She 's told you about it ? Well , then , if you want to please her , you 'll learn a hymn right off . Come , now , she wants me to be clever to you , and I 'd like to do it ; but if you get peppery , how can I ? '' Thorny spoke in a hearty , blunt way , which suited Ben much better than the other , and he responded pleasantly , -- `` If you wo n't be grand I wo n't be peppery . Nobody is going to boss me but Miss Celia ; so I 'll learn hymns if she wants me to . '' '' ` In the soft season of thy youth ' is a good one to begin with . I learned it when I was six . Nice thing ; better have it . '' And Thorny offered the book like a patriarch addressing an infant . Ben surveyed the yellow page with small favor , for the long s in the old-fashioned printing bewildered him ; and when he came to the last two lines , he could not resist reading them wrong , -- `` The earth affords no lovelier fight Than a religious youth . '' `` I do n't believe I could ever get that into my head straight . Have n't you got a plain one any where round ? '' he asked , turning over the leaves with some anxiety . `` Look at the end , and see if there is n't a piece of poetry pasted in . You learn that , and see how funny Celia will look when you say it to her . She wrote it when she was a girl , and somebody had it printed for other children . I like it best , myself . '' Pleased by the prospect of a little fun to cheer his virtuous task , Ben whisked over the leaves , and read with interest the lines Miss Celia had written in her girlhood : `` MY KINGDOM A little kingdom I possess , Where thoughts and feelings dwell ; And very hard I find the task Of governing it well . For passion tempts and troubles me , A wayward will misleads , And selfishness its shadow casts On all my words and deeds . `` How can I learn to rule myself , To be the child I should , -- Honest and brave , -- nor ever tire Of trying to be good ?
How can I keep a sunny soul To shine along life 's XXXXX ?
boss earth end girl passion s season shadow thing way