FOR CHILDREN. 71

Thy sovereign word restores the light,
And quickens all my drowsy powers. |

I yield my powers to thy command,
To thee I consecrate my days;
Perpetual blessings from thy hand
Demand perpetual songs of praise.
Watts.

 

THE NIGHTINGALE AND GLOW-WORM.

A NIGHTINGALE, that all day long
Had cheered the village with his song,
Nor yet at eve his note suspended,
Nor yet when eventide was ended,
Began to feel,—as well he might,—
The keen demands of appetite ;
When, looking eagerly around,
He spied, far off, upon the ground,
A something shining in the dark,
And knew the glow-worm by his spark,
So, stooping down from hawthorn top, —
He thought to put him in his crop.
The worm, aware of his intent,
Harangued him thus, quite eloquent—
“ Did you admire my lamp,” quoth he,
« As much as I your minstrelsy,
You would abhor to do me wrong,
As much as I to spoil your song ;
For twas the self-same power divine
Taught you to sing, and me to shine;
. That you with music, I with light,
Might beautify and cheer the night,”