 | Moral songs |  |
20
THE BOY AND THE BEE.
An idle boy had laid his head
Down in a meadow full of flowers,
With daisy buds around him spread,
And clover blossoms white and red,
So fragrant after showers.
Down in a meadow full of flowers,
With daisy buds around him spread,
And clover blossoms white and red,
So fragrant after showers.
And as he lay with half-shut eye,
Watching the hazy light, came flying
A busy bee with laden thigh,
Across the blossoms growing by
The spot where he was lying.
Watching the hazy light, came flying
A busy bee with laden thigh,
Across the blossoms growing by
The spot where he was lying.
“Oh, busy bee,” the boy begun
“Stay with me, now you've come at last;
I love to see across the sun,
Like gossamer so finely spun,
Your wings go sailing past.”
“Stay with me, now you've come at last;
I love to see across the sun,
Like gossamer so finely spun,
Your wings go sailing past.”
But with a low and surly hum,
The bee into a blossom flew,
As if the living creature dumb,
Had answered short, “I cannot come,
I've something else to do.”
The bee into a blossom flew,
As if the living creature dumb,
Had answered short, “I cannot come,
I've something else to do.”
“Oh, bee, you're such a little thing,”
The idle boy went on to say;
“What matters all that you can bring?
You'd better rest your silver wing,
And have a bit of play.”
The idle boy went on to say;
“What matters all that you can bring?
You'd better rest your silver wing,
And have a bit of play.”
21
But with his sullen hum, and slow,
The bee passed on, and would not stay,
As though he murmured, “Don't you know
That little things must work below,
Each in his little way?”
The bee passed on, and would not stay,
As though he murmured, “Don't you know
That little things must work below,
Each in his little way?”
I know not if the idler caught,
This lesson from the busy bee,
But through his mind there came a thought
As it flew by him: “Is there nought,
No work to do for me?
This lesson from the busy bee,
But through his mind there came a thought
As it flew by him: “Is there nought,
No work to do for me?
“My sister asked me on the wall
To nail her rose's long green shoot,
The rose she likes the best of all,
Because the lady at the hall
In Autumn gave the root.
To nail her rose's long green shoot,
The rose she likes the best of all,
Because the lady at the hall
In Autumn gave the root.
“Poor baby has been hard to cheer,
All day he would not sleep or smile;
I might go home and fetch him here,
And pluck him flowers, while mother dear
Should rest a little while.
All day he would not sleep or smile;
I might go home and fetch him here,
And pluck him flowers, while mother dear
Should rest a little while.
“Go dive into the clover red,
Old bee, and hum your surly tune,
And pack your honey close,” he said,
Upspringing from his grassy bed,
“I'll be as busy soon.”
Old bee, and hum your surly tune,
And pack your honey close,” he said,
Upspringing from his grassy bed,
“I'll be as busy soon.”
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