I HEAR a merry noise indeed: Is it the geese and ducks that take Their first plunge in a quiet pond That into scores of ripples break -- Or children make this merry sound? I see an oak tree, its strong back Could not be bent an inch, though all Its leaves were stone, or iron even: A boy, with many a lusty call, Rides on a bough bareback through Heaven. I see two children dig a hole And plant in it a cherry-stone: "We'll come to-morrow," one child said -- "And then the tree will be full-grown, And all its boughs have cherries red." Ah, children, what a life to lead: You love the flowers, but when they're past No flowers are missed by your bright eyes; And when cold winter comes at last, Snowflakes shall be your butterflies. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FOR CHARLIE'S SAKE by JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER THE WELL OF ST. KEYNE by ROBERT SOUTHEY IN THE DEEP WHITE SNOW by ANNE ATWOOD LOVE AND TIME by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD LOVE MAKES THE BEST POETS; AN IDYLLIUM by BION TRAFFIC WARNING by RICHARD WARNER BORST |