THE PIPER AND THE COW.
"There was a piper had a cow,
And he had naught to give her:
So he took up his pipes, and he played her a tune,
Consider, cow,—consider!
The cow considered very well,
And gave the piper a penny;
And bade him play the other tune,—
Corn-rigs are bonny."
Good folks of the pen, I am sure you 'll
agree
That author and publisher here we may see:
The Piper plays tunes 'twixt the world and
the Cow,
And he has, at the same time, the care of
the mow:
When the crop in the barn shows but little
to feed her,
To the Cow quoth the Piper, Consider, con-
sider!
The Cow is a creature that cheweth the cud;
Recalleth the hill-sides, with daisies be-
stud,
The sweet running waters, the breezes at
play,
While mournfully munching the last lock of
hay:
All the world that she knoweth of fra-
grance and stir
Sealeth up in those dry stems its juices for
her.
So it cometh, forsooth, that because she can
chew
People think it is all she can hunger to do:
Neither Public nor Piper doth fully allow
For the interdependence of mood and of
mow,
Or see how perplexing it may be, alas,
For a Oow to consider between hay and
grass!
Howbeit, if Mooly considereth well,
And giveth the Piper good milk for to sell,
The Piper he maketh his own modest
penny,—
Just one at a time, till he hath a great
many;
And during the while this is coming to pass
Fresh fodder grows plenty, and delicate
grass.
Once more life's a pasture; the season is
June;
The pipes play up cheerly the bonny-rig
tune;
The Cow is in clover; the buttercups hold
Right up to her chin their probation of
gold;
But she knows, all the same, how't will be
when they bid her
The next year, as last year, Consider, con-
sider!