Swinging on a birch-tree
      To a sleepy tune,
Hummed by all the breezes
      In the month of June!
Little leaves a-flutter
      Sound like dancing drops
Of a brook on pebbles,--
      Song that never stops.

Up and down we seesaw:
      Up into the sky;
How it opens on us,
      Like a wide blue eye!

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p. 356

You and I are sailors
      Rocking on a mast;
And the world's our vessel:
      Ho! she sails so fast!

Blue, blue sea around us;
      Not a ship in sight;
They will hang out lanterns
      When they pass, to-night.
We with ours will follow
      Through the midnight deep;
Not a thought of danger,
      Though the crew 's asleep.

O, how still the air is!
      There an oriole flew;
What a jolly whistle!
      He's a sailor, too.
Yonder is his hammock
      In the elm-top high:
One more ballad, messmate!
      Sing it as you fly!

Up and down we seesaw:
      Down into the grass,
Scented fern, and rose-buds,
      All a woven mass.
That 's the sort of carpet
      Fitted for our feet;
Tapestry nor velvet
      Is so rich and neat.

Swinging on a birch-tree!
      This is summer joy,
Fun for all vacation,--
      Don't you think so, boy?
Up and down to seesaw,
      Merry and at ease,
Careless as a brook is,
      Idle as the breeze.