Child of the flaxen locks, and laughing eye, Culling with hasty glee the flowerets gay, Or chasing with light foot the butterfly, I love to mark thee at thy frolic play. Near thee I see thy tender father stand, His anxious eye pursues thy roving track; And oft with warning voice and beckoning hand, He checks thy speed, and gently draws thee back. Why dost thou meekly yield to his decree? Fair boy, his fond regard to thee is known; He does not check thy joys from tyranny -- Thou art his lov'd, his cherish'd, and his own. When worldly lures, in manhood's coming hours, Tempt thee to wander from discretion's way; Oh! grasp not eagerly the offer'd flowers, Pause if thy Heavenly Father bid thee stay. Pause, and in Him revere a friend and guide, Who does not willingly thy faults reprove, But ever, when thou rovest from his side, Watches to win thee back with pitying love | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COOPER SQUARE by KAREN SWENSON THE WORLD by FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER ODE FOR A SOCIAL MEETING, WITH SLIGHT ALTERATIONS BY A TEETOTALER by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 13 by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) THREE PASTORAL ELEGIES: TO THE READER (2) by WILLIAM BASSE THE PEACE OF COLLEGE by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE |