WHEN the field lies clear in the moon, boy, And the wood hangs dark on the hill, When the long white way shows never a sleigh, And the sound of the bells is still,
Then hurry, hurry, hurry! And bring the toboggans along; Tell mother she need not worry, Then off with a shout and a song.
A-tilt on the billowy slope, boy, Like a boat that bends to the sea, With the heart a-tilt in your breast, boy, And your chin well down on your knee,
Then over, over, over, As the boat skims over the main, A plunge and a swoop, a gasp and a whoop, And away o’er the glittering plain!
The boat, and the bird, and the breeze, boy, Which the poet is apt to sing, Are old and slow and clumsy, I know, By us that have never a wing.
Still onward, onward, onward! Till the brook joins the meadow below, And then with a shout, see us tumbling out, To plunge in the soft, deep snow.
Back now by the side of the hedge, boy, Where the roses in summer blow, Where the snow lies deep o’er their winter sleep, Up, up the big hill we go.
And stumbling, tumbling, stumbling, Hurrah! ’tis the top we gain! Draw breath for a minute before you begin it— Now, over, and over again!
UP and down and up we go! I am an eagle and you are a crow: Flap your wings, and away we fly, Over the tree-top, up to the sky.
Up and down and up we go! I am an albatross white as snow, You are a sea-gull, winging free Out and away to the open sea.
Up and down and up we go! I am a wild duck sinking low, You are a wild goose soaring high, The hunter is after us! fly! oh, fly!
Tumble and bump! and down we go! My leg is broken! oh! oh! OH!! Your nose bleeding? poor little Tot! Well, never mind! let’s play we are shot!
THE mother robin woke up in the early morning and roused her three children.
“Breakfast time, my dears!” she said; “and a good time for a flying lesson, besides. You did well enough yesterday, but to-day you must do better. You must fly down to the ground, and then I will show you how to get worms for yourselves. You will soon be too old to be fed, and I cannot have you more backward than the other broods.”
The young robins were rather frightened, for they had only had two short flying lessons, taking little flapping flutters among the branches. The ground seemed a long, long way off!