 | Lays and ballads |  |
60
LINES TO A LITTLE FRIEND.
Thou radiant playmate of the brook,—
The stream and thou are young together;
Far down the flowery fields I look,—
Fields silent as a sabbath book,
And see the water winding thither.
The stream and thou are young together;
Far down the flowery fields I look,—
Fields silent as a sabbath book,
And see the water winding thither.
O'er laughing wheels I see it shed;
Then widening to the freighted river;
Around yon purple headland spread
Lieth the ocean's azure bed,
And there at last it sleeps for ever.
Then widening to the freighted river;
Around yon purple headland spread
Lieth the ocean's azure bed,
And there at last it sleeps for ever.
61
The brook near by—the river far
Winged with white sails in peace distended,
All sweeping toward the headland bar,
The prophets of thy future are,
And, prophet-like, uncomprehended.
Winged with white sails in peace distended,
All sweeping toward the headland bar,
The prophets of thy future are,
And, prophet-like, uncomprehended.
Who knows thy future pathway? Who
Discerns through what strange fields it wendeth?
Yet soon to you and such as you,
This glorious world, the old and new,
With all its weight of care descendeth.
Discerns through what strange fields it wendeth?
Yet soon to you and such as you,
This glorious world, the old and new,
With all its weight of care descendeth.
The skies, with all their suns and showers,
And all earth's gladness, and its sorrow,
The mighty forests, fields, and flowers,
The streams and seas, to-day are ours,
But shall be yours to-morrow.
And all earth's gladness, and its sorrow,
The mighty forests, fields, and flowers,
The streams and seas, to-day are ours,
But shall be yours to-morrow.
Endowed with every youthful grace
Art thou; brave, generous, and tender;
Fair be thy future as thy face,
And few upon the earth shall trace
A path so overspread with splendour!
Art thou; brave, generous, and tender;
Fair be thy future as thy face,
And few upon the earth shall trace
A path so overspread with splendour!
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