MONTGOMERY.

N the walls that guard my prison,
Swelling with fantastic pride,
Brisk and merry as the season,
I a feather'd coxcomb spied:

When the little hopping elf

Gaily thus amused himself.

"Hear your sovereign's proclamation, All good subjects, young and old: I'm the Lord of the Creation;

I-a Water-Wagtail bold!

All around, and all you see,
All the world, was made for ME!

"Yonder sun, so proudly shining,
Rises-when I leave my nest;
And, behind the hills declining,
Sets-when I retire to rest :
Morn and evening, thus you see,
Day and night, were made for ME!

"Vernal gales to love invite me;

Summer sheds for me her beams; Autumn's jovial scenes delight me;

Winter paves with ice my streams: All the year is mine, you see; Seasons change, like moons, for ME!

"On the heads of giant mountains,
Or beneath the shady trees,
By the banks of warbling fountains,
I enjoy myself at ease:
Hills and valleys, thus you see,
Groves and rivers, made for ME!

"Boundless are my vast dominions ;
I can hop, or swim, or fly;
When I please, my towering pinions
Trace my empire through the sky :
Air and elements, you see,

Heaven and earth, were made for ME!

"Birds and insects, beasts and fishes, All their humble distance keep; Man, subservient to my wishes,

Sows the harvest which I reap: Mighty man himself, you see, All that breathe, were made for ME!

"'Twas for my accommodation

Nature rose when I was born; Should I die-the whole creation Back to nothing would return: Sun, moon, stars, the world, you see, Sprung-exist-will fall-with ME!"

Here the pretty prattler, ending,
Spread his wings to soar away;
But a cruel Hawk, descending,

Pounced him up-an helpless prey: -Couldst thou not, poor Wagtail! see That the Hawk was made for THEE?

MARY HOWITT.

H, the sunny summer time!

Oh, the leafy summer time!

Merry is the bird's life,

When the year is in its prime!

Birds are by the water-falls

Dashing in the rainbow-spray;

Everywhere, everywhere

Light and lovely there are they!

Birds are in the forest old,

Building in each hoary tree;

Birds are on the green hills;

Birds are by the sea!

On the moor, and in the fen,

'Mong the wortle-berries green;

In the yellow furze-bush

There the joyous bird is seen;

In the heather on the hill;

All among the mountain thyme;

By the little brook-sides,

Where the sparkling waters chime;

In the crag; and on the peak,

Splintered, savage, wild, and bare,

There the bird with wild wing

Wheeleth through the air.