WHEN

THE OWL

HEN cats run home and light is come,
And dew is cold upon the ground,

And the far-off stream is dumb,
And the whirring sail goes round,
And the whirring sail goes round;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

When merry milkmaids click the latch,
And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
Twice or thrice his roundelay,

Twice or thrice his roundelay;

Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

TENNYSON.

THE OWL AND THE PUSSY-CAT

THE

HE Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat;

They took some honey, and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The Owl looked up to the moon above,
And sang to a small guitar,

"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,—
You are,

What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!
How wonderful sweet you sing!

Oh let us be married,-too long have we tarried,—
But what shall we do for a ring?"

They sailed away for a year and a day
To the land where the Bong-tree grows,
And there in a wood, a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring in the end of his nose,—
His nose,

With a ring in the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."

So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

THE OWL AND THE PUSSY-CAT 155

They dined upon mince and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon,

And hand in hand on the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon,-
The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.

EDWARD LEAR.

THE PIG AND THE HEN

THE pig and the hen,

They both got in one pen,

And the hen said she wouldn't go out. "Mistress Hen," says the pig,

"Don't you be quite so big!"

And he gave her a push with his snout.

"You're rough and you're fat, But who cares for all that; I will stay if I choose," says the hen, "No, mistress, no longer!"

Says pig: "I'm the stronger, And mean to be boss of my pen!"

Then the hen cackled out

Just as close to his snout

As she dare: "You're an ill-natured brute;

And if I had the corn,

Just as sure as I'm born,

I would send you to starve or to root!"

"But you don't own the cribs;

So I think that my ribs

Will never the leaner for you:

This trough is my trough,

And the sooner you're off,"

Says the pig, "Why, the better you'll do!"

66

THE PIG AND THE HEN

'You're not a bit fair,

And you're cross as a bear:

What harm do I do in your pen?

But a pig is a pig,

And I don't care a fig

For the worst you can say," says the hen.

Says the pig, "You will care

If I act like a bear

And tear your two wings from your neck."

Now the pig stood amazed,
And the bristles, upraised

A moment past, fell down so sleek.

66

Neighbor Biddy," says he,

"If you'll just allow me,

I will show you a nice place to pick!"

So she followed him off,

And they ate from one trough

They had quarrelled for nothing, they saw;
And when they had fed,

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Won't you stay here and roost in my straw?"

66

No, I thank you; you see

That I sleep in a tree,"

Says the hen; "but I must go away;