INTRODUCTION.

IPING down the valleys wild,
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,

And he laughing said to me :—

"Pipe a song about a lamb :"

So I piped with merry cheer.
"Piper, pipe that song again :"
So I piped; he wept to hear.

"Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe,
Sing thy songs of happy cheer:"
So I sung the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.

66

'Piper, sit thee down and write In a book that all may read—" So he vanish'd from my sight; And I pluck'd a hollow reed,

And I made a rural pen,
And I stain'd the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.

THE SHEPHERD.

Ho

OW sweet is the shepherd's sweet lot; From the morn to the evening he strays; He shall follow his sheep all the day, And his tongue shall be filled with praise.

For he hears the lamb's innocent call,
And he hears the ewe's tender reply;
He is watchful while they are in peace,
For they know when their shepherd is nigh.

THE ECHOING GREEN.

HE sun does arise

THE

And make happy the skies;

The merry bells ring

To welcome the Spring;

The skylark and thrush,

The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around

To the bells' cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the echoing green.

Old John with white hair

Does laugh away care,

Sitting under the oak

Among the old folk.

They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say:
"Such, such were the joys
When we, all girls and boys,
In our youthtime were seen
On the echoing green."

Till the little ones, weary,
No more can be merry;

The sun does descend,

And our sports have an end.

Round the laps of their mothers

Many sisters and brothers,

Like birds in their nest,

Are ready for rest;

And sport no more seen

On the darkening green.