"Go away; go away," said Little Boy Blue;
"I'm sure I don't want you! get away—do."
"No, no; no, no; no, yes, and no, no,"
Sang Birdie Brown, "it mustn't be so!
"If we've come for no good, we can't go away.
Give us reason for going, or here we stay!"
They covered the earth, they darkened the air,
They hovered, they sat, with a countless stare.
"If I do not give them something to do,
They will stare me up!" said Little Boy Blue.
"Oh dear! oh dear!" he began to cry,
"They're an awful crew, and I feel so shy!"
All of a sudden he thought of a thing,
And up he stood, and spoke like a king:
"You're the plague of my life! have done with your bother!
Off with you all: take me back to my mother!"
The sunset went back to the gates of the west.
"Follow me" sang Birdie, "I know the way best!"
"I am going the same way as fast as I can!"
Said the brook, as it sank and turned and ran.