An Old Saw
"If you'll break the first brake
And will kill the first snake,
You'll be sure to go through
With what you undertake."
Thus our Grandma, quaint but queenly,
Taught us grand-bairns one by one;
And the lesson relished keenly
Filled each spring-time full of fun.
For the watchful eyes were eager,
And the flying feet must roam
Till they every nook beleaguer
Round the old ancestral home.
* * * * *
But 'twas not the broken brakelet
That wrought good for after years;
Not the killing of the snakelet,
But the conquering of fears,
And the patient, wistful watching,
Educating thought and eye,
Made the brakelet and the snakelet
Types of weal for bye and bye.