114 SELECT POETRY

CHILDREN LISTENING TO A LARK.

Sze the lark prunes his active wings,
Rises to heaven, and soars, and sings !
His morning hymns, his mid-day lays,
Are one continued song of praise ;
He speaks his Maker all he can,
And shames the silent tongue of man.
When the declining orb of light, _.
Reminds him of approaching night,
His warbling vespers' swell his breast,
And, as he sings, he sinks to rest.
Shall birds instructive lessons teach,
And we be deaf to what they preach ?
No, ye dear nestlings of my heart,
Go, act the wiser songster’s part; -
Spurn your warm couch at early dawn,
And with your God begin the morn ;
To Him your grateful tribute pay
Through every period of the day;
To Him your evening songs direct ;
His eye shall watch, His arm protect ;
Though darkness reigns, He’s with you stiil,
Then sleep, my babes, and fear no ill.
Cotton.

 

THE BIRD'S NEST.

Tz wins my admiration
To view the structure of that little work,
A bird’s nest. Mark it well within, without !—

' Vespers—properly, the evening service of the Roman
Catholic church ; here, evening songs.