So, little by little,

She brought her leaves out,
All clustered about;

And then her bright flowers
Began to unfold,

Till Daffy stood robed

In her spring green and gold.

O Daffy-down-dilly,

So brave and so true!

I wish all were like you!

So ready for duty

In all sorts of weather,

And loyal to courage

And duty together.

MISS WARNER.

* 64 *

DOING GOOD.

WHAT if a drop of rain should plead, "So small a drop as I

Can ne'er refresh the thirsty mead,1

I'll tarry in the sky"?

What if a single beam of noon

Should in its fountain stay,

Because its feeble light alone
Cannot create a day?

1 mead, meadow.

Does not each rain-drop help to form
The cool refreshing shower?
And every ray of light to warm
And beautify 1 the flower?

Go, thou, and strive to do thy share;
One talent, less than thine,—
Improved with steady zeal and care,
Would gain rewards divine.

* 65 *

THE RIVER.

RIVER, River, little River!

Bright you sparkle on your way,
O'er the yellow pebbles dancing,
Through the flowers and foliage2 glancing,
Like a child at play.

River, River, swelling River!

On you rush o'er rough and smooth,-
Louder, faster, brawling, leaping
Over rocks, by meadows sweeping,-
Like impetuous 3 youth.

River, River, brimming River!
Broad and deep, and still as time,

1 beautify, make beautiful.

2 foliage, green leaves.

3 impetuous, hasty, violent.

Seeming still, yet still in motion,
Tending onward to the ocean,

Just like mortal prime.1

Swift and silent as an arrow,

Through a channel dark and narrow,
Like life's closing day.

River, River, headlong River!
Down you dash into the sea,

Sea, that line hath never sounded,
Sea, that voyage hath never rounded,2
Like Eternity.

* 66 *

THE WORLD.

GREAT, wide, beautiful, wonderful World, With the wonderful water around you curled, And the wonderful grass on your breast World, you are beautifully dressed.

The wonderful air is over me,

And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree; It walks on the water, and whirls the mills, And talks to itself on the tops of the hills.

1 mortal prime, man in his prime.

2 rounded, crossed and returned.

You friendly Earth, how far do you go,

With the wheat-fields that nod, and the rivers

that flow,

With cities, and gardens, and cliffs, and isles,
And people upon you for thousands of miles?

Ah! you are so great, and I am so small,
I tremble to think of you, World, at all;
And yet, when I said my prayers to-day,
A whisper inside me seemed to say,

"You are more than the Earth, though you are

such a dot:

You can love and think, and the Earth cannot !

MATTHEW BROWNE.

* 67 *

A LITTLE GIRL'S FANCIES.

O LITTLE flowers, you love me so,
You could not do without me;
O little birds that come and
go,
You sing sweet songs about me;
O little moss, observed 1 by few,
That round the tree is creeping,
You like my head to rest on you
When I am idly sleeping.

1

O rushes by the river side,
You bow when I come near you;

1 observed, noticed.

* 70 *

RAIN IN SUMMER.

O GENTLE, gentle summer rain,
Let not the silver lily pine,
The drooping lily pine in vain,

To feel that dewy touch of thine,
To drink thy freshness once again,
O gentle, gentle summer rain!

In heat the landscape quivering lies;
The cattle pant beneath the tree;
Through parching air and purple skies
The Earth looks up in vain for thee;
For thee, for thee, it looks in vain,
O gentle, gentle summer rain!

Come, thou, and brim the meadow streams,
And soften all the hills with mist,
O falling dew! from burning dreams
By thee shall herb and flower be kissed;
And Earth shall bless thee yet again,
O gentle, gentle summer rain!

* 71 *

W. C. BENNETT.

AFTER A STORM.

WITH a freshness and sweetness

The air is made new;
The birds are all singing;

The skies are all blue;