 | The poetical works of James Montgomery |  |
The little one was dancing at his side,
And dragging him with petty violence
Hither and thither from the onward path,
To find a bird's nest or to hunt a fly:
His feign'd resistance and unfeign'd reluctance
But made the boy more resolute to rule
The grandsire with his fond caprice. The sage,
Though dallying with the minion's wayward will,
His own premeditated course pursued,
And while, in tones of sportive tenderness,
He answer'd all its questions, and ask'd others
As simple as its own, yet wisely framed
To wake and prove an infant's faculties,—
As though its mind were some sweet instrument,
And he, with breath and touch, were finding out
What stops or keys would yield the richest music,—
All this was by-play to the scene within
The busy theatre of his own breast:
Keen and absorbing thoughts were working there,
And his heart travail'd with unutter'd pangs;
Sigh after sigh, escaping to his lips,
Was check'd or turn'd into some lively word,
To hide the bitter conflict from his child.
And dragging him with petty violence
Hither and thither from the onward path,
To find a bird's nest or to hunt a fly:
His feign'd resistance and unfeign'd reluctance
But made the boy more resolute to rule
The grandsire with his fond caprice. The sage,
Though dallying with the minion's wayward will,
His own premeditated course pursued,
And while, in tones of sportive tenderness,
He answer'd all its questions, and ask'd others
As simple as its own, yet wisely framed
To wake and prove an infant's faculties,—
As though its mind were some sweet instrument,
And he, with breath and touch, were finding out
What stops or keys would yield the richest music,—
All this was by-play to the scene within
The busy theatre of his own breast:
Keen and absorbing thoughts were working there,
And his heart travail'd with unutter'd pangs;
Sigh after sigh, escaping to his lips,
Was check'd or turn'd into some lively word,
To hide the bitter conflict from his child.
| The poetical works of James Montgomery | |