The bird within its nest
  Has sung its evening hymn,
And I must go to quiet rest,
  As the bright west grows dim.

I see the twinkling star,
  That, when the sun has gone,
Is shining out the first afar,
  To tell us day is done.

If on this day I’ve been
  A selfish, naughty child,
May God forgive the wrong I’ve done,
  And make me kind and mild.

May he still bless and keep
  My father, mother dear;
And may the eye that cannot sleep
  Watch o’er our pillows here,

And guard us from all ill,
  Through this long, silent night,
And bring us, by His holy will,
  To see the morning light.

THE FIRST VIOLET.

[Illustration:  Letter S.]

Spring has come, dear mother! 
  I’ve a violet found,
Growing in its beauty
  From the cold, dark ground.

You are sad, dear mother,
  Tears are in your eye;
You’re not glad to see it;
  Mother, tell me why?

I remember.—­Last year,
  Where our Willie lies,
Grew the earliest violet,
  Blue as were his eyes.

Then you told me, mother,
  That the flowers would fade,
And their withered blossoms
  On the earth be laid.

But you said, as springtime
  Would their buds restore,
Willie would in heaven
  Be forevermore.

Weep no more, dear mother! 
  Violets are in bloom;
And your darling Willie
  Lives beyond the tomb.

[Illustration]

CHRISTMAS.

[Illustration:  Letter L.]

“Little children, when rejoicing
  In the merry Christmas morn,
’Mid your sports remember ever
  ’Tis the day that Christ was born.

“When on earth, the blessed Saviour
  Said, ‘Let children come to me,’
And the little ones he folded
  In his arms, how tenderly!”

“But the Saviour is in heaven,
  And we cannot see him now;
We cannot receive his blessing,
  In his presence cannot bow.”

“Listen.  In the holy Bible,
  Jesus Christ tells every child
That the way to gain his blessing
  Is by being good and mild.”

“Here on earth you may not see him;
  But when this short life is done,
You shall live with him forever
  Where there is no setting sun.”

“So remember, Christmas morning,
  That on earth the Saviour came;
And that still he guards and blesses
  Every child who loves his name.”

[Illustration]

NEW YEAR.

[Illustration:  Letter I.]

If I resolve, with the new year,
  A better child to be,
’Twill do no good at all, I fear,
  But rather harm to me,

Unless I try, with every day,
  No angry word to speak;
Unless, each morn, to God I pray
  To keep me mild and meek.