Rose-tree, my beauteous rose-tree !
Often have I longed to know
How thy tender leaves were moulded -
How thy buds are burst, and blow.
I have watered, sunned, and trained thee,
And have watched thee many an hour ;
Yet I never could discover
How a bud becomes a flower.
So, last night, I...
I love to take this holy book,
In summer's balmy hours,
To study it beside the brook,
Or by the trees and flowers.
For here I read about the God
Who made this world so fair,
The skies - - the stream - - the grassy sod
And bloom, that scents the air.
The birds flit round, and sweetly sing
Of...
A little boy, laid sick and low,
Looked up with languid eye,
And spake as one who seemed to know
He now was called to die.
He said, " Dear mother, do not grieve
That I must leave you here ;
For you, and every friend I leave,
Will then be doubly dear.
" There's something tells me I must go...
Come here, pretty fly,
For the grass is so damp
And the wind is so high,
They will put out your lamp.
Come, don't be so coy,
Flashing by me with fear ;
There's naught to destroy,
Or to injure you here.
Like a bright little spark
As you're flying about,
Here and there, in the dark,
0, you...
A quiet, harmless little bird,
About your door I come ;
And when my low "
chick-chick," is heard,
I'm asking for a crumb.
O'er mint and clover-tops I flit,
And through the fragrant yarrow ;
Then, waiting near your door I sit,
A patient little sparrow.
To yon old churchyard late I flew,
And...
The sunset's hue had faded out,
And soft gray shadows fell about;
All faintly traced the outlines stood,
And, velvet-like, the cool green wood.
His feet were tired, and drearily
He thought of night. All cheerily
A little brook spoke up to him
From 'neath a tree's cool shade and dim,
And...
Out of their peaceful slumbers
The little children woke,
When the tramp of armed and angry men
The night's deep silence broke.
And, shuddering, they listened to
The threatened doom they swore,
And their father's step, as he rose to meet
The mobbers at his door.
Twas cold, and dark the...
"Come, come, my darling, I must see
How you can say your A, B, C.
Go get your book, and come to me,
And I will hear your E, F, G,
When you have said your A, B, C.
"A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P,
Q, R, S, T, U, W, V,
X, Y, and Z Oh dear me,
Yes, you can say your A, B, C."...
Iam coming, I am coming !
Hark! the honey bee is humming;
See, the lark is soaring high
In the blue and sunny sky,
And the gnats are on the wing
Wheeling round in airy ring.
Listen ! New-born lambs are bleating,
And the cawing rooks are meeting
In the elms a noisy crowd.
All the birds are...
A million little diamonds
Twinkled on the trees;
And all the little children cried,
"A jewel, if you please!"
But while they held their hands outstretched
To catch the diamonds gay,
A million little sunbeams came
And stole them all away.
- Mrs. Mary F. Butts
Ding dong! ding dong!
I'll sing you a song.
Tis about a little bird.
He sat on a tree,
And he sang to me,
And I never said a word.
Ding dong! ding dong!
I'll sing you a song.
'Tis about a little mouse.
He looked very cunning
As I saw him running
About my father's house.
Ding dong! ding dong...
"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day,
" Come over the meadows with me and play.
Put on your dresses of red and gold;
For summer is gone, and the days grow cold."
Soon as the leaves heard the wind's loud call,
Down they came fluttering, one and all.
O'er the brown field then they danced...
AWAKE, my pet !
What ! slumbering yet,
When the day's so warm and bright ?
The flowers that wept
Before they slept
O'er the darkness of yesternight,
Have listened long
To the lark's wild song,
And awoke with the morning light.
Again and again
Through the window-pane
The jasmine flowers kept...
MY baby brother's fat, as fat
As any boy can be,
And he is just the sweetest duck
That ever you did see.
I count the dimples in his hands
A dozen times a- day,
And often wonder when he coos
What he would like to say.
I comb the down upon his head-
He has'nt any hair,-
It must be...
THE baby she has golden hair,
Her cheeks are like a rose,
And she sits fastened in her chair,
A-counting of her toes.
The mother she stands by the door,
And all the place is neat,
She says,"When it is half-past four,
He'll come along the street."
And O ! in all this happy world
There's...
DEAR father's ship is very near,
We'll blow him kisses, baby dear,
He may come home to-day.
A happy wind that journeys south
Seems just to linger round my mouth,
Then bear a kiss away.
Come, baby, I will hold you-so,
We'll watch the waves that outward go,
And call, "Come back to-day...
Mountain, with thy firm old foot
Fast beside the sea,
What was in thy keeping put,
Prisoned under thee ?
"Hark, and hear the shuddering ground!
Feel it rock and quake !
Struggling fires, beneath me bound,
Strive their chains to break."
Mountain, with a cloudy vest
Girded o'er thy heart,
Does...
My flower, thou art as sweet to me,
Thy form as full and fair -
As rich a fruit shall follow thee
As if thou had'st denied the bee
The pure and precious gift that he
Wafts joyous through the air.
The spices from thy bosom flow
As purely round thee now,
As if withheld an hour ago ;
Restoring...
"Now, if I fall, will it be my lot
To be cast in some low and lonely spot,
To melt, and to sink, unseen or forgot?
