‘I write about the butterfly,

I would be trebled twenty times myself;A thousand times more fair,Ten thousand times more rich.’

That all my life may better beFor the trial that is past.O vanity, mislead no more!Sleep, like passions, long!Wake, happy heart, and dance againTo the music of my song!O summer days, flit fast away,And bring the blithesome hourWhen we three wanderers shall meetSafe in our household flower!O dear mamma, lament no more!Smile on us as…

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…

Beds to the left of them,Nobody blundered.Beamed at by hungry souls,Screamed at with brimming bowls,Steamed at by army rolls,Buttered and sundered.With coffee not cannon plied,Each must be satisfied,Whether they lived or died;All the men wondered.’

The tale is told, the song is sung,And the Fairy feast is done.The night-wind rocks the sleeping flowers,And sings to them, soft and low.The early birds erelong will wake:‘T is time for the Elves to go.O’er the sleeping earth we silently pass,Unseen by mortal eye,And send sweet dreams, as we lightly floatThrough the quiet moonlit…

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…