Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days,
The time, when, in our childish plays,
My sister Emmeline and I

Together chased the butterfly!

A very hunter did I rush

Upon the prey; - with leaps and springs 15

I followed on from brake to bush;

But she, God love her! feared to brush

The dust from off its wings.

March 14, 1820.

III.

THE SPARROW'S NEST.

BEHOLD, within the leafy shade,
Those bright blue eggs together laid!
On me the chance-discovered sight
Gleamed like a vision of delight.

I started-seeming to espy

The home and sheltered bed,

The Sparrow's dwelling, which, hard by

My Father's house, in wet or dry

My sister Emmeline and I

Together visited.

She looked at it and seemed to fear it;
Dreading, tho' wishing, to be near it :
Such heart was in her, being then
A little Prattler among men.
The Blessing of my later years
Was with me when a boy :
She gave me eyes, she gave me ears;
And humble cares, and delicate fears
A heart, the fountain of sweet tears;
And love, and thought, and joy.

1801

IV.

FORESIGHT.

THAT is work of waste and ruin-
Do as Charles and I are doing!

Strawberry-blossoms, one and all,
We must spare them-here are many :
Look at it-the flower is small,

5

Small and low, though fair as any:

Do not touch it! summers two

I am older, Anne, than you.

Pull the primrose, sister Anne!
Pull as many as you can.
-Here are daisies, take your fill;
Pansies, and the cuckoo-flower:
Of the lofty daffodil
Make your bed, or make your bower;
Fill your lap and fill your boson;
Only spare the strawberry-blossom !

Primroses, the Spring may love them-
Summer knows but little of them:
Violets, a barren kind,
Withered on the ground must lie';
Daisies leave no fruit behind
When the pretty flowrets die;
Pluck them, and another year
As many will be blowing here.

God has given a kindlier power
To the favoured strawberry-flower.
Hither soon as spring is fled
You and Charles and I will walk;

Lurking berries, ripe and red,
Then will hang on every stalk,
Each within its leafy bower;

And for that promise spare the flower!

April 28, 1802.

30

V.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A CHILD
THREE YEARS OLD.

LOVING she is, and tractable, though wild;
And Innocence hath privilege in her
To dignify arch looks and laughing eyes;
And feats of cunning; and the pretty round
Of trespasses, affected to provoke
Mock-chastisement and partnership in play.
And, as a faggot sparkles on the hearth,
Not less if unattended and alone

Than when both young and old sit gathered

round

And take delight in its activity;
Even so this happy Creature of herself

Is all-sufficient; solitude to her

Is blithe society, who fills the air

With gladness and involuntary songs.

Light are her sallies as the tripping fawn's 15

Forth-started from the fern where she lay

couched;

Unthought-of, unexpected, as the stir

Of the soft breeze ruffling the meadow-flowers,

Or from before it chasing wantonly

The many-coloured images imprest

Upon the bosom of a placid lake.

1811.

20

He rides over the water, and over the snow, Through wood, and through vale! and o'er

rocky height,

Which the goat cannot climb, takes his sound

ing flight;

He tosses about in every ry bare tree,
As, if you look up, you plainly may see;
But how he will come, and whither he goes,

5

There's never a scholar in England knows.

He will suddenly stop in a cunning nook,
And ring a sharp 'larum; -but, if you should

look,

There's nothing to see but a cushion of snow,
Round as a pillow, and whiter than milk,
And softer than if it were covered with silk.
Sometimes he'll hide in the cave of a rock,
Then whistle as shrill as the buzzard cock; 15
-Yet seek him, and what shall you find in

the place?

Nothing but silence and empty space;
Save, in a corner, a heap of dry leaves,
That he's left, for a bed, to beggars or thieves !

As soon as 'tis daylight to-morrow, with me 20
You shall go to the orchard, and then you will

see

That he has been there, and made a great rout, And cracked the branches, and strewn them

about;

Heaven grant that he spare but that one up

right twig

That looked up at the sky so proud and big 25
All last summer, as well you know,
Studded with apples, a beautiful show!

Hark! over the roof he makes a pause,
And growls as if he would fix his claws
Right in the slates, and with a huge rattle
Drive them down, like men in a battle:
-But let him range round; he does us no

30

harm,

We build up the fire, we're snug and warm ; Untouched by his breath see the candle shines

bright,

35

And burns with a clear and steady light; Books have we to read,- but that half-stifled

knell,

Alas! 'tis the sound of the eight o'clock bell. -Come now we'll to bed! and when we are

there

He may work his own will, and what shall we care? He may knock at the door, we'll not let him in; May drive at the windows, we'll laugh at his din;

40

Let him seek his own home wherever it be; Here's a cozie warm house for Edward and me.

1806.