Phebe, The Blackberry Girl | Page 3

and?fair!?I've heard of fearful winds and darkness that come?there:
The little brooks that seem all pastime and at 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 seemed, 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 looked with such a look, and she spake?with such a tone,?That I almost received her heart into my own.
[Illustration: Father William and the Young Man.]
FATHER WILLIAM AND THE?YOUNG MAN.
You are old, Father William, the young man cries,?The few locks which are left you are gray:?You appear, Father William, a healthy old man;?Now tell me the reason, I pray.
When I was a youth, Father William replied,?I remembered that youth would fly fast;?I abused not my health and my vigor at first,?That I never might need them at last.
You are old, Father William, the young man said,?And pleasures, with youth, pass away;?And yet you repent not the days that are gone?Now tell me the reason, I pray.
When I was a youth, Father William replied,?I remembered that youth could not last:?I thought of the future, whatever I did,?That I never might grieve for the past.
You are old, Father William, the young man still cries,?And life is swift hastening away?You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death!?Come tell me the reason, I pray.
I am cheerful, young man, Father William replied;?Let the cause your attention engage:?In the days of my youth I remembered my God!?And he hath not forgotten my age.
THE LITTLE GIRL AND HER PETS.
Girl Swallow, thou dear one! now thou,
indeed,
From thy wandering dost reappear,
Tell me, who is it to thee that hath said
That again it is spring-time here.
Swa. The fatherly God, in that far-off clime,
Who sent me, he told me 'twas sweet
spring-time.

And though she had come so far and wide,
She was not deceived in time or tide.
[Illustration]
The snow it was gone, the sun shone warm,
The merry gnats danced in many a swarm,
The Swallow knew neither want nor care,
She found for her children enough and to
spare.
Girl Come, little Dog, 'tis your master's will
That you learn to sit upright and still.?Dog Learn must I? I'm so small, you see,
Just for a little while let it be!?Girl No, little Dog, it is far best to learn soon,
For later it would be more painfully done.
The little Dog learned, without more ado,
And soon could sit upright and walk
upright too;
In deepest waters unfearing could spring,
And whatever was lost could speedily bring.
The master saw his pleasure, and he too
began
To learn, and thus grew up a wise, good
man.
[Illustration]
THE FLOWERS.
Say, Ma! did God make all the flowers?That richly bloom