Works

Give us this day our daily bread;
Oh! children, when you pray,
And morn and night repeat these words,
Think what it is you say.

You never asked a piece of bread,
And had that wish denied;...

When I play with little children
I must very gentle be;
I must always do to others
As I'd have them do to me.

I must like to give and lend them,
If they want my prettiest toy;...

"O George! how large your bubble is!
Its colors, too, how bright!
Just like the rainbow that we saw
On high, the other night.

"Now throw it off, and let it float
Like fairies in the air!...

We've the dearest baby sister!
And so small and sweet is she,
That we love to stand beside her,
All her cunning ways to see.

She can talk in baby language,
She can laugh, and she can crow;...

"Come hither, little brothers,
And listen now to me,
And I will read a story
To both, while at my knee."

Then Johnnie's flag hung idly,
And Charlie hushed his drum;
To hear sweet Mary's story...

Now, Ellen, stop screaming and running away,
And come here and listen to me;
Is it true, my dear daughter, I want you to say,
That you're foolishly scared by a bee?
...

What is Harry thinking of,
Sitting on that mossy stone?
All his brothers are at play;
Why is he so still and lone?

He is musing earnestly;
And the flutterings of the bird...

"Don't wash me, pray, mamma, today,"
I once heard little Jennie say,
"For oh! so very hard you rub,
I never want to see my tub."

"O, very well," her mother said;
"I'll put you back again to bed;...

I've just looked from the window
To see the snow come down,
And make the streets look nice and white,
That lately were so brown.

I've seen a little beggar-girl
Go by in all the cold;...

"I hear the birds sing, mother,
Yet know not what they say;
I've listened to them often
Until they flew away.

"Say if their words, dear mother,
To you are clear and plain,...