POEMS REFERRING TO THE PERIOD OF CHILDHOOD. I. My heart leaps up when I behold So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man ; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; 1804. 11. TO A BUTTERFLY. STAY near me-do not take thy flight! Much Converse do I find in thee, Historian of my infancy! Float near me; do not yet depart! Dead times revive in thee: Thou bring'st, gay creature as thou art! A solemn image to my heart, My father's family! Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days, Together chased the butterfly! Upon the prey-with leaps and springs But she, God love her! feared to brush 1801. THAT is work of waste and ruin- I am older, Anne, than you. Pull the primrose, sister Anne ! Pull as many as you can. -Here are daisies, take your fill ; Make your bed, or make your bower; Primroses, the Spring may love them Summer knows but little of them : Violets, a barren kind, Withered on the ground must lie ; Daisies leave no fruit behind When the pretty flowerets die; Pluck them, and another year As many will be blowing here. God has given a kindlier power Then will hang on every stalk, And for that promise spare the flower! 7 IV. CHARACTERISTICS OF A CHILD THREE LOVING she is, and tractable, though wild; Not less if unattended and alone Than when both young and old sit gathered round And take delight in its activity; Even so this happy Creature of herself Is all-sufficient; solitude to her Is blithe society, who fills the air With gladness and involuntary songs. Light are her sallies as the tripping fawn's Of the soft breeze ruffling the meadow-flowers, 1811. |