And thy mother from thy side forevermore was

gone.

"He took thee in his arms, and in pity brought thee home:

A blessed day for thee! then whither wouldst thou roam?

A faithful nurse thou hast; the dam that did thee

yean

Upon the mountain tops no kinder could have been.

"Thou know'st that twice a day I have brought thee in this can

Fresh water from the brook, as clear as ever ran ; And twice in the day, when the ground is wet with dew,

I bring thee draughts of milk, warm milk it is and

new.

"Thy limbs will shortly be twice as stout as they are now,

Then I'll yoke thee to my cart like a pony in the plough;

My playmate thou shalt be; and when the wind is cold

Our hearth shall be thy bed, our house shall be thy fold.

"It will not, will not rest!-Poor creature, can it be That 'tis thy mother's heart which is working so in thee?

Things that I know not of belike to thee are dear, And dreams of things which thou canst neither see nor hear.

Alas, the mountain tops that look so green and fair!

I've heard of fearful winds and darkness that come

there;

The little brooks that seem all pastime and all

play,

When they are angry, roar like lions for their

prey.

"Here thou need'st not dread the raven in the sky; Night and day thou art safe,-our cottage is hard

by.

Why bleat so after me? Why pull so at thy chain?

Sleep-and at break of day I will come to thee again !"

-As homeward through the lane I went with lazy feet,

This song to myself did I oftentimes repeat;
And it seem'd as I retraced the ballad line by

line,

That but half of it was hers, and one-half of it was

mine.

Again, and once again, did I repeat the song; "Nay," said I, "more than half to the damsel must belong,

For she look'd with such a look, and she spake with such a tone,

That I almost received her heart into my own."

WORDSWORTH.

THE SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND.

FIRST, William the Norman,

Then William his son;

Henry, Stephen, and Henry,
Then Richard and John.
Next, Henry the third,

Edwards, one, two, and three;
And again, after Richard,
Three Henrys we see.

Two Edwards, third Richard,

If rightly I guess;

Two Henrys, sixth Edward,
Queen Mary, Queen Bess;
Then Jamie the Scotchman,
Then Charles whom they slew,
Yet received, after Cromwell,
Another Charles too.

Next Jamie the second

Ascended the throne;

Then good William and Mary

Together came on;

Then Anne, Georges four,
And fourth William all passed,
And Victoria came—

May she long be the last.

LITTLE RAIN-DROPS.

WHERE do you come from,
You little drops of rain,
Pitter patter, pitter patter,
Down the window-pane ?

They won't let me walk,
And they won't let me play,
And they won't let me go

Out of doors at all to-day.

They put away my playthings
Because I broke them all,

And then they locked up all my bricks,
And took away my ball.

Tell me, little rain-drops,
Is that the way you play,
Pitter patter, pitter patter,
All the rainy day?

They say I'm very naughty,
But I've nothing else to do,
But sit here at the window;

I should like to play with you.

The little rain-drops cannot speak,
But "pitter, pitter pat'

Means, we can play on this side,

Why can't you play

you play on that?

THE CHERRY-TREE.

FREDDIE saw some fine ripe cherries
Hanging on a cherry-tree;

And he said, "You pretty cherries,
Will you not come down to me ?"

"Thank you kindly," said a cherry,

"We would rather stay up here; If we ventured down this morning, You would eat us up, I fear."

One, the finest of the cherries,
Dangling from a slender twig;
"You are beautiful," said Freddie,
"Red and ripe, and oh, how big!"

"Catch me," said the cherry, "catch me, Little master, if you can!"