626

THE PAPER KITE.
‘NEWTON.

‘Mr waking dreams are best concealed :
Much folly, little good they yield ;

But now and then I gain, when sleeping,
‘A friendly hint, that’s worth the keeping :
Lately I dreamed of one who eried,
“Beware of self, beware of pride ;

‘When you are prone to build a Babel,
Recal fo mind this little fable :”.

 

Once on atime, a paper kite
‘Was mounted to a wondrous height,
‘Where, giddy with its elevation,

Tt thus expressed selfadmiration :
«See how yon crowds of gazing people
Admire my flight above the steeple :

How would they wonder if they knew
‘All that a kite like me can do!

‘Were I but free, ’d take a flight,

And pierce the clouds beyond their sight ;
But ab, like a poor prisoner bound,

‘My string confines me near the ground :
Td brave the eagle's towering wing,

‘Might I but fly without my string.”

It tugged and pulled, while thus it spoke,
‘To break the string; at last, it broke :
Deprived at once of all its stay,

In vain it tried to soar away 3

Table its own weight to bear,

It fluttered downward through the air;
Unable its own course to guide,

The winds soon plunged it in the tide :
Ah, foolish kite, thou hadst no wing
How couldst thou fly without a string?