On the grass in a meadow a little boy lay, With his face turned up to the sky,And he watched the clouds as, far away, They lazily floated by.
"I love you, clouds," the little boy said; "You look so pretty and white;And you keep the sun from my face and head When he shines too fierce and bright.
"Sometimes you look like a flock of doves Flying far, far away.
Or feathers plucked from their downy breasts, Or little white lambs at play.
"Sometimes there are heaps of foam and snow, And fishes, dogs, and sheep,With bridges and other things that I know, As over the heavens you sweep.
"Sometimes you look like the sails of a ship, With the blue sky for the sea.
I am lonely, clouds, and I love you so!
Do come and play with me!"
The white clouds heard as they floated by, And they thought they should like to goAnd play awhile with the little boy Who seemed to love them so.
So they gathered thickly over his head; And, before he looked again,The little clouds came tumbling down In a pelting shower of rain.
The thirsty buds and the drooping flowers Were glad that the shower had come;But the little boy jumped up, and ran, As fast as he could, for home.
Next day the little boy looked again, And said, as the clouds sailed by,"I love you, clouds; but I love you best When you stay up in the sky."Author.-The author is not known.
General Notes.-What are the things that the boy fancied the white clouds looked like? Now tell all the things that black clouds look like. What is a cloud? Did you ever walk through a cloud? By what other names is it known?