ARBOR DA Y MANUAL. 
IO 
MYSELF. 
A ND I “ was smart,” and all the springs 
On all the hills could show ; 
And if there were some grammar things 
I didn’t care to know. 
I knew the trees where slept the crows * 
And, on the water’s brim, 
I climbed among the hemlock boughs 
To watch the fishes swim. 
I always knew how many boughs 
The latest tempest broke, 
And just how far the woodpecker 
Had girdled ’round the oak. 
I knew beside the swollen rill, 
What flowers to bloom had burst ; 
And where, upon the south sloped hill,. 
The berries ripened first. 
Each violet tuft, each cowslip green. 
Each daisy on the lea, 
I counted one by one, for they 
Were kith and kin to me. 
Published by James Vick , Rochester. Harriet Ellen Arey. 
IF I WERE A BIRD. 
I F I were a bird I would warble a song, 
The sweetest and finest that ever was 
heard, 
And build me a nest on the swinging elm 
Oh, that’s what I’d do if were a bird. 
If I were a flower I’d hasten to bloom, 
And make myself beautiful all the day 
through, 
With drinking the sunshine, the wind, and 
the rain ; 
Oh, if I were a flower, that’s what I’d da 
“ Once as our Saviour walked with men below, 
His path of mercy through a forest lay ; 
And mark how all the drooping branches show 
What homage best a silent-tree may pay. 
Only the aspen stood erect and free, 
Scorning to join the voiceless worship pure. 
But see ! He casts one look upon the tree, 
Struck to the heart she trembles,evermore.” 
German Legend. 
Full in the midst a spreading elm displayed 
His aged arms, and cast a mighty shade ; 
Each trembling leaf with some light vision teems. 
And leaves impregnated with airy dreams. 
Virgil. 
