”Healfast, healfast, ye hero wounds;

Happy children, fresh and rosy,Sang and sported freely there,Often turning friendly glances,Where, neglectful of them all,On his bed among the gray rocks,Mused the pale child, little Paul.For he never joined their pastimes,Never danced upon the sand,Only smiled upon them kindly,Only waved his wasted hand.Many a treasured gift they bore him,Best beloved among them all.Many a…

Beneath a motherly soft wingA little goose was born.Who straightway peeped out of the shellTo view the world beyond,Longing at once to sally forthAnd paddle in the pond.‘Oh! be not rash,’ her father said,A mild Socratic bird;Her mother begged her not to strayWith many a warning word.But little goosey was perverse,And eagerly did cry,‘I’ve got…

And in my cage I sit and singTo Him who placed me there:Well pleased a prisoner to be,Because, my God, it pleases Thee!‘Naught have I else to do;I sing the whole day long;And He whom most I love to pleaseDoth listen to my song,He caught and bound my wandering wing,But still He bends to hear…

Where birds, and bees, and butterflies,Would sing upon the hill.’

On the rippling waves, that brightly flowBeneath the flowering vines.Awake! Awake! for the low, sweet chantOf the wild-birds’ morning hymnComes floating by on the fragrant air,Through the forest cool and dim;Then spread each wing,And work, and sing,Through the long, bright sunny hours;O’er the pleasant earthWe journey forth,For a day among the flowers.Awake! Awake! for the…

For never more by the fire she’ll sit,Nor play by the old green gate.The little grave where her infant sleepsIs ‘neath the chestnut tree.But o’er her grave we may not weep,We know not where it may be.Her empty bed, her idle ball,Will never see her more;No gentle tap, no loving purrIs heard at the parlor…