Farmer's Boy

He waits all day beside his little flock

And asks the passing stranger what's o'clock,

But those who often pass his daily tasks

Look at their watch and tell before he asks.

He mutters stories to himself and lies

Where the thick hedge the warmest house supplies,

And when he hears the hunters far and wide

He climbs the highest tree to see them ride--

He climbs till all the fields are blea and bare

And makes the old crow's nest an easy chair.

And soon his sheep are got in other grounds--

He hastens down and fears his master come,

He stops the gap and keeps them all in bounds

And tends them closely till it's time for home.