air, "Sisters and brothers, little maid, "And where are they? I pray you tell;" She answered, "Seven are we ; And two of us at Conway dwell, And two are gone to sea. "Two of us in the churchyard lie, Dwell near them with my mother." "You say that two at Conway dwell, Then did the little maid reply, "You run about, my little maid, If two are in the churchyard laid, "My stockings there I often knit, My kerchief there I hem; And there upon the ground I sit, And sing a song to them. "And often after sunset, sir, And eat my supper there. "The first that died was sister Jane; "So in the churchyard she was laid; "And when the ground was white with And I could run and slide; [snow, My brother John was forced to go, And he lies by her side." "How many are you, then," said I, "If they two are in heaven?" Quick was the little maid's reply, "Oh, master! we are seven." "But they are dead; those two are dead! Their spirits are in heaven!" 'Twas throwing words away; for still The little maid would have her will, And said, "Nay, we are seven!" Wordsworth. |