Friend of the boys! Though Time has many a crown For your benignant head, -- among the rest The poet's and the novelist's renown, -- This is the chief, the happiest and best. Yes, and for you the proudest; for you know, When other souls by specious lures are caught, The hearts of boys are candid as the snow, Untricked, unterrified, unbent, unbought. Who writes for boys must see the things that are, And write the things he sees with buoyant truth; Ever his soul must know the morning star, The glad, good secret of eternal youth. "Write him as one that loves his fellow men," -- What higher praise the tongue of man employs? Ah, this, with softer voice, with mellower pen: Write him as one that loves his fellow boys! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FICTION by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON INTERRACIAL by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE GOLDEN WEDDING OF STERLING AND SARAH LANIER by SIDNEY LANIER UNCLE JIM'S BAPTIST REVIVAL HYMN by SIDNEY LANIER |