The Youths Coronal | Page 9

see, upon the run
Before his beams, in
sparkling streams,
What now a curtain o'er him seems.
And thus,

with life it ever goes;--
'Tis shade and shine! It snows, it snows!
=The Whirlwind=
Whirlwind, Whirlwind, whither art thou hieing,
Snapping off the
flowers young and fair;--
Setting all the chaff and the withered leaves
a-flying,--
Tossing up the dust in the air?
"I," said the Whirlwind, "cannot stop for talking!
Give me up your
cap, my little man;
And the polished stick, that you will not need for
walking. While you run to catch them, if you can!
"You, pretty maiden--none has time to tell her
I am coming, ere I
shall be there.
I will twirl her zephyr--snatch her light umbrella,

Seize her hat, and snarl her glossy hair!"
On went the Whirlwind, showing many capers
One would hardly
deem it meet to tell;--
Dusting Judge and Parson--flirting gown and
papers,--
Discomposing matron, beau and belle.
"Whisk!" from behind came the long and sweeping feather,
Round
the head of old Chanticleer:--
Plumed and plumeless biped felt gust
together,
In a way they wouldn't like to hear.
Snug in his arbor sat a scholar, musing
Calmly o'er the philosophic
page:
"Flap!" went the leaves of the volume he was using,
Cutting
short the lecture of the sage.
"Hey!" said the bookworm, "this I think is taking
Rather too much
liberty with me!
Yet I'll not resent it; being bent on making
Use of
every thing I hear and see.
"Many, I know, will not their anger stifle,
When as little cause as this,
they find
To let it kindle up; but minding every trifle
Is profitless as
quarrels with the wind.

"Forth to his business when the Whirlwind sallies,
He is all alive to
get it done;--
He on his pathway never lags nor dallies;
But is ever
up, and on the run.
"Though ever whirling, never growing dizzy;
Motion gives him
buoyancy and power.
All who have known him own that he is busy,

Doing much in half a fleeting hour.
"Oh! there is nothing--when our work's before us,--
Like despatch;
for, while our time is brief,
Some sweeping blast may suddenly come
o'er us,
Lose our place, and turn another leaf!
"Whirlwind, Whirlwind, though you're but a flurry,
And so odd the
business you pursue;--
Though you come on, and are off, in such a
hurry,
I have caught a hint; and now adieu!"
=The Disobedient Skater Boys=
Said William to George, "It is New-Year's day!
And now for the
pond and the merriest play!
So, on with your cap; and away, away,

We'll off for a frolic and slide,
Be quick--be quick, if you would not
be chid
For doing what father and mother forbid;
And under your
coat let the skates be hid;
Then over the ice we'll glide."
They're up, and they're off; on their run-away feet
They fasten the
skates, when, away they fleet,
Far over the pond, and beyond retreat,

Unconscious of danger near.
But lo! the ice is beginning to bend--

It cracks--it cracks--and their feet descend!
To whom can they look
as a helper--a friend?
Their faces are pale with fear.
In their flight to the pond, they had caught the eye
Of a neighboring
peasant, who, lingering nigh,
Aware of their danger, and hearing their
cry,
Now hastens to give them aid.
As home they are brought, all
dripping and cold,
To all who their piteous plight behold,
The worst
of the story is plainly told--
Their parents were disobeyed!

=Winter and Spring=
"Adieu!" Father Winter sadly said
To the world, when about
withdrawing,
With his old white wig half off his head,
And his
icicle fingers thawing;--
"Adieu! I'm going to the rocks and caves,
And must leave all here
behind me;
Or perhaps I shall sink in the Northern waves,
So deep
that none can find me."
"Good luck! good luck, to your hoary locks!"
Said the gay young
Spring, advancing;
"You may take your rest 'mid the caves and rocks,

While I o'er the earth am dancing.
"But there is not a spot where you have trod.
You hard, old clumsy
fellow,--
Not a hill, nor a field, nor a single sod,
But I must make
haste to mellow.
"I then shall carpet them o'er with grass,
To look so bright and
cheering,
That none will regret having let you pass
Far out of sight
and hearing.
"The fountains that you locked up so tight,
When I shall give them a
sunning,
Will sparkle and play in my warmth and light,
And the
streams set off to running.
"I'll speak in the earth to the palsied root,
That under your reign was
sleeping;
I'll teach it the way in the dark to shoot,
And draw out the
vine to creeping.
"The boughs that you cased so close in ice,
It was chilling e'en to
behold them,
I'll deck all over with buds so nice;
My breath can
alone unfold them.
"And when all the trees are with blossoms drest,
The bird, with her
song so merry,
Will come to the branches to build her nest,
With a

view to the future cherry.
"The earth will show by her loveliness,
The wonders that I am doing;

While the skies look down with a smile, to bless
The way that I'm
pursuing!"