* 78 *

MR. NOBODY.

I KNOW a funny little man,

As quiet as a mouse,

Who does the mischief that is done
In everybody's house.

There's no one ever sees his face;
And yet we all agree

That every plate we break was cracked
By Mr. Nobody.

'Tis he who always tears our books,

Who leaves the door ajar;

He pulls the buttons from our skirts,

And scatters pins afar.

That squeaking door will always squeak;
For, prithee, don't you see,

We leave the oiling to be done
By Mr. Nobody?

He puts damp wood upon the fire,
That kettles cannot boil;
His are the feet that bring in mud,
And all the carpets soil.
The papers always are mislaid:

Who had them last but he?
There's no one tosses them about
But Mr. Nobody.

* 83 *

THE NOBLE MAN.

I LOVE the man who freely gives
As Heaven has blest his store;
Who shares the gifts that he receives
With those who need them more;
Whose melting heart of pity moves
For sorrow and distress;

Of all his friends, who mostly loves
The poor, the fatherless.

I love the man who scorns to be
To name or sect a slave;
Whose soul is like the sunshine, free,
Free as the ocean wave;

Who, when he sees oppression, wrong,
Speaks out in thunder tones;
Who feels, with Truth, that he is strong
To grapple e'en with thrones.

I love the man who shuns to do
An action mean or low;
Who will a noble course pursue
To stranger, friend, and foe ;
Who seeks for justice, not for gain;
Is merciful and kind;

Who will not give a needless pain
In body or in mind.

I love the man whose only pride
Is wisdom, virtue, right;

Who feels, if truth is e'er denied,
His honor has a blight;

Who ne'er evades by look or sign-
In weal or woe the same:

Methinks the glories are divine
Which cluster round his name.

D. C. COLESWORTHY.

2

* 84 *

WISHES AND REALITIES.

A CHILD'S WISHES.

I WISH I were a little bird,
To fly so far and high,

And sail along the golden clouds,

And through the azure 1 sky!

I'd be the first to see the sun
Up from the ocean spring;
And, ere it 2 touched the glittering spire,3
His ray should gild my wing.

Above the hills I'd watch him still,
Far down the crimson west,
And sing to him my evening song
Ere yet I sought my rest;

azure (a'zhur), of a delicate blue color.

ere it, before it, that is, the sun's ray mentioned in the next line.

8 spire, the upper, tapering part of a church steeple.

And many a land I then should see,
As hill and plain I crossed;

Nor fear, through all the pathless sky,
That I should e'er be lost.

I'd fly where, round the olive bough,
The vine its tendrils weaves,
And shelter from the noonbeams seek
Among the myrtle leaves.

Now if I climb our highest hill,

How little can I see!

Oh had I but a pair of wings,
How happy should I be !

REPLY.

Wings cannot soar above the sky,
As thou in thought canst do;
Nor can the veiling clouds confine
Thy mental eye's keen view;
Not to the sun dost thou chant forth
Thy simple evening hymn :
Thou praisest Him before whose smile
The noonday sun grows dim.

But thou mayst learn to trace the sun
Around the earth and sky,

And see him rising, setting still

Where distant oceans lie;

1 mental eye, that is, the mind, which may figuratively be said to see what it thinks about.

To other lands the bird may guide
His pinions through the air:
Ere yet he rest his wings, thou art,
In thought, before him there.

Though strong and free, his wing may droop,
Or bands restrain his flight;

THOUGHT none may stay ·more fleet its course

Than swiftest beams of light.

A lovelier clime than birds can find,
While summers go and come,
Beyond this earth remains for those
Whom God doth summon home.

* 85 *

GENTLE DEEDS.

'Tis better far one breast to cheer
Than bear a hero's name;
To heal one heart, or dry a tear,
Is sweeter far than fame.

To shield the right, the wrong prevent,

To take away a pain,

To love the pure and innocent,
Are noblest traits of men.

With all the fame of battle-fields
That smoke with human blood,
A gentle deed an incense yields
That rises nearer God.