TWO BROWN HEADS with tossing curls, Red lips shutting over pearls, Bare feet, white and wet with dew, Two eyes black, and two eyes blue; Little girl and boy were they, Katie Lee and Willie Grey. They were standing where a brook, Bending like a shepherd's crook, Flashed its silver, and thick ranks Of willow fringed its mossy banks; Half in thought, and half in play, Katie Lee and Willie Grey. They had cheeks like cherries red; He was taller -- 'most a head; She, with arms like wreaths of snow, Swung a basket to and fro As she loitered, half in play, Chattering to Willie Grey. "Pretty Katie," Willie said -- And there came a dash of red Through the brownness of his cheek -- "Boys are strong and girls are weak, And I'll carry, so I will, Katie's basket up the hill." Katie answered with a laugh, "You shall carry only half;" And then, tossing back her curls, "Boys are weak as well as girls." Do you think that Katie guessed Half the wisdom she expressed? Men are only boys grown tall; Hearts don't change much, after all; And when, long years from that day, Katie Lee and Willie Grey Stood again beside the brook, Bending like a shepherd's crook, Is it strange that Willie said, While again a dash of red Crossed the brownness of his cheek, "I am strong and you are weak; Life is but a slippery steep, Hung with shadows cold and deep. "Will you trust me, Katie dear -- Walk beside me without fear? May I carry, if I will, All your burdens up the hill?" And she answered, with a laugh, "No, but you may carry half." Close beside the little brook Bending like a shepherd's crook, Washing with its silver hands Late and early at the sands, Is a cottage, where to-day Katie lives with Willie Grey. In a porch she sits, and lo! Swings a basket to and fro, Vastly different from the one That she swung in years agone. This is long and deep and wide, And has -- rockers at the side. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FELICIA HEMANS by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON IDYLL 16. TO THE EVENING STAR by BION THE GREENWOOD by WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES CHEF PERNOLLET by BERTON BRALEY THERE IS NO DEATH by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |