THE BEE AND THE BLOSSOMS

"WHY stand ye idle, blossoms bright,
The livelong summer day?"
"Alas! we labour all the night
For what thou takest away."

THE TAX-GATHERER

"AND pray, who are you?"
Said the violet blue
To the Bee, with surprise
At his wonderful size,
In her eye-glass of dew.
"I, madam," quoth he,
"Am a publican Bee,
Collecting the tax
On honey and wax.
Have you nothing for me?"

JACK-O'-LANTERN

"JACK-O'-LANTERN, Jack-o'-Lantern,
Tell me where you hide by day?"
"In the cradle where the vapours
Dream the sunlit hours away."
"Jack-o'-Lantern, Jack-o'-Lantern,
Who rekindles you at night?"
"Any firefly in the meadow
Lends a Jack-o'-Lantern light."