Part 13 (1/2)
The gentle wind and the balmy air, Little by little, bring verdure there; Till the summer sunbeams gayly smile On the buds and the flowers of the coral isle.
”Little by little,” said a thoughtful boy, ”Moment by moment, I'll well employ, Learning a little every day, And not spending all my time in play.
And still this rule in my mind shall dwell, _Whatever I do, I will do it well._
”Little by little, I'll learn to know The treasured wisdom of long ago; And one of these days, perhaps, we'll see That the world will be the better for me”; And do you not think that this simple plan Made him a wise and useful man?
_Anonymous._
THE FAIRY QUEEN
Come, follow, follow me-- You, fairy elves that be, Which circle on the green-- Come, follow Mab, your queen!
Hand in hand let's dance around, For this place is fairy ground.
When mortals are at rest, And snoring in their nest, Unheard and unespied, Through keyholes we do glide; Over tables, stools, and shelves, We trip it with our fairy elves.
And if the house be foul With platter, dish, or bowl, Upstairs we nimbly creep, And find the s.l.u.ts asleep; There we pinch their arms and thighs-- None escapes, nor none espies.
But if the house be swept, And from uncleanness kept, We praise the household maid, And duly she is paid; For we use, before we go, To drop a tester in her shoe.
Upon a mushroom's head Our tablecloth we spread; A grain of rye or wheat Is manchet, which we eat; Pearly drops of dew we drink, In acorn cups, fil'd to the brink.
The brains of nightingales, With unctuous fat of snails, Between two c.o.c.kles stew'd, Is meat that's easily chew'd; Tails of worms, and marrow of mice, Do make a dish that's wondrous nice.
The gra.s.shopper, gnat, and fly, Serve us for our minstrelsy; Grace said, we dance a while, And so the time beguile; And if the moon doth hide her head, The glow-worm lights us home to bed.
On tops of dewy gra.s.s So nimbly do we pa.s.s, The young and tender stalk Ne'er bends when we do walk; Yet in the morning may be seen Where we the night before have been.
_Anonymous._
A BUSY DAY
The bluff March wind set out from home Before the peep of day, But n.o.body seemed to be glad he had come, And n.o.body asked him to stay.
Yet he dried up the snow-banks far and near, And made the snow-clouds roll, Huddled up in a heap, like driven sheep, Way off to the cold North Pole.
He broke the ice on the river's back And floated it down the tide, And the wild ducks came with a loud ”Quack, quack,”
To play in the waters wide.
He s.n.a.t.c.hed the hat off Johnny's head And rolled it on and on, And oh, what a merry chase it led Little laughing and scampering John!
He swung the tree where the squirrel lay Too late in its winter bed, And he seemed to say in his jolly way, ”Wake up, little sleepy head!”
He dried the yard so that Rob and Ted Could play at marbles there, And he painted their cheeks a carmine red With the greatest skill and care.
He shook all the clothes-lines, one by one, What a busy time he had!
But n.o.body thanked him for all he had done; Now wasn't that just too bad?
_Anonymous._
A LAUGHING CHORUS
Oh, such a commotion under the ground When March called, ”Ho, there! ho!”
Such spreading of rootlets far and wide, Such whispering to and fro; And, ”Are you ready?” the Snowdrop asked, ”'Tis time to start, you know.”
”Almost, my dear,” the Scilla replied; ”I'll follow as soon as you go.”