A simple child ... That lightly draws its breath And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death? WORDSWORTH. IT knows but will not tell. Awake, alone, it counts its father's years -- How few are left -- its mother's. Ah, how well It knows of death, in tears. If any of the three -- Parents and child -- believe they have prevailed To keep the secret of mortality, I know that two have failed. The third, the lonely, keeps One secret -- a child's knowledge. When they come At night to ask wherefore the sweet one weeps, Those hidden lips are dumb. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...I, TOO by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES EHEU, FUGACES! by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS THE CANDLE by GHALIB IBN RIBAH AL-HAJJAM OUT FROM A DREAM by ELLA ALLISON THE SLEEPY SONG by JOSEPHINE DODGE DASKAM BACON THE MAID OF LLANWELLYN; A SONG by JOANNA BAILLIE A NEW PILGRIMAGE: 17 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |