 | Original Poems for My Children |  |
THE SPRING WALK.
We had a pleasant walk to day
Over the meadows and far away,
Across the bridge by the water-mill,
By the woodside, and up the hill;
And if you listen to what I say,
I'll tell you what we saw to day.
Over the meadows and far away,
Across the bridge by the water-mill,
By the woodside, and up the hill;
And if you listen to what I say,
I'll tell you what we saw to day.
Amid a hedge, where the first leaves
Were peeping from their sheaths so sly,
We saw four eggs within a nest,
And they were blue as a summer sky.
Were peeping from their sheaths so sly,
We saw four eggs within a nest,
And they were blue as a summer sky.
An elder-branch dipped in the brook,
We wondered why it moved, and found
A silken-haired smooth water-rat
Nibbling, and swimming round and round.
We wondered why it moved, and found
A silken-haired smooth water-rat
Nibbling, and swimming round and round.
Where daisies opened to the sun,
In a broad meadow, green and white,
The lambs were racing eagerly—
We never saw a prettier sight.
In a broad meadow, green and white,
The lambs were racing eagerly—
We never saw a prettier sight.
We saw upon the shady banks
Long rows of golden flowers shine,
And first mistook for buttercups
The star-shaped yellow celandine.
Long rows of golden flowers shine,
And first mistook for buttercups
The star-shaped yellow celandine.
Anemones and primroses,
And the blue violets of spring,
We found, while listening by a hedge
To hear a merry ploughman sing.
And the blue violets of spring,
We found, while listening by a hedge
To hear a merry ploughman sing.
And from the earth the plough turned up,
There came a sweet refreshing smell,
Such as the lily of the vale
Sends forth from many a woodland dell.
There came a sweet refreshing smell,
Such as the lily of the vale
Sends forth from many a woodland dell.
We saw the yellow wall-flower wave
Upon a mouldering castle wall,
And then we watched the busy rooks
Among the ancient elm-trees tall.
Upon a mouldering castle wall,
And then we watched the busy rooks
Among the ancient elm-trees tall.
And leaning from the old stone bridge,
Below we saw our shadows lie,
And through the gloomy arches watched
The swift and fearless swallows fly.
Below we saw our shadows lie,
And through the gloomy arches watched
The swift and fearless swallows fly.
We heard the speckle-breasted lark
As it sang somewhere out of sight,
And tried to find it, but the sky
Was filled with clouds of dazzling light.
As it sang somewhere out of sight,
And tried to find it, but the sky
Was filled with clouds of dazzling light.
We saw young rabbits near the wood,
And heard a pheasant's wings go “whirr,”
And then we saw a squirrel leap
From an old oak tree to a fir.
And heard a pheasant's wings go “whirr,”
And then we saw a squirrel leap
From an old oak tree to a fir.
And many pretty birds we saw,
Which had come o'er the stormy main,
To build their nests, and rear their young,
And sing in our old woods again.
Which had come o'er the stormy main,
To build their nests, and rear their young,
And sing in our old woods again.
We came back by the village fields,
A pleasant walk it was across 'em,
For all behind the houses lay
The orchards red and white with blossom.
A pleasant walk it was across 'em,
For all behind the houses lay
The orchards red and white with blossom.
Were I to tell you all we saw,
I'm sure that it would take me hours;
For the whole landscape was alive
With bees, and birds, and buds, and flowers.
I'm sure that it would take me hours;
For the whole landscape was alive
With bees, and birds, and buds, and flowers.
| Original Poems for My Children | |