Ah! then, is your life like ours, little brook,

Ever hurrying, hurrying on,

Till the waves of an unknown sea, little brook, We reach some day, and are gone.

MRS. CHARLES HEATON.

* 14 *

CHERISH KINDLY FEELINGS.

CHERISH kindly feelings, children,
Nurse them in your heart;
Don't forget to take them with you
When from home you start.
In the schoolroom, in the parlor,
At your work or play,

Kindly thoughts and kindly feelings
Cherish every day.

Cherish kindly feelings, children,

While on earth you stay.

They will scatter light and sunshine

All along your way,

Make the path of duty brighter,

Make your trials less,

And, whate'er your lot or station,
Bring you happiness.

M. A. KIDDER.

*15*

FAULTS OF OTHERS.

WHAT are another's faults to me?
I've not a vulture's bill

To pick at every flaw I see,
And make it wider still.

It is enough for me to know
I've follies of my own,

And on my heart the care bestow,

And let my friends alone.

D. C. COLESWORTHY.

* 16 *

MARCH.

THE cock is crowing,
The stream is flowing,

The small birds twitter,
The lake doth glitter,

The green field sleeps in the sun :
The oldest and youngest

Are at work with the strongest ;

The cattle are grazing,

Their heads never raising;

There are forty feeding like one!

Like an army defeated

The snow hath retreated,

And now doth fare ill1

On the top of the bare hill;

The plough-boy is whooping anon, anon;
There's joy in the mountains;

There's life in the fountains;
Small clouds are sailing,
Blue sky prevailing; 3

The rain is over and gone!

2

W. WORDSWORTH.

* 17 *

SPRING.

THE alder by the river

Shakes out her powdery curls;
The willow buds 4 in silver

For little boys and girls.

The little birds fly over,

And oh, how sweet they sing!

To tell the happy children

That once again 'tis spring.

The gay green grass comes creeping

So soft beneath their feet;

The frogs begin to ripple

A music clear and sweet.

1 gets on badly (as it is melting away). 8 prevailing, becoming general.

2 anon, at times.

buds, puts forth buds.

And buttercups are coming,

And scarlet columbine;
And in the sunny meadows
The dandelions shine.

And just as many daisies

As their soft hands can hold
The little ones may gather,
All fair in white and gold.

Here blows the warm red clover,
There peeps the violet blue;

O happy little children,

God made them all for you!

CELIA THAXTER.

*18*

BIRDS IN SUMMER.

How pleasant the life of a bird must be,
Flitting about in each leafy tree! -
In the leafy trees so broad and tall,
Like a green and beautiful palace hall,
With its airy chambers, light and boon,1
That open to sun and stars and moon;
That open unto the bright blue sky,
And the frolicsome winds as they wander by!

They have left their nests on the forest bough-
Those homes of delight they need not now;

1 boon, gay, cheerful.

And the young and the old they wander out,

1

And traverse their green world round about;
And hark! at the top of this leafy hall,
How one to the other in love they call!

"Come up, come up!" they seem to say,
"Where the topmost twigs in the breezes sway.

"Come up, come up! for the world is fair
Where the merry leaves dance in the summer air.”
And the birds below give back the cry:
“We come, we come, to the branches high.".
How pleasant the life of a bird must be,
Flitting about in a leafy tree!

And away through the air what joy to go,
And to look on the bright green earth below!

MARY HOWITT.

* 19 *

HIE AWAY.

2

HIE2 away, hie away!

Over bank and over brae,3

Where the copsewood is the greenest,
Where the fountains glisten sheenest,5
Where the lady-fern grows strongest,
Where the morning dew lies longest,
Where the blackcock sweetest sips it,
Where the fairy latest trips it: 6

1 traverse, pass over or through.

2 hie, hasten.

3 brae (pronounced 'bray '), a Scottish word meaning 'a slope of a hill.'

4 copsewood, wood of small growth.

5 sheenest, brightest.

trips it, runs or steps lightly or nimbly.