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MODERN FABLES
Any trees so tall and green—
Any that in stalk or stem
Would deserve to vie with them?"
But the words had hardly passed.
When an unexpected blast
Rushed and with a mighty blow
Struck the grove and laid it low.
Then, retorting from the bog,
To the Frogling said the Frog:
"Look, my child—a child may gain
Wisdom even from a cane—
Look and learn no more to prize
Objects for their gloss and size.
For each trunk that seemed to thee
Massive as a forest tree
Is as empty, frail and thin
As the vilest weed, within."
(Iriarte, Literary Fables. Translated for Blackwood's Magazine.)
THE OWL
AN Owl one morn—but sooth to say,
I am not telling it aright;
For Owls are birds that love to stay
Within their secret homes by day,
And only fly by night,—
