BOY AND DOG
By Blume
| "'I would not enter on my list of friends, Though graced with polished manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility, the man Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.' |
"Coleridge in a great poem, 'The Ancient Mariner,' which I will read to you when you are a little older, says:--
| "'He prayeth well who loveth well Both man and bird and beast. "'He prayeth best who loveth best All things, both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.' |
"And here are two verses whose author I do not know:--
| "'Maker of earth, and sea, and sky, Creation's Sovereign Lord and King; Who hung the starry worlds on high And formed alike the sparrow's wing: Bless the dumb creatures of Thy care, And listen to their voiceless prayer. "'All-Father! who on Mercy's throne Hear'st Thy dumb creatures' faintest moan,-- Thy love be ours, and ours shall be Returned in deeds to these and Thee.' |