For every evil under the sun, There is a remedy, or there is none. If there be one, try and find it, If there be none, never mind it. MY FATHER WAS A FARMER. [Illustration] My father was a farmer, upon the Garrick border, O, And carefully he bred me in decency and order, O; He bade me act a manly part, though I had ne’er a farthing, O— For without an honest, manly heart, no man was worth regarding, O. —_Robert Burns._ HIAWATHA’S CHILDHOOD. From “The Song of Hiawatha.” At the door on summer evenings Sat the little Hiawatha; Heard the whispering of the pine-trees, Heard the lapping of the water, Sounds of music, words of wonder; “Minne-wawa!” said the pine trees, “Mudway-aushka!” said the water. Saw the firefly, Wah-wah-taysee, Flitting through the dusk of evening With the twinkle of his candle Lighting up the brakes and bushes, And he sang the song of children, Sang the song Nokomis taught him: “Wah-wah-taysee, little firefly. Little, flitting, white-fire insect, Little, dancing, white-fire creature, Light me with your little candle, Ere upon my bed I lay me, Ere in sleep I close my eyelids!” Forth into the forest straightway All alone walked Hiawatha Proudly, with his bow and arrows; And the birds sang round him, o’er him, “Do not shoot us, Hiawatha!” Sang the robin, the Opechee, Sang the bluebird, the Owaissa, “Do not shoot us, Hiawatha!” Up the oak-tree, close beside him, Sprang the squirrel, Adjidaumo, In and out among the branches, Coughed, and chattered from the oak-tree, Laughed, and said between his laughing, “Do not shoot me, Hiawatha!” But he heeded not, nor heard them, For his thoughts were with the red deer; On their tracks his eyes were fastened, Leading downward to the river, To the ford across the river, And as one in slumber walked he. —_Henry Wadsworth Longfellow._ [Illustration] They are never alone that are accompanied with noblest thoughts. —_Sir Philip Sidney._ _As I was Going to St. Ives._ As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives, Every wife had seven sacks, Every sack had seven cats, Every cat had seven kits— Kits, cats, sacks, and wives, How many were there going to St. Ives? (_One._) [Illustration] _Merry are the Bells._ Merry are the bells, and merry would they ring, Merry was myself, and merry could I sing; With a merry ding-dong, happy, gay, and free, And a merry sing-song, happy let us be!