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ARBOR BAY MAR UAL. 
Written for the Arbor Day Manual. 
LIFE IN ITS SPRING-TIME. 
FOR A BOY’S RECITATION. 
,r PIS the time to be cheerful, when nature is gay, 
1 And others are bearing our burdens of care, 
The bright morning-glories of life’s coming day, 
All vie with the beauties and blossoms of May, 
’Tis life in its spring-time all beauty and fair. 
’Tis the time to be thankful, with guardians blest, 
Whose loves are as deep as the depths of the sea, 
When earth is new-robing and clad in her best; 
In the anthem’s loud swell we will join with the rest 
With ever the chorus “ the land of the free. ” 
’Tis the seed-time whose harvest the autumn shall bring, 
When treasures most precious we give to the soil, 
And trust to the nurture and vigor of spring 
While firm to the promise we joyfully cling,— 
That the sower shall reap the rich fruit of his toil. 
With nature’s great soul ’tis the time to commune, 
From the harmony outward, our thoughts turn within. 
To know if the voices of each are in tune; 
That the sweet buds of May bear the roses of June, 
And joy crown the harvest of sheaves gathered in. 
’Tis the spring-time of youth, with the birds and the bowers ; 
The seeding and budding, the fruit we must reap. 
Not all of our life will be sunshine and flowers ,; 
But through summer and autumn the best will be ours, 
If to nature we’re' true, and her harmony keep. 
Watertown, N. Y. E. A. Holbrook. 
CHERRY RIPE. 
(ADAPTED.) 
M AY time ! May time ! 
Hear the robins sing 
M 
“ Cherry ripe ! cherry ripe ! 
Happy children shout, 
All through the cherry boughs 
Flits the restless wing. 
Under the sunny skies 
What a jolly rout! 
Bobolink ! come and drink 
Wine from goblets red, 
Take your fill ;— pay no bill,. 
Cherries ripe are free ;— 
Such a chatter ; what’s the matter 
Bob and robin have a party 
In the cherry tree. 
In the boughs o’erhead ? 
Kate L. Brown. 