And there will my course be ended ?
"'Twas this a feathery Snow-flake said,
As down through measureless space it strayed ;
Or, half by dalliance, half afraid,
It seemed in mid air...
Little children, when you pray,
"Father, hallowed be thy name !
Do you think, the words you say
From the lips of Jesus came ?
Uttered not with soul sincere,
They offend his holy ear ;
But, if from the heart they rise,
They're as incense to the skies.
When you pray, "Thy kingdom come !"
Would...
My little contribution,
With ready heart and hand,
I gave, to send the Word of God
To distant heathen land :
And ere I went to rest that night,
I kneeled to God in prayer,
That he would change my gift to light
For souls in darkness there.
When I was lost in slumber,
There seemed just o'er my...
O, where is thy home, sweet bird
With the song, and bright glossy plume?
"I'll tell thee where I rest,
If thou wilt not rob my nest ;
I built among the sweet apple-bloom !"
But, what's in thy nest, bright bird ?
What's there, in the snug downy cell ?
"If thou wilt not rob the tree ;
Nor go too...
Come, sister dear,
I'll read you here
The story of a Dollie,
Who never strayed
Nor disobeyed
Good rules, by guilt or folly.
She never cried,
When put aside,
In bed or in the cradle ;
When taken up,
She broke no cup,
Nor dropped a spoon or ladle.
She never told
A fib, nor rolled
Her pretty...
Young children sang "Hosanna !”
Where Jesus drew the throng ;
The palm-branch was their banner,
And angels taught their song.
Those little prompt believers
In Christ, their Lord and King,
Were of the first receivers
Of joy he came to bring.
And their sweet infant story,
That now so fresh...
Robin, robin, sing to me,
And I'll gladly suffer thee
Thus to breakfast in the tree,
On the ruddy cherry.
Soon as thou hast swallowed it,
How I love to see thee flit
To another twig, and sit,
Singing there, so merry.
It was kind in thee to fly
Near my window ; and to try
There to raise thy...
o children far, and children near,
Who'll read the things I've written here:
From your young lives these things I took;
And many a mother I hear say,
" From out my darling's work and play
I might write just as true a book."
Now when you close these simple leaves,
And happy thoughts your...
Oh, in he came a-dancing,
As happy as could be,
But what was all the matter
I could not hear or see.
"Can't you keep still a moment,
So lean understand?"
"We've been having our pictures taken! '
' ' Where ? " " Yonder in the sand. ' '
" In a row, all holding hands,
We laid still as...
Amy, dear child, of all thy friends
Prize first and best thy mother;
Her love for thee would still live on
Though changed were every other.
Thy youthful mind not now can judge
Its depth, and worth, and beauty;
Life's lessons and life's years alone
Can teach thy debt and duty.
Then...
A silly young cricket, accustomed to sing
Through the warm, sunny months of gay summer and spring,
Began to complain, when he found that at home
His cupboard was empty and winter was come.
Not a crumb to be found
On the snow-covered ground;
Not a flower could he see,
Not a leaf on a tree...
A wind came up out of the sea,
And said: "O mists, make room for me!"
It hailed the ships, and cried: "Sail on,
Ye mariners, the night is gone."
And hurried landward far away,
Crying: "Awake! it is the day.”
It said unto the forest : " Shout!
Hang all your leafy banners out!
It touched...
Baby Bye,
Here's a fly;
Let us watch him, you and I.
How he crawls
Up the walls;
Yet he never falls !
I believe with six such legs
You and I could walk on eggs.
There he goes
On his toes
Tickling baby's nose.
Spots of red
Dot his head;
Rainbows on his back are spread.
That small speck...
MY own fat hen
Did go one day
Out in the lot,
An egg to lay.
The day was hot
A cow sat by,
And in her ear
Was a big fly.
"Buz, buz, buz, buz"
The fly did go,
In the cow's ear,
bit it so.
The cow did say,
"moo! moo I
Do go a-way,
do ! do !
" Go to the pig,
You bad old fly,
Get out ! get out...
THERE is a sweet maiden asleep by the sea,
Her lips are as red as a cherry ;
The roses are resting upon her brown cheeks-
Her cheeks that are brown as a berry.
She's tired of building up castles of sand,
Her hands they are gritty and grubby ;
Her shoes, they are wet, and her legs, they are...
GET into the boat and away to the west,
See-saw ! see-saw !
For they've cut down the tree with the poor linnet's nest,
See- saw ! see-saw !
The bulrushes nod and the water-lilies sigh,
See-saw ! see-saw !
And all of us know the sad reason why,
See-saw ! see-saw !
For, oh ! the tree -...
A LITTLE maid went to market,
She went into the town,
And all the things she had to buy
She carefully wrote down.
The coffee, sugar, tea, and rice--
The currant cake for tea,
And then she had to reckon up,
And see how much they'd be.
She sat her down as she came back,
She sat her...
THE fiddler played upon his fiddle
All through that leafy June,
He always played hey-diddle-diddle,
And played it out of tune.
And down the hill the children came,
And down the valley too :
I never heard the fiddler's name,
So cannot tell it you.
Hey-diddle-diddle...