The Wild Hare
Now this must be a bunny!
I know it by its ears!
Those gentle wildland creatures,
Such timid pretty dears!
(Child sings:)
O, yes, I am a bunny!
I’ve seen you as you pass
My little hidden bower
Built in the wildland grass.
(Mother sings, seeking to capture child:)
Pray let me catch you, bunny!
O, let me, rabbit dear,
And take you to the children—
Nay, bunny, do not fear!
(Child sings, springing away in little leaps:)
I am a free wild bunny!
To catch me who shall dare!
I am no timid rabbit rabbit—
I am a wild swift hare!
Nay, bunny, stop and listen,
And tell me many things!
Say, is a hare’s life pleasant?
But no—away it springs!
Stop, stop, and tell me, bunny,
Where stay you when night comes?
(Child sings:)
O, all the great green wildland
Is full of little homes!
(Mother sings:)
And tell me, pretty bunnies,
What do you have to eat?
(Children sing:)
O, twig and leaf and berry
Are bunny’s bread and meat.
(Mother sings, shuddering:)
But oh! the owls and foxes
That hunt you for their prey!
(Children sing, springing away:)
Then on our leaping long-legs
We bunnies streak away!