Large streams from little fountains flow;
Tall oaks from little acorns grow;
And though I now am small and young,
Of judgment weak, and feeble tongue,
Yet all great learned men--like me--
Once learned to read their A, B, C.
And why may not Columbia's soil
Rear men as great as Britain's isle,
Exceed what Greece and Rome have done,
Or any land beneath the sun?
May n't Massachusetts prove as great
As any other sister state?
Or, where's the town, go far or near,
That does not find a rival here?
Or, where 's the boy but three feet high
Who's made improvement more than I?
Those thoughts inspire my youthful mind
To be the greatest of mankind;
Great, not like Caesar, stained with blood;
But only great, as I am good.
DAVID EVERETT
* * * * *
THE FOX AND THE CROW
A FABLE
The fox and the crow,
In prose, I well know,
Many good little girls can rehearse:
Perhaps it will tell
Pretty nearly as well,
If we try the same fable in verse.
In a dairy a crow,
Having ventured to go,
Some food for her young ones to seek,
Flew up in the trees,
With a fine piece of cheese,
Which she joyfully held in her beak.
Pages:
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244