BY THE WAYSIDE. 
71 
Were mad to fly forth from their nests in the 
north, and follow the tail of the bird. 
Besides., it is true to our wisdom is due the 
knowledge of sciences all, 
And chiefly those rare metaphysics of air, men 
Meteorology call. 
For indeed it is said a kingfisher when dead 
has his science alive in him still; 
And, hung up, will show how the wind means 
to blow, and turn to the point with his bill. 
And men in their words acknowledge the birds’ 
. erudition in weather and star; 
For they say “’Twill be dry—the swallow is 
high;” or, “Rain—for the chough is afar.” 
’Twas the rooks who taught men vast pam¬ 
phlets to pen upon Social Compact and Law, 
And Parliaments hold, as themselves did of old, 
exclaiming “Hear, Hear,” for “Caw, Caw!” 
When they build, if one steal so great is their 
zeal for justice, that all, at a pinch, 
Without legal test will demolish his nest, and 
hence is the trial by Lynch. 
And whence arose Love? Go ask of the dove, 
[ T 
or behold how the titmouse, unresting, 
Both early and late still sings by his mate, 
to lighten her labors of nesting. 
Their bonds never gall, tho’ the leaves shoot 
and fall, and the seasons roll round in their 
course, 
For their marriage each year grows more 
k lovely and dear, and they know not decrees 
of divorce. 
That these things are Truth we have learned 
from our youth, for our hearts to our cus¬ 
toms incline, 
l £ 
As the river® that roll from the fount of the 
soul, immortal, unchanging, divine. 
Han, simple and old, in his ages of gold, de¬ 
rived from our teaching true light, 
And deemed it his praise in his ancestors’ 
ways to govern his footsteps aright. 
But the fountain of woes, Philosophy, rose, and 
what betwixt Reason and Whim, 
le has splintered our rules into sections and 
schools, so the world is made bitter for him. 
But the birds, since on earth they discovered 
the worth of their souls, and resolved with 
a vow, 
so custom to change for a new or a strange, 
have attained unto Paradise now. 
The Quality of Mercy. 
Half a dozen good women sat about a blaz¬ 
ing open fire, talking of how to teach their chil¬ 
dren to be gentle. A little gray spider, thawed 
from her winter torpor by the heat, crept out 
on to the floor from a pile of wood beside the 
fireplace. 
“Ugh! Step on it!” cried one. 
“Throw it into the fire!” exclaimed another. 
“Kill it! It will bite you!” said a third. 
Poor little Epeira domiciliorum, quiet, unob¬ 
trusive, harmless, endowed with wonderful in¬ 
stincts and powers beyond the comprehension 
of those who would persecute you, not that day 
were*you to be made a burnt sacrifice to ignor¬ 
ance. A friendly hand closed over you and you 
were released on a pot of blossoming primroses 
by the window. E. (}. P. 
Floral Enigmas. 
My first is wrinkled and uncouth, 
A little garden friend; 
My second, when we weary stand, 
May some good fortune send! 
My whole is found in leafy wood, 
In brown, white, scarlet clad, 
The fairies, when they give a tea, 
Of its support are glad. 
My first is what our baby is 
Above a million others; 
My second in seclusion lies 
With half a dozen brothers; 
My whole in dainty pink and white, 
Climbs ever upward toward the light. 
t 
My first would let the world go by 
While thinking on his clothes, 
He long before the mirror stands, 
A grain of dust he loathes; 
A king my second oft is called, 
Although his royal right 
To wear that title has been won 
By dint of savage might; 
My whole —the lavish gold that Spring 
Flings all along her way— 
Gladly the little children seize, 
To help them in their play. 
—From St. Nicholas. 
