This is ever their dolorous tune:

"Gold, gold! ever more gold,

Bright red gold for dearie!"

Deep in the hill the yeoman delves
All night long, all night long;
None but the peering, furtive elves
See his toil and hear his song;
Merrily ever the cavern rings

As merrily ever his pick he swings,
And merrily ever this song he sings:
"Gold, gold! ever more gold,—
Bright red gold for dearie!"

Mother is rocking thy lowly bed
All night long, all night long,
Happy to smooth thy curly head,

To hold thy hand and to sing her song:
'T'is not of the hill-folk dwarfed and old,
Nor the song of thy father, stanch and bold,
And the burthen it beareth is not of gold.
But it's "Love, love! nothing but love—
Mother's love for dearie!"

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

67

WYNKEN, BLYNKEN, AND NOD

WYNKEN, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe--

Sailed on a river of crystal light,

Into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"

The old moon asked the three.

"We have come to fish for the herring fish That live in this beautiful sea;

Nets of silver and gold have we !"

Said Wynken,
Blynken,

And Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.

The little stars were the herring fish

That lived in that beautiful sea-

"Now cast your nets wherever you wish-

Never afeard are we;

So cried the stars to the fishermen three:

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.

All night long their nets they threw

To the stars in the twinkling foam—

Then down from the skies came the wooden

shoe,

Bringing the fishermen home;

'T was all so pretty a sail it seemed

As if it could not be,

And some folks thought 't was a dream they'd dreamed

Of sailing that beautiful sea—

But I shall name you the fishermen three:

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,

And Nod is a little head,

And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies

Is a wee one's trundle-bed.

So shut your eyes while mother sings

Of wonderful sights that be,

Buttercup, Poppy, Forget-me-not 69

And you shall see the beautiful things

As you rock in the misty sea,

Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.

BUTTERCUP, POPPY, FORGET-ME-NOT

BUTTERCUP, Poppy, Forget-me-not—
These three bloomed in a garden spot;
And once, all merry with song and play,
A little one heard three voices say:
"Shine and shadow, summer and spring,
O thou child with the tangled hair
And laughing eyes! we three shall bring
Each an offering passing fair."

The little one did not understand,

But they bent and kissed the dimpled hand.

Buttercup gambolled all day long,
Sharing the little one's mirth and song;
Then, stealing along on misty gleams,
Poppy came bearing the sweetest dreams.
Playing and dreaming—and that was all
Till once a sleeper would not awake;

Kissing the little face under the pall,

We thought of the words the third flower

spake;

And we found betimes in a hallowed spot
The solace and peace of Forget-me-not.

Buttercup shareth the joy of day,

Glinting with gold the hours of play;

Bringeth the poppy sweet repose,

When the hands would fold and the eyes would

close;

And after it all-the play and the sleep

Of a little life-what cometh then?

To the hearts that ache and the eyes that weep A new flower bringeth God's peace again.

Each one serveth its tender lot

Buttercup, Poppy, Forget-me-not.

SHUFFLE-SHOON AND AMBER-LOCKS

SHUFFLE-SHOON and Amber-Locks

Sit together, building blocks;

Shuffle-Shoon is old and gray,

Amber-Locks a little child,

But together at their play

Age and Youth are reconciled,

And with sympathetic glee

Build their castles fair to see.