 | New songs of innocence |  |
39
MORNING ON THE HILLS.
The wet wheel-tracks are shining
Like serpents in the sun,
As, twisting and entwining,
Up the steep hill-road they run.
It's a long road, my Willie,
And rough for these little feet;
But if the way is hilly,
The morning air is sweet.
Like serpents in the sun,
As, twisting and entwining,
Up the steep hill-road they run.
It's a long road, my Willie,
And rough for these little feet;
But if the way is hilly,
The morning air is sweet.
Look back! The mists are lifting
From the sleeping world below;
Between it and us they're drifting
On the mountain-side, like snow.
It glitters in new adorning,
The fair green world so wild!
It smiles to heaven in the morning
As glad as a waking child.
From the sleeping world below;
Between it and us they're drifting
On the mountain-side, like snow.
It glitters in new adorning,
The fair green world so wild!
It smiles to heaven in the morning
As glad as a waking child.
But what are yon shining lances
That pierce the peaceful sky,
Hard and sharp as the glances
Of an unloving eye?
The spires of a siren city
That lures men with a spell,
That one day, more's the pity,
May lure my Willie as well.
That pierce the peaceful sky,
Hard and sharp as the glances
Of an unloving eye?
40
That lures men with a spell,
That one day, more's the pity,
May lure my Willie as well.
Up here, on the lonely mountains,
Life is a simple thing;
There's truth in the voice of fountains
And trust in the wild-bird's wing.
Then seek the hills to rest you
If, manlike, you must roam—
The morning love that blest you,
The safe green hills of home!
Life is a simple thing;
There's truth in the voice of fountains
And trust in the wild-bird's wing.
Then seek the hills to rest you
If, manlike, you must roam—
The morning love that blest you,
The safe green hills of home!
| New songs of innocence | |