Vainly Morning spreads the lure
Of a sky serene and pure ;
Creature none can she decoy
Into open sign of joy:
Is it that they have a fear
Of the dreary season near?
Or that other pleasures be
Sweeter e'en than gaiety:
Yet, whate'er enjoyments dwell
In the impenetrable cell

Of the silent heart which Nature
Furnishes to every creature;
Whatsoe'er we feel and know
Too sedate for outward show-
Such a light of gladness breaks,
Pretty Kitten! from thy freaks,—
Spreads with such a living grace
O'er my little Laura's face;
Yes, the sight so stirs and charms
Thee, baby, laughing in my arms,
That almost I could repine

That your transports are not mine,
That I do not wholly fare

Even as ye do, thoughtless pair!
And I will have my careless season,

Spite of melancholy reason.

Will walk through life in such a way
That, when time brings on decay,
Now and then I may possess
Hours of perfect gladsomeness.
-Pleased by any random toy;
By a kitten's busy joy,
Or an infant's laughing eye
Sharing in the ecstasy;

The Fox and the Cat.

I would fare like that or this,

Find my wisdom in my bliss ;
Keep the sprightly soul awake,
And have faculties to take,

Even from things by sorrow wrought,
Matter for a jocund thought;

83

Spite of care, and spite of grief,

To gambol with life's falling leaf.

WORDSWORTH.

THE FOX AND THE CAT.

(HE fox and the cat, as they travelled one day,
With moral discourses cut shorter the way,

"'Tis great," says the Fox, "to make justice our guide!"

"How god-like is mercy," Grimalkin replied.

Whilst thus they proceeded, a wolf from the wood, Impatient of hunger, and thirsting for blood, Rushed forth-as he saw the dull shepherd asleepAnd seized for his supper an innocent sheep. "In vain, wretched victim, for mercy you bleat, When mutton's at hand," says the wolf, "I must eat." Grimalkin's astonished !—the fox stood aghast,

To see the fell beast at his bloody repast.

"What a wretch," says the cat, "'tis the vilest of brutes; Does he feed upon flesh when there's herbage and roots?" Cries the fox, "While our oaks give us acorns so good, What a tyrant is this to spill innocent blood!"

Well, onward they marched, and they moralized, still Till they came where some poultry picked chaff by a mill. Sly Reynard surveyed them with gluttonous eyes, And made, spite of morals, a pullet his prize.

A mouse, too, that chanced from her covert to stray, The greedy Grimalkin secured as her prey.

A spider that sat in her web on the wall,

Perceived the poor victims, and pitied their fall; She cried, "Of such murders, how guiltless am I!" So ran to regale on a new-taken fly.

J. CUNNINGHAM.

THE COLUBRIAD.

LOSE by the threshold of a door nailed fast
Three kittens sat; each kitten looked aghast.
I, passing swift and inattentive by,
At the three kittens cast a careless eye;

Not much concerned to know what they did there,
Not deeming kittens worth a poet's care.

But presently a loud and furious hiss

Caused me to stop, and to exclaim, "What's this?"
When, lo! upon the threshold met my view,
With head erect and eyes of fiery hue,

A viper long as Count de Grasse's queue.
Forth from his head his forked tongue he throws,
Darting it full against a kitten's nose;

Who having never seen, in field or house,

The like, sat still and silent as a mouse;

Only projecting, with attention due,

Her whiskered 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-armed 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.

The Mountain and the Squirrel.
But still the kittens, sitting as before,

Sat 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 rehearsed,
'Twas in the garden that I found him first.
E'en there I found him, there the full-grown cat
His head, with velvet paw, did gently pat :
As curious as the kittens erst had been
To learn what this phenomenon might mean.
Filled with heroic ardour at the sight,
And fearing every moment he would bite,
And rob our household of our only cat

That was of age to combat with a rat,

With outstretched hoe I slew him at the door,

And taught him NEVER TO COME THERE NO MORE.

85

Cowper.

THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SQUIRREL.

'HE mountain and the squirrel

prig;"

Had a quarrel,

And the former called the latter "Little

Bun replied,

"You are doubtless very big,

But all sorts of things and weather

Must be taken in together

To make up a year,

And a sphere.

And I think it no disgrace

To occupy my place.

If I'm not so large as you,

You are not so small as I,
And not half so spry:

I'll not deny you make

A very pretty squirrel track.

Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;

If I cannot carry forests on my back,

Neither can you crack a nut."

R. W. EMERSON.

THE WOOD-MOUSE.

80

you know the little wood-mouse,

That pretty little thing

That sits among the forest leaves,

Beside the forest spring?

Its fur is red as the red chestnut,

And it is small and slim ;

It leads a life most innocent
Within the forest dim.

'Tis a timid, gentle creature, And seldom comes in sight;

It has a long and wiry tail,

And eyes both black and white.

It makes its nest of soft dry moss
In a hole so deep and strong;
And there it sleeps secure and warm
The dreary winter long.