“ Now ring the sharp scythes of the mowers all day,
And they spread to the air the sweet-scented hay;
They pile up the wagon ere daylight is done,
And singing come home with the set of the sun.
I feel the warm west wind fan gently my cheek
As I sit on the grass, far too happy to speak;
And then in the twilight I see the faint spark
Of the fire-fly, flitting alone in the dark.
Oh! long happy days, when 'tis full of delight
To roam in the meadows from morning till night!
Oh! summer, sweet summer! glide slowly away,
For I love in your warmth and your fragrance to stay. ”

“ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850,
By Wm. Crosby and H. P. Nichols,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Stereotyped by HOBART & ROBBINS;
New England type and stereotype foundery,
Boston.
PREFACE.
Most of the simple verses which compose this volume were written for a very dear child, with no thought beyond her gratification. They are published at the request of friends, with the hope that other children may derive the same pleasure from them as the little one for whom they were first intended. ”