12

THE BOYS’ BROWNING.

Ay, and ever to the ending,
Cricket chirps at need,
Executes the hand’s intending,
Promptly, perfectly, — indeed
Saves the singer from defeat
With her chirrup low and sweet.

Till, at ending, all the judges
Cry with one assent

“Take the prize — a prize who grudges
Such a voice and instrument?

Why, we took your lyre for harp,

So it shrilled us forth F sharp!”

Did the conqueror spurn the creature,
Once its service done ?
That’s no such uncommon feature
In the case when Music’s son
Finds his Lotte’s power too spent
For aiding soul-development.

No! This other, on returning
Homeward, prize in hand,
Satisfied his bosom’s yearning:
(Sir, I hope you understand !)
— Said “Some record there must be
Of this cricket’s help to me!”

So, he made himself a statue:
Marble stood, life-size ;