(FOR LITTLE CHILDREN)
JACKIE FROST, who comes in winter,
Bites my fingers and my thumbs,
And the robin, cold and hungry,
Sings each morning for some crumbs.
Then he looks at me and twitters,
“If you please," he seems to say.
And I always give him something,
For he wants it every day.
Sunday, Monday, and on Tuesday,
Robin comes my food to share;
Wednesday, Thursday, and on Friday,
And on Saturday he's there.
Robin tells the other robins
That I feed him every day;
And the sparrows hear about it
On the house across the way.
So, the robins and the sparrows,
And some other friends they know,
Find their breakfast in my garden
When we've brushed away the snow.
But, when winter days are over,
Robin sings no more to me;
For he says, " Good-bye, and thank you,"
As he flits from tree to tree.
How I miss my little robin!
But he'll come again, I know,
With the sparrows and the others,
When the frost is here, and snow.
God in heaven it is who sends them,
God, who is so good and kind,
So that I may love and feed them
When their food is hard to find.
W. L.