"There was a piper had a cow,

And he had naught to give her:

So he took up his pipes, and he played her a tune,

Consider, cow,—consider!

The cow considered very well,

And gave the piper a penny;

And bade him play the other tune,—

Corn-rigs are bonny."

Good folks of the pen, I am sure you 'll

agree

That author and publisher here we may see:

The Piper plays tunes 'twixt the world and

the Cow,

And he has, at the same time, the care of

the mow:

When the crop in the barn shows but little

to feed her,

To the Cow quoth the Piper, Consider, con-

sider!

The Cow is a creature that cheweth the cud;

Recalleth the hill-sides, with daisies be-

stud,

The sweet running waters, the breezes at

play,

While mournfully munching the last lock of

hay:

All the world that she knoweth of fra-

grance and stir

Sealeth up in those dry stems its juices for

her.

So it cometh, forsooth, that because she can

chew

People think it is all she can hunger to do:

Neither Public nor Piper doth fully allow

For the interdependence of mood and of

mow,

Or see how perplexing it may be, alas,

For a Oow to consider between hay and

grass!

Howbeit, if Mooly considereth well,

And giveth the Piper good milk for to sell,

The Piper he maketh his own modest

penny,—

Just one at a time, till he hath a great

many;

And during the while this is coming to pass

Fresh fodder grows plenty, and delicate

grass.

Once more life's a pasture; the season is

June;

The pipes play up cheerly the bonny-rig

tune;

The Cow is in clover; the buttercups hold

Right up to her chin their probation of

gold;

But she knows, all the same, how't will be

when they bid her

The next year, as last year, Consider, con-

sider!