e, true, true!"

FIREFLIES

Look! Look down in the garden how
The firefly lights are flitting now!
A million tiny sparks I know
Flash through the pinks and golden-glow,
And I am very sure that all
Have come to light a fairy ball,
And if I could stay up I'd see
How gay the fairy folks can be!

THE RAINY DAY

Let's sail all day, away, away
To the splendid Spanish Main
And the sultry seas of the Caribbees
And skies that never rain!

As pirates bold with bags of gold
And cutlasses and things,
We'll pack doubloons and silver spoons
In chests with iron rings.

And these we'll carry and secretly bury
In cannibal isles afar;
Like Captain Kidd, when they're safely hid
We won't tell where they are.

Let's sail all day, away, away
To the splendid Spanish Main
And the sultry seas of the Caribbees
--But at night sail home again!

THE FIRST RED-BIRD

I heard a song at daybreak,
So honey-sweet and clear,
The essence of all joyous things
Seemed mingling in its cheer.

The frosty world about me
I searched with eager gaze,
But all was slumber-bound and wrapped
In violet-tinted haze.

Then suddenly a sunbeam
Shot slanting o'er the hill,
And once again from out the sky
I heard that honied trill.

And there upon a poplar,
Poised at its topmost height,
I saw a little singer clad
In scarlet plumage bright.

The poplar branches quivered,
By dawn winds lightly blown,
And like a breeze-swept poppy-flower
The red-bird rocked and shone.

The blue sky, and his feathers
Flashed o'er by golden light,
Oh, all my heart with rapture thrilled,
It was so sweet a sight!

THE WEATHER-VANE

Turn, turn, when pelting rain
Rushes down the window-pane;
Turn, turn, and turn again
When the sun shines, weather-vane!

Fie! Fie! to always be
Emblem of uncertainty!
Followed by the restless sea,
Changeful moons may wax and wane,
Yet the moons and sea-tides, too,
Constant are compared to you!
Fickle still you must remain
Long as winds blow, weather-vane!

THE SWAN

Stately swan, so proud and white
Glistening in the morning light,
Come and tell me is it true
That a snow-white swan