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The common Lord of all that move-
From whom thy being flow'd-
A portion of His boundless love
On that poor worm bestow'd.

The sun, the moon, the stars, he made

For all his creatures free;
And spread o'er earth the grassy
For worms as well as thee.

Let them enjoy their little day,
Their humble bliss receive:

blade,

Oh! do not lightly take away

The life thou canst not give.

Gisborne.

22. THE YOUTHFUL KING.

SUGGESTED BY A PICTURE OF EDWARD VI. IN

HIS ROYAL RORES.

Monarch, pictured here in state,
Better honours far were thine,
Than the grandeur of the great,
Than the jewels of the mine.
Born to govern and command,
Thou wast easy of control;

With a sceptre in thy hand,

There was meekness in thy soul.

Of thy haughty father's frown,
Little on thy brow we trace,
And that little soften'd down
By simplicity and grace.

Child in age and child in heart,

Gold, and gems, and bright array,
Could not joy or pride impart,

Thou hadst treasures more than they-
More than courtiers, kneeling low;
More than flattery's ready smile;
More than conquest o'er the foe;
More, even more, than England's isle:
Treasures in which mind hath part;
Joys that teach the soul to rise;
Hopes that can sustain the heart
When the body droops and dies.
Therefore, star, thou art not shaded
By the darkness of the tomb!
Royal rose! thou art not faded,

In heaven, we trust, thou still dost bloom.

23. THE KITTENS AND THE VIPER.

Close by the threshold of a door, nail'd fast,
Three kittens sat; each kitten looked aghast;
I, passing swift and inattentive by,

At the three kittens cast a careless eye;
Little concerned to know what they did there;
Not deeming kittens worth a poet's care.
But presently a loud and furious hiss

Caus'd me to stop, and to exclaim, "What's this?"
When lo! with head erect and fiery eye,
A dusky viper on the ground I spy.

Forth from his head his forked tongue he throws,
Darting it full against a kitten's nose;

Who never having seen, in field or house,
The like, sat still and silent as a mouse;
Only projecting, with attention due,

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Her whisker'd face, she asked him, "Who are you?"
On to the hall went I, with pace not slow,
But swift as lightning, for a long Dutch hoe;
With which, well-arm'd, I hastened to the spot,
To find the viper ;-but I found him not;
And turning up the leaves and shrubs around,
Found only-that he was not to be found.
But still the kittens, sitting as before,
Were watching close the bottom of the door.
"I hope," said I, "the villain I would kill
Has slipped between the door and the door-sill;
And if I make despatch, and follow hard,
No doubt but I shall find him in the yard:'
(For long ere now it should have been rehears'd,
'Twas in the garden that I found him first).
Ev'n there I found him, there the full-grown cat
His head, with velvet paw, did gently pat:
As curious as the kittens erst [1] had been
To learn what this phenomenon might mean.
Fill'd with heroic ardour at the sight,
And fearing every moment he would bite,
And rob our household of the only cat
That was of age to combat with a rat;
With outstretch'd hoe I slew him at the door,
And taught him NEVER TO COME THERE NO MORE.

[1] Erst-before, formerly.

Cowper.

24. THE LADY-BIRD IN THE HOUSE.

Oh! lady-bird, lady-bird, why do you roam
So far from your children, so far from your home?
Why do you, who can revel all day in the air,
And the sweets of the grove and the garden can
share,

In the fold of a leaf, who can find a green bower,
And a palace enjoy in the tube of a flower;
Ah! why, simple lady-bird, why do you venture
The dwellings of men so familiar [1] to enter?
Too soon you may find that your trust is misplac'd,
When by some cruel child you are wantonly chased;
And your bright scarlet coat, so bespotted with
black,

Is torn by his barbarous hands from your back.

Ah! then you'll regret you were tempted to rove From the tall climbing hop, or the hazel's thick grove,

And will fondly remember each arbour and tree,
Where lately you wandered contented and free;
Then fly, simple lady-bird!-fly away home,
No more from your nest and your children to roam.
Charlotte Smith.

25. THE LADY-BIRD IN THE FIELDS.

Lady-bird! lady-bird! fly away home,
The field-mouse is gone to her nest,

The daisies have shut up their sleepy red eyes,
And the bees and the birds are at rest.

[1] Familiar-for familiarly.

Lady-bird! lady-bird! fly away home,
The glow-worm is lighting his lamp,
The dew's falling fast, and your fine speckled wings
Will be wet with the close-clinging damp.
Lady-bird! lady-bird! fly away home,

The fairy-bells tinkle afar;

Make haste, or they 'll catch you, and harness you fast,

With a cobweb, to Oberon's [1] car.

26. TO A BEE.

Thou wast out betimes, thou busy, busy bee!
When abroad I took my early way,
Before the cow from her resting-place
Had risen up, and left her trace,

On the meadow with dew so grey,
I saw thee, thou busy, busy bee!

Thou wast alive, thou busy, busy bee!

When the crowd in their sleep were dead; Thou wast abroad in the freshest hour, When the sweetest odour comes from the flower; Man will not learn to leave his lifeless bed, And be wise and copy thee, thou busy, busy bee! Thou wast working late, thou busy, busy bee! After the fall of the cistus flower, [2]

I heard thee last as I saw thee first,

When the evening primrose was ready to burst; [1] Oberon-the king of the fairies. For other references to the fabulous creatures called fairies, see the pieces numbered 36 and 91.

[2] The gum cistus flower lives but one day.

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