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* 40 *

THE SHOWER.

HEAR the rain, patter, patter,
Beat the pane, clatter, clatter!
Down it pours, helter, pelter;
Quick indoors! shelter, shelter!
See it rush, and roar and whirl,
Fight and push, eddy and swirl,1
Through the street, down the gutters!
Hear it beat 'gainst the shutters
In its grief and wild despair!
But 'tis brief, and we don't care:
We don't care, for, peeping through,
We see there two bits of blue;
And the sun, in spite of rain,
Has begun to smile again.

* 41 *

THE WAVES ON THE SEA-SHORE.

ROLL on, roll on, you restless waves
That toss about and roar:
Why do you all run back again

When you have reached the shore?

Roll on, roll on, you noisy waves;
Roll higher up the strand: 2

How is it that

you cannot pass

That line of yellow sand?

1 swirl, whirl.

2 strand, beach, shore.

Make haste, or else the tide will turn;
Make haste, you noisy sea!

Roll quite across the bank, and then
Far on across the lea.1

"We must not dare," the waves reply:
"That line of yellow sand

Is laid along the shore to bound

The waters and the land:

"And all should keep to time and place,
And all should keep to rule, -
Both waves upon the sandy shore,

And little boys at school."

* 42 *

AUNT EFFIE'S RHYMES.

AN OLD GAELIC CRADLE-SONG.

HUSH! the waves are rolling in,

White with foam, white with foam:

Father toils amid the din;

But baby sleeps at home.

Hush! the winds roar hoarse and deep,

On they come, on they come!

Brother seeks the lazy sheep,

But baby sleeps at home.

Hush! the rain sweeps o'er the knowes,2
Where they roam, where they roam:

Sister goes to seek the cows;

But baby sleeps at home.

1 lea, grass-land.

2 knowes (pronounced to rhyme with 'cows'), knells, low hills.

* 43 *

WHAT DOES LITTLE BIRDIE SAY?

WHAT does little birdie say
In her nest at peep of day?
"Let me fly," says little birdie;
"Mother, let me fly away."
Birdie, rest a little longer,

Till thy little wings are stronger.
So she rests a little longer,
Then she flies away.

What does little baby say
In her bed at peep of day?
Baby says, like little birdie,
"Let me rise, and fly away."
Baby, sleep a little longer,
Till thy little limbs are stronger.
If she sleeps a little longer,
Baby too shall fly away.

ALFRED TENNYSON.

* 44 *

THE HOLIDAY.

COME out, come out, for merry play:
This is the pleasant month of June,
And we will
go this afternoon

Over the hills and far away.

Hurrah! we'll have a holiday;

And through the wood, and up the glade,1
We'll go, in sunshine and in shade,
Over the hills and far away.

The wild rose blooms upon the spray; 2
In all the sky is not a cloud;

And merry birds are singing loud,

Over the hills and far

away.

Not one of us behind must stay;
But little ones and all shall go,
Where summer breezes gently blow,
Over the hills and far away.

* 45 *

SNOW.

MRS. HAWTREY.

SNOW, snow, everywhere! -
On the ground and in the air,
In the fields and in the lane,
On the roof and window-pane.

Snow, snow, everywhere!

Making common things look fair, —
Stones beside the garden walks,
Broken sticks, and cabbage stalks.

Snow, snow, everywhere!

Dressing up the trees so bare,

1 glade, an open place in a wood. 2 spray, a sprig, or small branch.

Resting on each fir-tree bough,
Till it bends, a plume of snow.

Snow, snow, everywhere!

Covering up young roots with care,
Keeping them so safe and warm,
Jack Frost cannot do them harm.

Snow, snow, everywhere!
We are glad to see it here:
Snowball making will be fun
When to-morrow's work is done.

* 46 *

THE HOLIDAYS.

FAREWELL to study and to books;
How fast the time is winging!
We soon shall to the woods away,
And with the birds be singing.

We hail again this joyous day,
For we are tired and weary;
The schoolroom, with its daily toil,
Is getting dull and dreary.

We'll roam among the bright green fields,
Where woods and flowers are springing,

And where the sturdy husbandman 1

The harvest home is bringing.

1 husbandman, farmer.

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