 | A merry-go-round of song |  |
144
THE LOSSES
(An Envoy to the Elders)
Where is the joy we lost,
That as a golden toy we tossed
Beyond the beck, along the moor,
While daffodils with yellow lips
Were dancing like a fleet of ships
A Merman's league of blue from shore?
'Twas then we tumbled with our sling
Goliath as he leaped the spring
In Philistine array!
Where is our flashing joy?
We grew to think it silly,
And so it crept away.
Ah!
That as a golden toy we tossed
Beyond the beck, along the moor,
While daffodils with yellow lips
Were dancing like a fleet of ships
A Merman's league of blue from shore?
'Twas then we tumbled with our sling
Goliath as he leaped the spring
In Philistine array!
Where is our flashing joy?
We grew to think it silly,
And so it crept away.
Ah!
Where is the world we lost,
That as a coloured ball we tossed
From hand to hand with joyous cries,
Till Mother put it on a shelf,
And gave instead her lovely self
To look for Fairies in our eyes
Before we drooped each curly head
And hero-haunted limb in bed,
And still as stillness lay?
Where is our coloured world?
We grew to think it silly,
And so it rolled away.
Ah!
That as a coloured ball we tossed
From hand to hand with joyous cries,
Till Mother put it on a shelf,
And gave instead her lovely self
To look for Fairies in our eyes
Before we drooped each curly head
And hero-haunted limb in bed,
And still as stillness lay?
Where is our coloured world?
We grew to think it silly,
And so it rolled away.
Ah!
146
Where is the sleep we lost,
That as a velvet veiling crossed
Our eyes before the lids fell down,
And dulled the sparkles of our brain
Till morning found us strong again
To dare the hump-backed giant's frown?
If we might change to thieves, we know
What jewel to steal from Long Ago
To help us most to-day!
Where is the sleep we lost?
We fell in love with riches,
And so it ran away.
Ah!
That as a velvet veiling crossed
Our eyes before the lids fell down,
And dulled the sparkles of our brain
Till morning found us strong again
To dare the hump-backed giant's frown?
If we might change to thieves, we know
What jewel to steal from Long Ago
To help us most to-day!
Where is the sleep we lost?
We fell in love with riches,
And so it ran away.
Ah!
| A merry-go-round of song | |