Sweet and low, sweet and low,
  Wind of the western sea,
Low, low, breathe and blow,
  Wind of the western sea! 
Over the rolling waters go,
Come from the dying moon, and blow,
  Blow him again to me;
While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.

Sleep and rest, sleep and rest,
  Father will come to thee soon;
Best, rest on mother’s breast,
  Father will come to thee soon;
Father will come to his babe in the nest,
Silver sails all out of the west
  Under the silver moon: 
Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep.

AGAINST IDLENESS AND MISCHIEF.

How doth the little busy bee
  Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
  From every opening flower!

How skilfully she builds her cell,
  How neat she spreads the wax! 
And labors hard to store it well
  With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labor or of skill,
  I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
  For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful play,
  Let my first years be past,
That I may give for every day
  Some good account at last.

“BREAK, BREAK, BREAK!”

Break, break, break,
  On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! 
And I would that my tongue could utter
  The thoughts that arise in me.

Oh, well for the fisherman’s boy,
  That he shouts with his sister at play! 
Oh, well for the sailor lad,
  That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on
  To their haven under the hill;
But oh, for the touch of a vanished hand,
  And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break,
  At the foot of thy crags, O Sea! 
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
  Will never come back to me.

THE ARROW AND THE SONG.

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

PROVERBS AND POPULAR SAYINGS.

Love me little, love me long,
Is the burden of my song. 
Many a true word is spoken in jest. 
Many hands make light work. 
Money is a good servant, but a bad master. 
My mind to me a kingdom is. 
Never be weary of well doing. 
No cross, no crown. 
No man can serve two masters. 
No news is good news. 
No smoke without some fire. 
Not worth a pin. 
Of two ills choose the least. 
One cannot be in two places at once. 
One good turn demands another.