 | Birds and flowers and other country things |  |
183
[CHILDHOOD]
Oh, when I was a little child,
My life was full of pleasure;
I had four-and-twenty living things,
And many another treasure.
My life was full of pleasure;
I had four-and-twenty living things,
And many another treasure.
But chiefest was my sister dear,—
Oh, how I loved my sister!
I never played at all with joy,
If from my side I missed her.
Oh, how I loved my sister!
I never played at all with joy,
If from my side I missed her.
184
I can remember many a time,
Up in the morning early,—
Up in the morn by break of day,
When summer dews hung pearly;
Up in the morning early,—
Up in the morn by break of day,
When summer dews hung pearly;
Out in the fields, what joy it was,
While the cowslip yet was bending,
To see the large round moon grow dim,
And the early lark ascending!
While the cowslip yet was bending,
To see the large round moon grow dim,
And the early lark ascending!
I can remember, too, we rose
When the winter stars shone brightly;
'Twas an easy thing to shake off sleep,
From spirits strong and sprightly.
When the winter stars shone brightly;
'Twas an easy thing to shake off sleep,
From spirits strong and sprightly.
How beautiful were those winter skies,
All frosty-bright and unclouded,
And the garden-trees, like cypresses,
Looked black, in the darkness shrouded!
All frosty-bright and unclouded,
And the garden-trees, like cypresses,
Looked black, in the darkness shrouded!
Then the deep, deep snows were beautiful,
That fell through the long night stilly,
When behold, at morn, like a silent plain,
Lay the country wild and hilly!
That fell through the long night stilly,
When behold, at morn, like a silent plain,
Lay the country wild and hilly!
185
And the fir-trees down by the garden side,
In their blackness towered more stately;
And the lower trees were feathered with snow,
That were bare and brown so lately.
In their blackness towered more stately;
And the lower trees were feathered with snow,
That were bare and brown so lately.
And then, when the rare hoar-frost would come,
'Twas all like a dream of wonder,
Where over us grew the crystal trees,
And the crystal plants grew under!
'Twas all like a dream of wonder,
Where over us grew the crystal trees,
And the crystal plants grew under!
The garden all was enchanted land;
All silent and without motion,
Like a sudden growth of the stalactite,
Or the corallines of ocean!
All silent and without motion,
Like a sudden growth of the stalactite,
Or the corallines of ocean!
'Twas all like a fairy forest then,
Where the diamond trees were growing,
And within each branch the emerald green,
And the ruby red were glowing.
Where the diamond trees were growing,
And within each branch the emerald green,
And the ruby red were glowing.
I remember many a day we spent
In the bright hay-harvest meadow;
The glimmering heat of the noonday ground,
And the hazy depth of shadow.
In the bright hay-harvest meadow;
The glimmering heat of the noonday ground,
And the hazy depth of shadow.
186
I can remember, as to-day,
The corn-field and the reaping,
The rustling of the harvest-sheaves,
And the harvest-wain's upheaping:
The corn-field and the reaping,
The rustling of the harvest-sheaves,
And the harvest-wain's upheaping:
I can feel, this hour, as if I lay
Adown 'neath the hazel bushes,
And as if we wove, for pastime wild,
Our grenadier-caps of rushes.
Adown 'neath the hazel bushes,
And as if we wove, for pastime wild,
Our grenadier-caps of rushes.
And every flower within that field
To my memory's eye comes flitting,
The chiccory-flower, like a blue cockade,
For a fairy-knight befitting.
To my memory's eye comes flitting,
The chiccory-flower, like a blue cockade,
For a fairy-knight befitting.
The willow-herb by the water side,
With its fruit-like scent so mellow;
The gentian blue on the marly hill,
And the snap-dragon white and yellow.
With its fruit-like scent so mellow;
The gentian blue on the marly hill,
And the snap-dragon white and yellow.
I know where the hawthorn groweth red;
Where pink grows the way-side yarrow;
I remember the wastes of woad and broom,
And the shrubs of the red rest-harrow.
Where pink grows the way-side yarrow;
I remember the wastes of woad and broom,
And the shrubs of the red rest-harrow.
187
I know where the blue geranium grows,
And the stork's-bill small and musky;
Where the rich osmunda groweth brown,
And the wormwood white and dusky.
And the stork's-bill small and musky;
Where the rich osmunda groweth brown,
And the wormwood white and dusky.
There was a forest a-nigh our home,—
A forest so old and hoary,—
How we loved in its ancient glooms to be,
And remember its bygone story!
A forest so old and hoary,—
How we loved in its ancient glooms to be,
And remember its bygone story!
We sate in the shade of its mighty trees,
When the summer noon was glowing,
And heard in the depths of its undergrowth
The pebbly waters flowing.
When the summer noon was glowing,
And heard in the depths of its undergrowth
The pebbly waters flowing.
We quenched our thirst at the forest-well;
We ate of the forest berry;
And the time we spent in the good green-wood,
Like the times of song, were merry.
We ate of the forest berry;
And the time we spent in the good green-wood,
Like the times of song, were merry.
We had no crosses then, no cares;
We were children like yourselves then;
And we danced and sang, and made us mirth,
Like the dancing moonlight elves then!
We were children like yourselves then;
And we danced and sang, and made us mirth,
Like the dancing moonlight elves then!
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