Waddle goes your gait, and hollow are your hose, Noddle goes your pate, and purple is your nose; Merry is your sing-song, happy, gay, and free, With a merry ding-dong, happy let us be! Merry have we met, and merry have we been, Merry let us part, and merry meet again; With our merry sing-song, happy, gay, and free, And a merry ding-dong, happy let us be! AMERICA. My country, ’tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrim’s pride; From every mountain side, Let freedom ring. My native country, thee— Land of the noble free— Thy name I love; I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills; My heart with rapture thrills, Like that above. Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom’s song; Let mortal tongues awake; Let all that breathe partake; Let rocks their silence break— The sound prolong. Our father’s God, to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing; Long may our land be bright With freedom’s holy light: Protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King. —_Samuel Francis Smith._ [Illustration] THE NATIONAL FLAG. There is the national flag! He must be cold, indeed, who can look upon its folds rippling in the breeze without pride of country. If he be in a foreign land the flag is companionship and country itself, with all its endearments. It has been called “a floating piece of poetry,” and yet I know not if it have greater beauty than other ensigns. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence. It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air, but it speaks sublimely, and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white proclaim the original union of thirteen states to maintain the Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white in a field of blue proclaim that union of States constituting our national constellation, which receives a new star with every state. The two together signify union, past and present. The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and all together, bunting, stars, stripes, and colors, blazing in the sky, make the flag of our country—to be cherished by all our hearts, to be upheld by all our hands. —_Charles Sumner._ [Illustration] MARJORIE’S BATH. (Marjorie) The water is cold, it makes me cry. (Mother) It will be warmer by and by. (Marjorie) A crab is hid deep in the sand below! (Mother) Then he cannot bite you dear, I know. (Marjorie) If you will let me paddle and play I’ll try and swim some other day.