The Boy and the Cricket
At length I have thee! my brisk new-comer,
Sounding thy lay to departing summer;
And I’ll take thee up from thy bed of grass,
And carry thee home to a house of glass;
Where thy slender limbs, and the faded green
Of thy close-made coat, can all be seen.
For I long to know if the cricket sings,
Or plays the tune with his gauzy wings;—
To bring that shrill-toned pipe to light
Which kept me awake so long last night,
That I told the hours by the lazy clock,
Till I heard the crow of the noisy cock;
When, tossing and turning, at length I fell
In a sleep so strange, that the dream I’ll tell.
Methought, on a flowery bank I lay,
By a beautiful stream; and watched the play
Of the sparkling wavelets, that fled so fast,
I could not number them as they passed.
But I marked the things which they carried by;
And a neat little skiff first caught my eye.
’Twas woven of reeds, and its sides were bound
By a tender vine, that had clasped it round;
And spreading within, had made it seem
A basket of leaves, borne down the stream.
And the skiff had neither a sail nor oar;
But a bright little boy stood up, and bore,
On his outstretched hands, a wreath so gay,
It looked like a crown for the Queen of May.
And while he was going, I heard him sing,
“O seize the garland of passing Spring! ”
But I dared not reach, for the bank was steep;
And he bore it away, to the far off deep!
There came, then, a lady;—her eye was bright—
She was young and fair, and her bark was light;
Its mast was a living tree, that spread
Its boughs for a sail, o’er the lady’s head.
And some of its fruits had just begun
To flush, on the side that was next the sun;
And some with the crimson streak were stained;
While others their size had not yet gained.
In passing she cried, “Oh! who can insure
The fruits of Summer to get mature?
For, fast as the waters beneath me flowing,
Beyond recall, I’m going! I’m going!”
I turned my eye, and beheld another,
That seemed as she might be Summer’s mother.
She looked more grave; while her cheek was tinged
With a deeper brown; and her bark was fringed
With the tasselled heads of the wheaten sheaves
Along its sides; and the yellow leaves,
That had covered the deck concealed a throng
Of Crickets! —I knew by their choral song.
And at Autumn’s feet lay the golden corn,
While her hands were raised, to invert a horn
That was filled with a sweet and mellow store,
And the purple clusters were hanging o’er.
She bade me seize on the fruit that should last
When the harvest was gone, and Autumn had past.
But, when I had paused to make the choice,
I saw no bark! and I heard no voice!
Then I looked on a sight that chilled my blood!
’Twas a mass of ice, where an old man stood
On his frozen float; while his shrivelled hand
Had clenched, as a staff by which to stand,
A whitened branch that the blast had broke
From the lifeless trunk of an aged oak.
The icicles hung from the naked limb,
And the old man’s eye was sunken and dim.
But his scattering locks were silver bright,
His beard with gathering frost was white;
The tears congealed on his furrowed cheek,
His garb was thin, and the winds were bleak.
He faintly uttered, while drawing near,
" Winter, the death of the short-lived year,
Can yield thee nought, as I downward tend
To the boundless sea, where the Seasons end!
But I trust from others, who’ve gone before,
Thou’st clothed thy form, and supplied thy store
And now, what tidings am I to bear
Of thee—for I shall be questioned there?”
I asked my mother, who o’er me bent,
What all this show of the Seasons meant?
She said ’twas a picture of Life, I saw;
And the useful moral myself must draw!
I woke, and found that thy song was stilled,
And the sun’s bright beams my room had filled!
But I think, my Cricket, I long shall keep
In mind the dream of my morning sleep!
Fanny Spy
Lucy, Lucy, come away!
Never climb for things so high.
Don’t you know, the other day,
What fell out with Fanny Spy?
Fanny spied, a loaf of cake,
Wisely set above her reach;
Yet did Fanny think to make
In its tempting side a breach.
When she thought the family
Out of sight and hearing too,
Forth a polished table she
Quickly to the closet drew.
First, she stepped upon a chair;
Then the table—then a shelf;
Thinking she securely there
Might, unnoticed, help herself.
Then she seized a heavy slice,
Leaving in the loaf a cleft
Wider than a dozen mice,
Feasted there all night, had left.
Stepping backward, Fanny slid
On the table’s polished face:—
Down she came, with dish and lid,
Silver—glass—and china vase!
In, from every room they rushed,
Father—mother—servants—all,
Thinking all the closet crushed,
By the racket and the fall.
’Mid the uproar of the house,
Fanny, in her shame and fright,
Wished herself indeed a mouse,
But to run and hide from sight.
Yet was she to learn how vain,
Poor and worthless, is a wish.
Wishing could not lull her pain,
Hide her shame, nor mend a dish.
There she lay, but could not speak;
For a tooth had made a pass
Through her lip; and to her cheek
Clung a piece of shivered glass.
From her altered features gushed
Rolling tears, and streaming gore;
While, untasted still, and crushed,
Lay her cake upon the floor.
Then the doctor hurried in:
Fanny at his needle swooned,
As he held her crimson chin,
And together stitched the wound.
Now her face a scar must wear,
Ever till her dying day!
Questioned how it happened there,
What can blushing Fanny say?