"And all on the top of the Caldon-Low
The mists were cold and gray,
And nothing I saw but the mossy stones
That round about me lay.
"But as I came down from the hill-top, I heard a jar below;
How busy the jolly miller was,
And how merry the wheel did go!
"And I peeped into the widow's field,
And, sure enough, were seen
The yellow ears of the mildewed corn
All standing stiff and green.
"And down by the weaver's croft I stole,
To see if the flax were high;
But I saw the weaver at his gate,
With the good news in his eye!.
"Now, this is all I heard, mother,
And all that I did see;
So, prythee, make my bed, mother,
For I'm tired as I can be!"
TO THE LADY-BIRD.— Mrs. Southey.
LADY-BIRD! lady-bird! fly away home,-
The field-mouse is gone to her nest,
The daisies have shut up their sleepy red eyes,
And the bees and the birds are at rest.
Lady-bird! lady-bird! fly away home,
The glow-worm is lighting her lamp,
The dew's falling fast, and your fine speckled wings Will flag with the close-clinging damp.
Lady-bird! lady-bird! fly away home,-
Good luck if you reach it at last!
The owl's come abroad, and the bat 's on the roam,
Sharp set from their Ramazan fast.
Lady-bird! lady-bird! fly away home, —
The fairy bells tinkle afar!
Make haste, or they'll catch ye,
With a cobweb to Oberon's car.
Lady-bird! lady-bird! fly away home,-
To your house in the old willow-tree,
Where your children, so dear, have invited the ant
And a few cosey neighbors to tea.
Lady-bird! lady-bird! fly away home,-
And, if not gobbled up by the way,
Nor yoked by the fairies to Oberon's car,
You're in luck, – and that's all I've to say.
THE ROOK AND THE SPARROW.- Miss Lamb.
A LITTLE boy with crumbs of bread
Many a hungry sparrow fed.
It was a child of little sense
Who this kind bounty did dispense;
For suddenly it was withdrawn,
And all the birds were left forlorn,
In a hard time of frost and snow,
Not knowing where for food to go.
He would no longer give them bread,
Because he had observed (he said)
That sometimes to the window came
A great black bird, a rook by name,
And took away a small bird's share :
So foolish Henry did not care
What became of the great rook
That from the little sparrows took,
Now and then, as 't were by stealth,
A part of their abundant wealth,
Nor evermore would feed his sparrows.
Thus ignorance a kind heart narrows.
I wish I had been there; I would
Have told the child rooks live by food
In the same way that sparrows do.
I also would have told him, too,
Birds act by instinct, and ne'er can
Attain the rectitude of man.
Nay, that even when distress
Does on poor human nature press,
We need not be too strict in seeing
The failings of a fellow-being.
TO A REDBREAST.- Langhorne.
LITTLE bird with bosom red,
Welcome to my humble shed!
Courtly domes of high degree
Have no room for thee or me;
Pride and pleasure's fickle throng
Nothing mind an idle song.
Daily near my table steal,
While I pick my scanty meal.
Doubt not, little though there be,
But I'll cast a crumb to thee,
Well rewarded if I spy
Pleasure in thy glancing eye;
See thee, when thou 'st eat thy fill,
Plume thy breast, and wipe thy bill.
Come, my feathered friend, again,
Well thou know'st the broken pane.
What of the night, watchman?
What of the night? "Cloudy, all quiet,
No land yet,all 's right."
THE children of the rich man, no carking care they know;
Like lilies in the sunshine, how beautiful they grow! And well may they be beautiful; in raiment of the best, In velvet, gold, and ermine, their little forms are drest. With a hat and jaunty feather set lightly on their head, And golden hair, like angels' locks, over their shoulders spread.
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