CHILDHOOD.
My heart leaps up when I beholdA rainbow in the sky;So was it when my life began,So is it now I am a man,So let it be when I grow old,Or let me die.Wordsworth.
My heart leaps up when I beholdA rainbow in the sky;So was it when my life began,So is it now I am a man,So let it be when I grow old,Or let me die.Wordsworth.
My heart leaps up when I beholdA rainbow in the sky;So was it when my life began,So is it now I am a man,So let it be when I grow old,Or let me die.Wordsworth.
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky;
So was it when my life began,
So is it now I am a man,
So let it be when I grow old,
Or let me die.
Wordsworth.
Theangel that takes care of the tender lambs and sprinkles dew upon the flowers in the still night, take care of thee, dear child, and let no evil come to thy tender years. Fair child! when I gaze into thy soft blue eyesmychildhood returns, like a bright vision, and I think of the time, long since past, when every sight andevery sound in nature gave to me such sweet delight, and all wassofair and beautiful. I fancy I hear thy gentle voice breathing forth thy joy, in sweet and happy words, such as little children are wont to use when they first begin to look up into the blue sky, to gaze upon therainbow, or at the bright, fleecy clouds that float over the moon. The bright sun, the moon, and the stars—the murmuring rivulet—the broad ocean, heaving to and fro in the sunlight—the pealing thunder, and the storm—the quiet glen, where I listened to the busy hum of the insects, the joyous song of the birds, as they sung in the trees or flew from spray to spray, the odor of fresh flowers—allfilled my breast with heavenly love and peace; and when I look up into thyface, dear child, my soul returns to join you, and I forget the present, and live, for a time, only in the past.
The little maid you see gazing at the great dragon-fly, is the foster child of a good shepherd; she has risen with the morning sun, and has come forth into the silent wood, to lift up her little voice, with the birds, in songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Creator, and to ask His blessing on all that lives. The little lamb by her side is the companion of all her walks; she gives it fresh grass to eat, with her own hand, and water from the clear stream that flows rippling beneath the green trees. She makes garlands of the choicest flowers, and hangs them upon his neck. She loves the flowers, the green grass, and the ripplingstream. She loves to walk with her lamb in the still woods, and listen to the hum of the little insects that dwell there. She is Nature’s happy child, and her discourses are with its wonders. It is in the quiet dell, by the softly murmuring stream, that she loves most to stay; she is talking now with that large dragon-fly; and if a picture could speak, we should hear her say, in the gentlest accents in the world:
“Come here, pretty dragon-fly, come and rest on my hand, and let me feel of your gossamer wings, and look into your bright eyes; come, listen to me, and I will tell you a tale—I will—”
But the dragon-fly hears her not—he is looking at a beautiful lily, in whose soft cup he intends to rest awhile—oh! howbeautiful it is! and the dragon-fly has lit upon it—the little maid claps her hands for joy, for she is sure of him now; and she stretches out her hand to the lily cup; but ere she could touch it, the pretty creature has flown from the flower, and as it pauses in the air, we can imagine that it says:
“Good-by, little girl, I shall not suffer myself to be caught to-day;” and off he flies, soaring higher and higher into the blue heavens.
MRS. COLMAN.