Where the mowers mow the cleanest,
Where the hay lies thick and greenest ;
There to trace the homeward bee,
That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the hazel bank is steepest,
Where the shadow falls the deepest,
Where the clustering nuts fall free,
That's the way for Billy and me.

Why the boys should drive away
Little sweet maidens from the play,
Or love to banter and fight so well,
That's the thing I never could tell.

But this I know, I love to play,
Through the meadow, among the hay;
Up the water and o'er the lea,

That's the way for Billy and me.

CCXXX

J. HOGG.

THE SKYLARK

BIRD of the wilderness,

Blithesome and cumberless,

Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea! Emblem of happiness,

Blest is thy dwelling-place,

Oh to abide in the desert with thee!

Wild is thy lay and loud,

Far in the downy cloud,

Love gives it energy, love gave it birth.
Where, on thy dewy wing,

Where art thou journeying?

Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.

O'er fell and fountain sheen,

O'er moor and mountain green,

O'er the red streamer that heralds the day,
Over the cloudlet dim,

Over the rainbow's rim,

Musical cherub, soar, singing, away!

Then, when the gloaming comes,

Low in the heather blooms

Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be!
Emblem of happiness,

Blest is thy dwelling-place

Oh to abide in the desert with thee!

J. HOGG.

CCXXXI

ECHO AND SILENCE

IN eddying course when leaves began to fly,
And autumn in her lap the stores to strew,
As 'mid wild scenes I chanced the muse to woo

Thro' glens untrod, and woods that frown'd on high,

Two sleeping nymphs, with wonder mute I spy :-
And lo! she's gone-in robe of dark green hue
'Twas Echo from her sister Silence flew :

For quick the hunter's horn resounded to the sky.

In shade affrighted Silence melts away.
Not so her sister. Hark! for onward still
With far-heard step she takes her listening way,
Bounding from rock to rock, and hill to hill:

Ah! mark the merry maid, in mockful play,
With thousand mimic tones the laughing forest fill !

SIR EGERTON BRYDGES.

CCXXXII

THE HERON

O MELANCHOLY Bird, a winter's day,
Thou standest by the margin of the pool,

And, taught by God, dost thy whole being school
To Patience, which all evil can allay.

God has appointed thee the Fish thy prey;
And giv'n thyself a lesson to the Fool
Unthrifty, to submit to moral rule,

And his unthinking course by thee to weigh.

There need not schools, nor the Professor's chair,
Though these be good, true wisdom to impart ;
He, who has not enough for these to spare,
Of time, or gold, may yet amend his heart,

And teach his soul, by brooks and rivers fair:
Nature is always wise in every part.

EDWARD, LORD THURLOW.

CCXXXIH

SNOWDROPS

O DARLING spirits of the snow,

Who hide within your heart the green,
Howe'er the wintry wind may blow,
The secret of the summer sheen
Ye smile to know!

By frozen rills, in woods and mead,
A mild pure sisterhood ye grow,
Who bend the meek and quiet head,
And are a token from below

From our dear dead.

As in their turf ye softly shine

Of innocent white lives they lead,
With healing influence Divine

For souls who on their memory feed,
World-worn like mine.

RODEN NOEL.

CCXXXIV

SONG TO MAY

MAY, queen of blossoms,

And fulfilling flowers,

With what pretty music

Shall we charm the hours?
Wilt thou have pipe and reed,

Blown in the open mead?

Or to the lute give heed
In the green bowers?

Thou hast no need of us,

Or pipe or wire,
That hast the golden bee
Ripened with fire;
And many thousand more
Songsters, that thee adore
Filling earth's grassy floor

With new desire.