darning there,
Ere the light fails,
Small ragged stockings--
Tiny torn tails?

Did a finch fly with it
Into the hedge,
Or a reed-warbler
Down in the sedge?
Are they carousing there,
All the night through?
Such a great goblet,
Brimful of dew!

Have beetles crept with it
Where oak roots hide?
There have they settled it
Down on its side?
Neat little kennel,
So cosy and dark,
Has one crept into it,
Trying to bark?

Have the ants cover'd it
With straw and sand?
Roomy bell-tent for them,
So tall and grand;
Where the red soldier-ants
Lie, loll, and lean--
While the blacks steadily
Build for their queen.

Has a huge dragon-fly
Borne it (how cool!)
To his snug dressing-room,
By the clear pool?
There will he try it on,
For a new hat--
Nobody watching
But one water-rat?

Did the flowers fight for it,
While, undecried,
One selfish daisy
Slipp'd it aside;
Now has she plunged it in
Close to her feet--
Nice private water-tank
For summer heat?

Did spiders snatch at it
Wanting to look
At the bright pebbles
Which lie in the brook?
Now are they using it
(Nobody knows!)
Safe little diving-bell,
Shutting so close?

Hunt for it, hope for it,
All through the moss;
Dip for it, grope for it--
'Tis such a loss!
Jane finds a drop of dew,
Fan finds a stone;
I find the thimble,
Which is mother's own!

Run with it, fly with it--
Don't let it fall;
All did their best for it--
Mother thanks all.
Just as we give it her,--
Think what a shame!--
Ned says he's sure
That it isn't the same!

"B."

_Discontent_

Down in a field, one day in June,
The flowers all bloomed together,
Save one, who tried to hide herself,
And drooped that pleasant weather.

A robin, who had flown too high,
And felt a little lazy,
Was resting near a buttercup