YOR CHILDREN. 45

And they have taken his very heart's blood,
And drunk it round and round ;—
And so farewell, John Barleycorn !
Thy fate thou now hast found.
Burns.

 

THE LADY-BIRD IN THE HOUSE.

Ox ! lady-bird, lady-bird, why do you roam

So far from your children, so far from your home P

Why do you, who can revel all day in the air,

And the sweets of the grove and the garden can
share,

In the fold of a leaf who can find a green bower,

And a palace enjoy in the tube of a flower ,—

Ah! why, simple lady-bird, why do you venture

The dwellings of men so familiar! to enter ?

Too soon you may find that your trust is misplaced,

When by some cruel child you are wantonly chased;

And your bright scarlet coat, so bespotted with
black,

Is torn by his barbarous hands from your back :

Ah! then you'll regret you were tempted to rove

From the tall climbing hop, or the hazel’s thick

grove

And will fondly remember each arbour and tree,

Where lately you wandered contented and free :—

Then fly, simple lady-bird !—fly away home,

No more from your nest and your children to roam.
Charlotte Smith.

) Familiar-—for familiarly.