THE STARS AND THE BABIES.
WHEN the stars go to sleep,
The babies awake,
And they prattle and sparkle all day ;
Then the stars light their lamps,
And their playtime they take,
While the babies are sleeping away.
So good-night, little baby,
And shut up your eyes,
Let the stars now have their turn at play; They soon will begin
To shoot through the skies,
And dance in the bright milky way.
No, no, my dear nurse,
I cannot go to sleep,
Since you've put the thought into my head,
Let us have with the stars
One game at bo-peep,
Then good-night, and a kiss, and to bed.
LITTLE BIRD! LITTLE BIRD!
"LITTLE bird! little bird! come to me!
I have a green cage ready for thee,—
Beauty-bright flowers I'll bring to you,
And fresh, ripe cherries, all wet with dew."
"Thanks, little maiden, for all thy care,-
But I dearly love the clear, cool air;
And my snug little nest in the old oak-tree."
"Little bird! little bird! stay with me."
Nay, little damsel; away I'll fly
Το greener fields and a warmer sky;
When Spring returns with pattering rain,
You will hear my merry song again."
"Little bird! little bird! who'll guide thee
Over the hills, and over the sea?
Foolish one, come in the house to stay;
For I'm very sure you'll lose your way."
"Ah, no, little maiden! God guides me
Over the hills, and over the sea:
I will be free as the rushing air,
Chasing the sun-light everywhere.”
"LITTLE CHILDREN, LOVE ONE ANOTHER.”
A LITTLE girl, with a happy look,
Sat slowly reading a ponderous book,
All bound with velvet and edged with gold,
And its weight was more than the child could hold;
Yet dearly she loved to ponder it o'er,
And every day she prized it more;
For it said, and she look'd at her smiling mother,-
It said, "Little children, love one another.”
She thought it was beautiful in the book,
And the lesson home to her heart she took;
She walk'd on her way with a trusting grace,
And a dove-like look in her meek young face,
Which said, just as plain as words could say,
"The Holy Bible I must obey;
So, Mamma, I'll be kind to my darling brother,
For little children must love each other.
"I'm sorry he's naughty, and will not play,
But I'll love him still, for I think the way
To make him gentle and kind to me
Will be better shown, if I let him see
I strive to do what I think is right;
And thus, when I kneel in prayer to-night,
I will clasp my hands around my brother,
And say, 'Little children, love one another.'"
The little girl did as her Bible taught,
And pleasant indeed was the change it wrought;
For the boy look'd up in glad surprise,
To meet the light of her loving eyes:
His heart was full, he could not speak,
But he press'd a kiss on his sister's cheek;
And God look'd down on that happy mother,
Whose little children loved each other.
COME out into the lane with me,
And see what I have found;
It is a little robin's nest,
That's built upon the ground.
Look! there it is, close by the tree,
Half hidden in the grass;
I see the robin's scarlet breast
As often as I
The nest is made of tender moss,
And lined with hair and hay;
And you may see the robin's eggs
When she has flown away.
The robin sits for many days,
And warms them with her breast; How glad she is when first she hears A chirping in the nest!
Each little bird comes creeping out,
And leaves the speckled shell;
The gentle mother keeps them warm,
And loves and tends them well,
The father robin looks for food,
And feeds them one by one;
He never stops to rest himself
Until his work is done.
But when his young ones are asleep
Beneath their mother's wing,
He comes and perches near the nest,
And soon begins to sing.
At last the little birds are grown,
And old enough to fly,
And then they leave the parent birds,
And bid the nest good-bye.
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