Set to the north wind like a sail. It came to pass, our little lass, Had melted from the frost's eclipse: Half lost within her boots, her head Her scarlet hood could scarcely show She dropped for bird and beast forlorn Before your supper's blown away! Don't be afraid, we all are good; O Thou whose care is over all, Som'ber, black; flěck, speck, or streak; crest'ed (krěs'těd), having a tuft of feathers on the head; pois'ing, balancing; a lert' (a lûrt'), ready, lively; plaid, checkered cloth; floun'dered, moved with difficulty; be spōke', addressed; cult'ured (kŭl'), educated, mature; polish, refinement; sen ti měn'tal, unreal. STUDY HELPS Describe the scene presented in the first paragraph. What came to pass? What did "our little lass" think the jays and the crow and the squirrel were doing? Tell what she did. Read what she said to her guests. Why is she called "Red Riding-Hood"? What does the poet pray that she may keep as she grows older? Read the two lines that tell how the grown woman may "make good the promise of Red Riding-Hood." THE CROW'S CHILDREN (Dramatized from the poem by Phoebe Cary) [Assign the parts: Huntsman and Old Crow. Give the Huntsman a pointer to carry for a gun, and a string, with pieces of paper attached, to represent the string of crows. Have the Crow stand on the corner of the teacher's desk, or on a chair.] (Huntsman walks across the front of the room, whistling, and Old Crow caws from the withered tree.) SCHOOL: A huntsman bearing his gun afield, Went whistling merrily; When he heard the blackest of black crows Call out from a withered tree. OLD CROW: You are going to kill the thievish birds, And I would if I were you; But you must n't touch my family, HUNTSMAN: I'm only going to kill the birds And if your young ones do such things, OLD CROW: Oh, my children Are the best ones ever born; HUNTSMAN: But how shall I know which ones they are? (Huntsman comes home with a string of crows hanging down his back.) SCHOOL: When, lo! she saw the hunter Taking his homeward track With a string of crows as long as his gun, OLD CROW: Alack! Alack! What in the world have you done? HUNTSMAN (looking surprised): Your birds! Why, I found them in my corn; OLD CROW (in an angry tone): |