called the poetry of earth as “stars the poetry of heaven”-cannot fail to meet with the sympathy of all who are intimately associated with them, or whose minds are accustomed to view with a poetic eye the events and circumstances of life. To the Authors and Publishers who have given me permission to make extracts from their works, I beg to offer my sincere thanks. I must ever remain deeply obliged to the friends who have assisted me by original contributions, and by the kind interest which they have shown in the success of my little volume;—that it should not be graced by the exquisite poem of Mr. Milnes, “ The Christmas Story," I much regret, but the poem is of too recent publication to admit with propriety of a request being made to adopt it in this selection. HANNAH MARY RATHBONE. Woodcroft, December 14, 1840. LITTLE CHILDREN. MARY HOWITT. SPORTING through the forest wide ; In the far isles of the main ; Wheresoe'er a foot hath gone, Little children, not alone CONTENTS. The pieces marked + have not before been published. To a Child . . . . . Barry CornwalL On the Death of a Child . . J. CUNNINGHAM : The Children whom Jesus blessed . Mrs. HEMANS . To a Sleeping Child . . . PROFESSOR WILSON + Carpe Diem . . . . . BARRY CORNWALL. The Two Dreamers . . . Miss WILLIAMS : A Grandsire's Tale . . . BERNARD BARTON , The Hebrew Mother . . MRs. HEMANS . + On the Medallion (by Alfred Count D’Orsay) of a Beautiful Mute. Henry F. CHORLEY + To my Friend's First-born . . ANONYMOUS . . To Adelaide . . . . BARRY CORNWALL. The Sabbath Day's Child . HARTLEY COLERIDGE From the Persian . . . Sir W. JONES : The Mother's Sacrifice . . Mrs. SiGOURNEY The First-born . . . . ALARIC A. Watts. The Mother's Heart . . . Hon. Mrs. NORTON The Nightingale . . . . COLERIDGE . . 45 On the Death of a Child . . Barry CORNWALL. 46 Confessions . . . . . ALFRED TENNYSON 48 To my Daughter on her Birthday . BERNARD Barton. 50 On the Death of an Infant Nephew. Rev. C. Neale . The first Birthday . . . . HARTLEY Coleridge Oh! say not 't were a keener Blow. T. H. Bayly . . On my first Daughter . . . Ben JONSON . . Burial of an Emigrant's Child in the Forest . . . . Mrs. HEMANS . From “Prometheus Unbound” . SHELLEY . . To Laura, Two Years of age . N. P. Willis . . Traveller's Evening Song . . MRS. HEMANS. . Child of the Bright Hair . . R. F. HOUSMAN : 66 Baptism . . . . . Miss Roscoe . . + Lines to the Memory of H. F., who died aged Eight Years . M. R. . . . Childhood . . . . . Miss WILLIAMS . To — , Five Years old . . R. M. Milnes. : 74 The Day of Flowers . . . MRS. HEMANS : 75 To a Friend who asked how I felt when the Nurse first presented my Infant to me . . S. T. COLERIDGE . 76 To my Godchild on the Day of his Baptism . . . . R. CHEVENIX French 77 On our first Son. . . . BEN JONSON . . On the Death of a Child . Mrs. JEVONS . 80 On a Picture of a sleeping Child. BERNARD BARTON . On the Death of an Infant. . Jane Taylor . . 85 |