246 SELECT POETRY

Unless in desperaffPaeed you'll fill ye
With root of fern and stalk of lily.

There missiles to far distance sent

Come whizzing back from whence they went.
There a voracious ewe-sheep crams

Her paunch with flesh of tender lambs ;
While, ’stead of bread, and beef, and broth,
Men feast on many a roasted moth.

There quadrupeds go on two feet,

And yet few quadrupeds so fleet.

There birds, although they cannot fly,

In swiftness with the greyhound vie.

With equal wonder you may see

The foxes fly from tree to tree;

And what they value most, so wary,

These foxes in their pockets carry.

The sun when you to face him turn ye,
From right to left performs his journey.
The north winds scorch, but when the breeze is
Full from the south, why then it freezes.
Now of what place can such strange tales
Be told with truth but New South Wales ?

 

THE DAME SCHOOLMISTRESS.

Iw yonder cot, along whose mouldering wails,

In many a fold, the mantling woodbine falls,
The village matron kept her little school—
Gentle of heart, yet knowing well to rule ;

Staid was the dame, and modest was her mien ;
Her garb was coarse, yet whole, and nicely clean: