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;...

"Where are the angels, mother?
Though you have often said
They watched at night around me,
And safely kept my bed;

"Though every night I listen
Their voices low to hear,...

A rain once fell upon the earth
For many a day and night,
And hid the flowers, the grass, the trees,
The birds and beasts, from sight.

The deep waves covered all the land,...

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...

Stop, naughty pussy! that's not fair!
Jump down this minute from the chair!
You've eaten my nice slice of bread.
And here are only crumbs instead.

I for a minute left the room...

"I was walking, dearest mother,
This morning, by the brook,
And tired at last I rested me
Within a shady nook.

"There all was still and lonely,
And suddenly I heard...

Of the childhood of our Saviour
Tells one simple verse alone;
Yet from that his whole behavior
When he was a child, is known.

He was subject to his mother,
So the holy Scriptures say;...

"What are the flowers for, mamma,
That spring up fresh and bright,
And grow on every hill and plain,
Where'er I turn my sight?

"How do the flowers grow, mamma?
I've pulled the leaves away,...

"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;...

God made the bright, round sun;
He made the pretty flowers;
The little birds, the trees, the clouds
The rain that falls in showers.

He made papa, mamma,
And baby brother, too;...

Spring has come, dear mother!
I've a violet found,
Growing in its beauty
From the cold, dark ground.

You are sad, dear mother,
Tears are in your eye;
You're not glad to see it;...

Silence! stir not! for a whisper
Would affright thy pretty prey;
Not a motion, little lisper,
Else the fish will glide away.

Hush! he's coming! he is swimming
Slowly round and round the bait;...

A new-born babe was sleeping
Within its cradle fair,
And angel guards were keeping
Its peaceful slumbers there.

Gone was the age of fairies,
And of the elfins wild,...

Come, sister Ellen, get your hat
And come away with me;
My boat, all rigged with mast and sail,
I want you so to see!

Do you upon the landing stand,
While here I'll kneel and blow,...

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;...

Little Lucy was left in the room once alone,
Where the table was set out for tea;
She looked all around, and she thought to herself
That no one was there who could see.
...

"O Mother! here's the organ-man,
And here's the monkey, too!
Just see his funny gown of red,
And little cap of blue!

"O look! he's on the window there!
His cap is in his paw;...