¥UR CHILDREN. 267

On the gay bosom of some fragrant flower
They idly fluttering live their little hour ;
Their life all pleasure, and their task all play,
All spring their age, and sunshine all their day.

What atom forms of insect life appear!

And who can follow Nature’s pencil here P

Their wings with azure, green, and purple glossed,
Studded with coloured eyes, with gems embossed,
Inlaid with pearl, and marked with various stains
Of lively crimson through their dusky veins.
Some shoot like living stars athwart the night
And scatter from their wings a vivid light,!

To guide the Indian to his tawny loves,

As through the wood with cautious steps he moves.

See the proud giant of the beetle race;

What shining arms his polished limbs enchase !

Like some stern warrior, formidably bright,

His steely sides reflect a gleaming light ;

On his large forehead spreading horns he wears ;

And high in air the branching antlers bears ;

O’er many an inch extends his wide domain,

And his rich treasury swells with hoarded grain.
Mrs. Barbauld.

 

THE KID.

A TEAR bedews my Delia’s eye

To think yon playful kid must die ;
From crystal spring and flowery mead
Must, in his prime of life, recede.

1 Some shoot, &c.—the fireflies, which are very abundant
in South America and the West Indies.