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My youth is but a summer's day;
Then like the prudent ant I'll lay
A store of learning by ;

And though from flow'r to flow'r I rove,
My stock of wisdom I'll improve,
Nor be a butterfly.

CRADLE HYMN.

HUSH, my dear, lie still, and slumber; Holy angels guard thy bed! Heavenly blessings without number, Gently falling on thy head.

Sleep, my babe; thy food and raiment,
House and home, thy friends provide;
And without thy care or payment,
All thy wants are well supplied.

How much better thou'rt attended
Than the Son of God could be,
When from heaven he descended
And became a child like thee.

Soft and easy is thy cradle ;-
Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay,

When his birth-place was a stable,
And his softest bed was hay.

Blessed habe! what glorious features,
Spotless, fair, divinely bright!

Must he dwell with brutal creatures?
How could angels bear the sight?

Was there nothing but a manger,
Cursed sinners could afford,
To receive the heav'nly stranger?
Did they thus affront the Lord?

Soft, my child, I did notchide thee,
Though my song might sound too hard;

"Tis thy mother sits beside thee,

And her arms shall be thy guard.

Yet, to read the shameful story,
How the Jews abus'd their King;
How they serv'd the Lord of Glory,
Makes me angry while I sing.

See the kindred shepherds round him,

Telling wonders from the sky!

Where they sought him, there they found him,
With his Virgin-Mother by.

See the lovely babe a-dressing,--
Lovely infant, how he smil'd!
When he wept the mother's blessing
Sooth'd and bush'd the holy child.

Lo! be slumbers in the manger,

Where the horned oxen fed!

Peace, my darling, here's no danger,
There's no ox a-near thy bed.

"Twas to save thee, child, from dying,
Save my dear from burning flame,
Bitter groans and endless crying,
That thy blest Redeemer came.

May'st thou live to know and fear him
Trust and love him all thy days;
Then go dwell for ever near him,
See his face and sing his praise.

I could give thee thousand kisses,
Hoping what I most desire;
Not a mother's fondest wishes
Can to greater joys aspire.

SPRING.

WHEN green grass first begins to spring,

And daffodils appear,

When robins in the morning sing,

Then pleasant spring is near.

In pleasant spring, the gardens round,
With blossoms are all gay;

Then joyous is the cuckoo's sound.
For Winter's far away.

Summer comes next with sultry hours;
When in the field is seen;

The mower sweeping grass and flow'rs
Before him on the green.

'Tis Autumn, when the reaper goes
To bind the yellow corn,
When apples ripen on the boughs,
And red haws on the thorn.

With hoary frost, and rain and snow,
Dark Winter follows near,
Thus Seasons, as they come and go,
"Record the rolling year."

Father of all, th' Almighty bade
The Spring's sweet blossoms rise;
The Summer's fruit his goodness made,
Whilst bounteous Autumn by his aid
The Winter food supplies.

HAY TIME.

THE grass and flowers which clothe the field,
And look so green and gay;
Touch'd by the scythe, defenceless yield,
And fall and fade away.

Fit emblem of our fallen state!

Thus in the scripture glass,

The young, the strong, the wise, the great, May see themselves but grass

Oh! trust not to your fleeting breath,

Nor call your time your own;
Around, you see the scythe of death
Is mowing thousands down.

And you who hitherto are spared,
Must shortly yield your lives;
Your wisdom is to be prepar'd,
Before the stroke arrives.

The grass when dead revive no more;
You die to live again;

But oh! if death should prove the door
To everlasting pain!

Lord, help us to obey thy call,

That, from our sins set free,

When like the grass our bodies fall,
Our souls may spring to thee.

THE SOWER.

YE sons of earth, prepare the plough,
Break up your fallow ground:

The sower is gone forth to sow,

And scatters blessings round.

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