My first and last are just the same,
And would you know my second,
’Mong children’s first abbreviates
You’ll oftenest find it reckoned.
My first and last are always seen,
A common preposition,
And here methinks they love to meet
For tasteful coalition.
My second, infants spell the word,
Ere they can lisp another;
’Tis name of one still dearer far
Than sister or than brother.
My whole, a luscious, pulpy fruit,
In garden oft found growing,
Is either with a yellow dress,
Or richest red robe glowing.
’Tis in its prime, when wheat and rye
Are ripening for the sickle,
And ready then for present use,
Or yet to dry and pickle.
Few fruits in our cold northern clime,
Than this is more inviting;
You surely know its name, even while
Its praises I’m reciting.
[4]
My first is the chief of delights
That boys from their cradles desire;
Its shrill crack more musical far
To them than Apollo’s sweet lyre,
Except when applied with masterly art,
To root out the evil that lurks in the heart.
My second the Bible commends
To the rich, the wise, and the great,
With eloquence pleadeth their cause,
And blesseth their lowly estate;
They are ever with us, without search are found,
The more we give to them, the more we abound.
When the rich man lies down in the grave,
He takes not his riches away,
And anxious expectants cluster around,
To hear what my third has to say:
Its mandate is law, and if it sore pinches
The fawning false friend, then vainly he flinches.
My whole is a sombre brown bird,
That sadly each night trills his lay;
And each passer-by stops to hear
What this bird of eve has to say.
As ever he sings the same plaintive song,
Who that has e’er heard him will guess on this long?
[5]
My first, although not giving grace
To ev’ry living creature,
Is yet upon the human face,
A most important feature.