CHERRIES ARE RIPE. CHERRIES ARE RIPE. CHERRIES are ripe, cherries are ripe, O give the baby one; Cherries are ripe, cherries are ripe, But baby shall have none : Babies are too young to choose, Cherries are too sour to use; But by-and-bye, made into a pie, No one will them refuse. Up in the tree, robin I see, Picking one by one; Shaking his bill, getting his fill, Down his throat they run. Robins want no cherry pie, My little child, patient and mild, Cherries are ripe, cherries are ripe, Be obedient, kind, and still, Waiting awhile, delighted you'll smile, And joyful eat your fill. 151 HASTINGS' NURSERY SONGS. MY MOTHER. WHEN first my eyes beheld the light, Who said those little eyes were bright, And that I was her heart's delight? My mother. Who fed me from her gentle breast, When sleep forsook my open eye, Who was it sung sweet lullaby, And rocked me that I should not cry? My mother. Who ran to help me when I fell, Who taught my infant lips to pray, THE MAGPYE'S NEST. And can I ever cease to be My mother! O no; the thought I could not bear; My mother. MRS. GILBERT. THE MAGPYE'S NEST. A' FABLE. WHEN the Arts in their infancy were, A wise Magpye constructed that rare This was talk'd of the whole country round; You might hear it on every bough sung, "Now no longer upon the rough ground Will fond mothers brood over their young: "For the Magpye, with exquisite skill 153 To her mate did each female bird say, "Let us fly to the Magpye, my dear; If she will but teach us the way, A nest we will build us up here. "It's a thing that's close arch'd over head, To the Magpye soon every bird went, She replied, "I will show you the way, "It must be begun with two sticks, And I thought that they crossed should be." Said the Pye, "Then some straw and moss mix In the way you now see done by me. "O yes, certainly," said the Jackdaw, "That must follow, of course, I have thought: Though I never before building saw, I guess'd that without being taught.” THE MAGPYE'S NEST. "More moss, straw, and feathers I place, In his turn every bird of them said, Still the Pye went on showing her art, Till a nest she had built up half-way; And this speech in their hearing she made, "If ye "When a scholar is willing to learn, He with silent submission should hear: "For whenever a Pye's nest you see, 155 MRS. LEICESTER. |