Classic Poem

Before the child the world expands,
And dreams of green or sunny lands
Float in upon his soul from space.
Each child upon the planet born
Brings back that planet's early morn
In the sweet sunrise of his face.

The world for each is recreate,
And each may meet and conquer Fate,
And mould his life to woe or weal.
For each the sea again is blue:
For each the mountain-summits new;
For each the morning bugles peal.

For each God sheds his glory again
On hill and dell and lake and plain:
To each he brings his flowers anew.
He paints for each the lily white,
And hangs with lamps the dome of night,
And paints the sky's great ceiling blue.

All gather depth of meaning strange
From the boy's heart. — All shift and change
Their meaning with the growing years.
The whole of Nature seems to wait
On mankind; changes with his state,
And shares his hopes and shares his fears.

From out the air a message speaks
That flushes through the boy's bright cheeks;
The gates of wonder never close.
God whispers through the nights of June
Of something lovelier than the moon,
And something sweeter than the rose.