 | Rhymes with reason and without |  |
221
APPLES: AN ANALOGY.
“Buy any apples?” said a tiny boy,
Whose bright blue eyes ten summers scarce had seen;
His youthful look had none of childhood's joy,
And speculation triumphed in his mien;
A cunning glance accompanied the word,
As if his eye the latent thought could trace;
Seeing the answer, ere his ear had heard,
Written distinctly in the buyer's face.
“Buy any apples?” and, his traffic sped,
The boy and basket from my notice fled.
Whose bright blue eyes ten summers scarce had seen;
His youthful look had none of childhood's joy,
And speculation triumphed in his mien;
A cunning glance accompanied the word,
As if his eye the latent thought could trace;
Seeing the answer, ere his ear had heard,
Written distinctly in the buyer's face.
“Buy any apples?” and, his traffic sped,
The boy and basket from my notice fled.
How like the child, thus practising his art,
Is man throughout the busy act of life!
The mighty temple called the human heart
With money-changing schemes is ever rife:
Apples the stock, of large or small renown,
With low and lofty traffic is the game;
All practise it, from him who wears the crown
Down to the lesser one of humbler fame.
“Buy any apples?” is the constant call,—
Some get “whole heaps,” but more get none at all.
Is man throughout the busy act of life!
The mighty temple called the human heart
With money-changing schemes is ever rife:
Apples the stock, of large or small renown,
With low and lofty traffic is the game;
All practise it, from him who wears the crown
Down to the lesser one of humbler fame.
“Buy any apples?” is the constant call,—
Some get “whole heaps,” but more get none at all.
| Rhymes with reason and without | |