From _Banter_, edited by George Augustus Sala, November 4, 1867. ―――― THREE CHILDREN WERE PLAYING. Three children were playing, one day on the lawn, One day on the lawn, ere the sun was high, Their day had no shadow, their rose had no thorn, Not one little cloud was abroad in the sky. Their fathers were working when they were at play, Though pleasant the season and early the day; For the old world goes on rolling. Three husbands once met in the street of a town, In the street of a town as the crowd pass’d by; And one had a heartache, and one was cast down, And the other look’d gloomy, and said with a sigh, “Yet we must toil that the children may play, Though a night of disquiet oft follows the day; And the old world goes on rolling.” Three old men stood by the side of a tomb, By the side of a tomb when the night drew nigh; And they look’d to the westward, all shrouded in gloom, But no beam of sunset was seen in the sky: “Oh, let us to sleep; and the children will play To-morrow at day break, when we are away: For the old world goes on rolling.” From _The Mocking Bird_, and other Poems, by Frederick Field. J. Van Voorst, London, 1868. ―――― THREE STUDENTS. Three Students sat writing with lips compressed In a well-known house with their heads bent down; Each thought of the “tip” that might serve him best, And the Proctor came rustling up, all hood and gown. For men must work, and little they’ll sleep, If Dons be cruel, and papers be deep, And the Church and Bar be waiting. Three Dons sat sipping at something hot By a flickering lamp when the sun went down; They looked at each blunder, and crib phrase and “shot,” And they marked down a D with a sigh and a frown. For men must work――but little you’ll sleep If a man with a cornet should under you keep, And the Church and Bar be waiting. Three travellers puffed out a fragrant cloud, One Saturday morn when the sun went down; Though they travelled first-class, you could see they were ploughed, And, oh! they were Robinson, Jones and Brown! For men won’t work, and little they’ll sleep If the wine be good, and tobacco be cheap, Though the Church and Bar be waiting. _The Cantab_, E. Johnson, Cambridge, 1873. ―――― THE THREE DINERS. (_A Lay of Temple Bar in its present state, September_, 1874.)