Verse and Prose for Beginners in Reading Part 12

It is the early bird that catches the worm.

There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.

The more haste, the less speed.

They who make the best use of their time have none to spare.

Those who play with edge tools must expect to be cut.

Three removes are as bad as a fire.

Through thick and thin.

Time and tide wait for no man.

To beat about the bush.

To break the ice.

To buy a pig in a poke.

To find a mare's nest.

WINDY NIGHTS.

Whenever the Moon and stars are set, Whenever the wind is high, All night long in the dark and wet, A man goes riding by.

Late in the night when the fires are out Why does he gallop and gallop about?

Whenever the trees are crying aloud, And s.h.i.+ps are tossed at sea, By, on the highway, low and loud, By, at the gallop goes he.

By, at the gallop he goes, and then By, he comes back at the gallop again.

NONSENSE VERSES.

There was an Old Man with a nose, Who said, "If you choose to suppose That my nose is too long, you are certainly wrong!"

That remarkable Man with a nose.

There was an Old Man on a hill, Who seldom, if ever, stood still; He ran up and down in his Grandmother's gown, Which adorned that Old Man on a hill.

There was an Old Person of Dover, Who rushed through a field of blue clover; But some very large Bees stung his nose and his knees, So he very soon went back to Dover.

There was an Old Man who said, "Hus.h.!.+

I perceive a young bird in this bus.h.!.+"

When they said, "Is it small?" he replied, "Not at all; It is four times as big as the bus.h.!.+"

There was an Old Man of the West, Who never could get any rest; So they set him to spin on his nose and his chin, Which cured that Old Man of the West.

There was an Old Man who said, "Well!

Will n.o.body answer this bell?

I have pulled day and night, till my hair has grown white, But n.o.body answers this bell!"

There was an Old Man with a beard, Who said, "It is just as I feared!-- Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard."

There was an Old Person of Dean Who dined on one pea and one bean; For he said, "More than that would make me too fat,"

That cautious Old Person of Dean.

There was an Old Man of El Hums, Who lived upon nothing but crumbs, Which he picked off the ground, with the other birds round, In the roads and the lanes of El Hums.

PROVERBS AND POPULAR SAYINGS.

If wishes were horses beggars would ride.

Ill news travels fast.

It never rains but it pours.

It is a long lane that has no turning.

It is an ill wind that blows no man good.

It is easier to pull down than to build.

It is never too late to mend.

Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee.

Leave well enough alone.

Let every tub stand on its own bottom.

Let them laugh that win.

Like father, like son.

Little and often fills the purse.

Look ere you leap.

SONG.

Oh, were my love yon lilac fair, With purple blossoms to the spring; And I a bird to shelter there.

When wearied on my little wing!

How I would mourn, when it was torn, By autumn wild, and winter rude!

But I would sing, on wanton wing, When youthful May its bloom renewed.

SWEET AND LOW.

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 s.h.i.+ning 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.