Classic Poem

HITHER away —
Come while you may,
Out where the banks are green — You hear me —
Where the brook flows fast between — Keep near me,
Close by the ridge,
Now under the bridge,
And away through the cool ravine — Don't fear me,
Hark, what I say;
A day's not a day;
How long is a day when the hills are gray?
A day is a year when the fields are sere,
And the fox still sleeps in his house of clay.

But mark — when the showers
Have wakened the flowers,
When the streams run clear and the birds are here,
And the spice-wood is budding — then mark what I say —
Come, hither away;
A day's not a day;
A month's but a day, and the days are but hours.
Now through the brake we are led — You hear me —
Yonder the red-bud is red — Keep near me —
Green the field slopes
To the edge of the copse,
Where the snowy wild-plum trees spread — Don't fear me.

Hark to the reed —
Follow my lead:
Now are the moments worth living indeed —
Now we walk over the sweet dappled clover
And down to the creek we wend;
To cross by the ford where the glinting beams hover,
And yellow young willow trees bend —

The yellow young willows all dipping and dripping,
All ruffled and swayed by the breath of the breeze,
See how they reach down; but the water keeps slipping
Away to the shade of the sycamore trees.

Softly they sigh
As the waters pass by;
Softly the net of their shadows they cast —
Day-bright or sad-night,
Sunlight or moonlight,
They'll tangle the soul of the water at last.

There's nothing that lives but must love — You hear me —
On earth or in realms above — Keep near me —
The clouds and the breeze,
The streams and the trees,
And the birds that build nests in the grove — Don't fear me.

Hark what I say;
Life's but a day;
Break house and leave books, come away! come away!
Come, leave the dull fool,
Leave mart, leave the school;
Seek meadow and woodland and love while you may.