Day after day, and year after year,
Little by little the leaves appear;
And the slender branches spread far and wide,
Till the mighty oak is the forest’s pride.

Far down in the depths of the dark blue sea,
An insect train work ceaselessly. 
Grain by grain, they are building well,
Each one alone in its little cell.

Moment by moment, and day by day,
Never stopping to rest or to play,
Rocks upon rocks, they are rearing high,
Till the top looks out on the sunny sky.

The gentle wind and the balmy air,
Little by little, bring verdure there;
Till the summer sunbeams gayly smile
On the buds and the flowers of the coral isle.

“Little by little,” said a thoughtful boy,
“Moment by moment, I’ll well employ,
Learning a little every day,
And not spending all my time in play. 
And still this rule in my mind shall dwell,
Whatever I do, I will do it well.

“Little by little, I’ll learn to know
The treasured wisdom of long ago;
And one of these days, perhaps, we’ll see
That the world will be the better for me”;
And do you not think that this simple plan
Made him a wise and useful man?
                               Anonymous.

THE FAIRY QUEEN

Come, follow, follow me—­
You, fairy elves that be,
Which circle on the green—­
Come, follow Mab, your queen! 
Hand in hand let’s dance around,
For this place is fairy ground.

  When mortals are at rest,
  And snoring in their nest,
  Unheard and unespied,
  Through keyholes we do glide;
Over tables, stools, and shelves,
We trip it with our fairy elves.

  And if the house be foul
  With platter, dish, or bowl,
  Upstairs we nimbly creep,
  And find the sluts asleep;
There we pinch their arms and thighs—­
None escapes, nor none espies.

  But if the house be swept,
  And from uncleanness kept,
  We praise the household maid,
  And duly she is paid;
For we use, before we go,
To drop a tester in her shoe.

  Upon a mushroom’s head
  Our tablecloth we spread;
  A grain of rye or wheat
  Is manchet, which we eat;
Pearly drops of dew we drink,
In acorn cups, fil’d to the brink.

  The brains of nightingales,
  With unctuous fat of snails,
  Between two cockles stew’d,
  Is meat that’s easily chew’d;
Tails of worms, and marrow of mice,
Do make a dish that’s wondrous nice.

  The grasshopper, gnat, and fly,
  Serve us for our minstrelsy;
  Grace said, we dance a while,
  And so the time beguile;
And if the moon doth hide her head,
The glow-worm lights us home to bed.

On tops of dewy grass
So nimbly do we pass,
The young and tender stalk
Ne’er bends when we do walk;
Yet in the morning may be seen
Where we the night before have been.
Anonymous.