Classic Poem

Ah , lovely child, with face so fair,
And rippling streams of sunny hair,
And spirit all untouch'd by care;
While Hope and Joy,
As in a trance of glad surprise,
Look out from thine enraptured eyes,
My happy boy.

The world to thee is fresh and new,
As beautiful with early dew
As when the first pair wander'd through
Their glorious Eden,
Ere yet the serpent had beguil'd,
Or driv'n them to the desert wild,
All sorrow-laden.

Life's still to thee a vision bright,
And earth an Eden of delight,
A thrill in ev'ry sound and sight,
Each touch a joy;
And ev'ry little bird that sings,
And all the flow'rs are heav'nly things,
My happy boy.

Thy world is spirit-haunted still,
The valley green, the murm'ring rill,
The solemn wood, the great old hill,
The tow'ring pine;
And all the rivers, as they roll,
Are ever ringing through thy soul
A song divine.

Let Science reason and define;
A deeper instinct, child, is thine,—
Thy intuitions are divine.
Unschool'd by art,
Or the frivolities of time,
Thou still canst feel the beat sublime
Of Nature's heart.

Thou still canst talk with flow'r and tree,
And still the mountains nod to thee;
And through thy soul the great old sea
Still heaves sublime!
And Awe and Wonder, hand in hand,
Still lead thee through this magic land,
This vale of Time.

And Charity, all void of art,
Has built her temple in thy heart,
Where selfishness has ne'er a part;
And long may'st thou
Live but by sympathy and love,
And intuitions from above,
As thou dost now.

And may no sceptic, weak and blind,
Have pow'r to blight thy youthful mind
With hateful thoughts of human kind,
Thy peace destroy,
And dwarf thy spiritual stature,
With blasphemies of Man and Nature,
My hopeful boy.

His gospel is of sin and shame—
That men love only pow'r and fame,
That Friendship's but an empty name,
That Love is lust;
And men are but Aherd of knaves
That crawl into their worthless graves,
Dust unto dust.

May never Bigot get control,
To fix his shackles on thy soul,
And turn earth to a dismal hole
Where Love's unknown,
And ev'ry heart is rank and soul,
And God with an eternal scowl
Is looking on.

Such blasphemies are a disgrace;
Such libels on the human race
Make God-like Reason hide her face
In grief and shame,
And wring from ev'ry manly breast
A sacred, solemn, sad protest,
In God's great name.

While others wealth and honors chase,
Tho' poverty stare in thy face,
Strive thou to elevate our race
From sin and guilt;
Dare to be honest, and despise
The tow'ring monument of lies
Fashion has built.

Still dote on Nature's ev'ry feature,
Love and revere thy fellow-creature,
Have Faith in God, and Man, and Nature,
And look above!
Get knowledge, but get something more,
Something to worship and adore.
And love, still love.