When a mounting skylark sings In the sunlit summer morn, I know that heaven is up on high. And on earth are fields of corn. But when a nightingale sings In the moonlit summer even, I know not if earth is merely earth. Only that heaven is heaven. Who has seen the wind? Neither I nor you: But when the leaves hang trembling The wind is passing thro’. Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I: But when the trees bow down their heads The wind is passing by. The horses of the sea Rear a foaming crest, But the horses of the land Serve us the best. The horses of the land Munch corn and clover, While the foaming sea-horses Toss and turn over. O sailor, come ashore, What have you brought for me? Red coral, white coral, Coral from the sea. I did not dig it from the ground, Nor pluck it from a tree; Feeble insects made it In the stormy sea. A diamond or a coal? A diamond, if you please: Who cares about a clumsy coal Beneath the summer trees? A diamond or a coal? A coal, sir, if you please: One comes to care about the coal What time the waters freeze. An emerald is as green as grass; A ruby red as blood; A sapphire shines as blue as heaven; A flint lies in the mud. A diamond is a brilliant stone, To catch the world’s desire; An opal holds a fiery spark; But a flint holds fire. Boats sail on the rivers, And ships sail on the seas; But clouds that sail across the sky Are prettier far than these. There are bridges on the rivers, As pretty as you please; But the bow that bridges heaven, And overtops the trees, And builds a road from earth to sky, Is prettier far than these. The lily has a smooth stalk, Will never hurt your hand; But the rose upon her briar Is lady of the land. There’s sweetness in an apple tree, And profit in the corn; But lady of all beauty Is a rose upon a thorn. When with moss and honey She tips her bending briar, And half unfolds her glowing heart, She sets the world on fire. Hurt no living thing: Ladybird, nor butterfly, Nor moth with dusty wing, Nor cricket chirping cheerily, Nor grasshopper so light of leap, Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat, Nor harmless worms that creep. I caught a little ladybird That flies far away; I caught a little lady wife That is both staid and gay. Come back, my scarlet ladybird, Back from far away; I weary of my dolly wife, My wife that cannot play. She’s such a senseless wooden thing She stares the livelong day; Her wig of gold is stiff and cold And cannot change to grey. All the bells were ringing And all the birds were singing, When Molly sat down crying For her broken doll: O you silly Moll! Sobbing and sighing For a broken doll, When all the bells are ringing, And all the birds are singing. Wee wee husband, Give me some money, I have no comfits, And I have no honey. Wee wee wifie, I have no money, Milk, nor meat, nor bread to eat, Comfits, nor honey. I have a little husband And he is gone to sea, The winds that whistle round his ship Fly home to me.