"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.
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