I knocked at the doors of the years in vain
For crueller theft than he thieved before;
That the strength of my life was builded on.
Old Time! At last thou shalt lie in thy bed,
And the strength of the life to come shall
In the great revenge I will have of thee!
Not yours the sole lapse that the world ever
Go down, step by step, to the dirt through
In the church and the mart and the nation.
A yielding of that, and a dropping of this,--
"In righteousness walking," the Scripture
"They rest in their beds," and find blessed
At random declared, to be scoffingly heard,
It shall always be gospel, what always was
And to soul of mankind shall no Sabbath be
Save that it lies down and contents with.
Says little Robin Redbreast, catch me if you can!
Little Robin Redbreast hopped upon a spade;
Pussy-cat jumped after him, and then he was afraid;
Little Robin chirped and sung, and what did pussy say?
Pussy said, Me-ow! Me-ow! and Robin flew away."
The cheer of life, in the green of life, what-
The care of life, and the fear of life, it
A quick, bold pair, that scampers fair, is
All of leafy green, and for joy, I ween, the
There 's death in our work, there's fear to
Little Robin chirped and sung, and what did
"When I was a bachelor, I lived by myself,
And all the bread and cheese I got I put upon a shelf.
The rats and the mice, they made such a strife,
I was forced to go to London to get me a wife.
The streets were so broad, and the lanes were so nar-
I was forced to bring my wife home in a wheelbarrow.
The wheelbarrow broke, and my wife had a fall,
|Of course it did. Whatever could you pos-
You chose a quite peculiar style to cherish
From the very frank preamble of your pre-
When all the bread and cheese you got you
You were managing quite finely till the rats
With other prompting, that a wife must be
But in no other sense, it seems, arrange for
The generous thoroughfares of life were too
The old plan was a careful one; but it could
Till the poor little wife and all had got a
Broke midway in the struggle: a providen-
The usual meek accounting for of such mis-
As if it were the method of the wisdom and
Ah, friend! of God's mechanics you mistake
On no weak, single centre runs the perfect
But one circuit round the sun,--one self-