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

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.

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10

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

VI.

ADDRESS TO A CHILD.

DURING A BOISTEROUS WINTER EVENING.

BY MY SISTER.

WHAT way does the Wind come? What way does he go?

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 sounding flight;

He tosses about in every bare tree,

As, if you look up, you plainly may see

But how he will come, and whither he goes,
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 -Yet seek him,—and what shall you find in the place?

5

10

15

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 upright 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 30
Drive them down, like men in a battle:

-But let him range round; he does us no

harm,

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

bright,

And burns with a clear and steady light;

35

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;

40

May drive at the windows,--we'll laugh at his

din;

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

1806.

VII.

THE MOTHER'S RETURN.

BY THE SAME.

A MONTH, Sweet Little-ones, is past
Since your dear Mother went away,—
And she to-morrow will return;
To-morrow is the happy day.

O blessed tidings! thought of joy!
The eldest heard with steady glee;
Silent he stood; then laughed amain,-
And shouted, Mother, come to me!"

Louder and louder did he shout,
With witless hope to bring her near!
Nay, patience! patience, little boy;
Your tender mother cannot hear."

I told of hills, and far-off towns,

And long, long vales to travel through ;-
He listens, puzzled, sore perplexed,
But he submits; what can he do?

No strife disturbs his sister's breast;
She wars not with the mystery
Of time and distance, night and day;
The bonds of our humanity.

Her joy is like an instinct, joy
Of kitten, bird, or summer fly;
She dances, runs without an aim,
She chatters in her ecstasy.

Her brother now takes up the note,
And echoes back his sister's glee;
They hug the infant in my arms,
As if to force his sympathy.

Then, settling into fond discourse,
We rested in the garden bower;

While sweetly shone the evening sun
In his departing hour.

We told o'er all that we had done,—
Our rambles by the swift brook's side
Far as the willow-skirted pool,
Where two fair swans together glide.

We talked of change, of winter gone,
Of green leaves on the hawthorn spray,
Of birds that build their nests and sing,
And all "since Mother went away!"
To her these tales they will repeat,
To her our new-born tribes will show,
The goslings green, the ass's colt,
The lambs that in the meadow go.

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30

35

40

-But see, the evening star comes forth! 45 To bed the children must depart ;

A moment's heaviness they feel,

A sadness at the heart:

'Tis gone-and in a merry fit

They run up stairs in gamesome race;
I, too, infected by their mood,

50

I could have joined the wanton chase.

Five minutes past-and, O the change!
Asleep upon their beds they lie;
Their busy limbs in perfect rest,
And closed the sparkling eye.

55

1807.