"I'd like to be now
A bird on a bough,"
Said Ruth, one hot day
As she paused in her play:
"I'd like to be now
A bird on a bough.
"To be like a fish
In the sea is my wish,
Where the water is cool,
And they go to no school:
To be like a fish
In the sea is my wish.
"A squirrel I'd be
High up on a tree;
For he can go where
He gets plenty of air:
A squirrel I'd be
High up on a tree.
"A stag in a wood
I'd be, if I could:
He can lie on the ground
Where 'tis cool all around:
A stag in a wood
I'd be, if I could."
So wished, in her folly,
Ruth, holding her dolly;
The heat of the noon
Put her all out of tune:
So wished, in her folly,
Ruth, holding her dolly.