Quoth the little brown bat: “I rise with the owl,— Wisest and best of the feathered fowl; Let other folks rise, if they will, with the lark, And be early and bright—I am early and dark!” Quoth the little brown bat: “I’m awake and up, When the night-moth sips from the lily’s white cup; While the firefly lanterns are searching the sky, I am glancing about, with fiery eye!” Quoth the little brown bat: “The night has its noon As well as its day—and I’m friends with the moon. Many a secret she tells me alone, Which never a bird or a bee has known!” Quoth the little brown bat: “There is house-room for me, When the winter comes, in some hollow tree; Or under barn eaves, near the fragrant hay, I sleep the dull winter hours away.” |