THE WEE BIRD'S SONG.[6]

I heard a wee bird singing,
In my chamber as I lay;
The casement open swinging,
As morning woke the day.
And the boughs around were twining,
The bright sun through them shining,
And I had long been pining,
For my Willie far away--
When I heard the wee bird singing.

He heard the wee bird singing,
For its notes were wondrous clear;
As if wedding bells were ringing,
Melodious to the ear.
And still it rang that wee bird's song;
Just like the bells--dong-ding, ding-dong;
While my heart beat so quick and strong--
It felt that he was near!
And he heard the wee bird singing.

We heard the wee bird singing,
After brief time had flown;
The true bells had been ringing,
And Willie was my own.
And oft I tell him, jesting, playing,
I knew what the wee bird was saying,
That morn, when he, no longer straying,
Flew back to me alone.
And we love the wee bird singing.

FOOTNOTES:

[6] Here first published.

WHAT MAKES THIS HOUR?

What makes this hour a day to me?
What makes this day a year?
My own love promised we should meet--
But my own love is not here!
Ah! did she feel half what I feel,
Her tryst she ne'er would break;
She ne'er would lift this heart to hope,
Then leave this heart to ache;
And make the hour a day to me,
And make the day a year;
The hour she promised we should meet--
But my own love is not here.

Alas! can she inconstant prove?
Does sickness force her stay?
Or is it fate, or failing love,
That keeps my love away,
To make the hour a day to me,
And make the day a year?
The hour and day we should have met--
But my own love is not here.

ALEXANDER BALD.

Alexander Bald was born at Alloa, on the 9th June 1783. His father, who
bore the same Christian name, was a native of Culross, where he was
originally employed in superintending the coal works in that vicinity,
under the late Earl of Dundonald. He subsequently became agent for the
collieries of John Francis Erskine, afterwards Earl of Mar. A book of
arithmetical tables and calculations from his pen, entitled, "The
Corn-dealer's Assistant," was long recognised as an almost indispensable
guide for tenant farmers.

The subject of this notice was early