Short Poems

Three secrets that never were said:
The stir of the sap in the spring,
The desire of a man to a maid,
The urge of a poet to sing.

Three little chickens
And one little worm,
Oh what a tug-of-war!
And each little chick
Thinks he knows very well
What fat little worms are for.

Three blind Mice, three blind Mice,
Dame Julian, Dame Julian,
The Miller and his merry old wife,
She scrap'd her tripe, lick thou the knife.

Though tuneless, stringless, it lies there in dust,
Like some great thought on a forgotten page;
The soul of music cannot fade or rust, —
The voice within it stronger grows with age;
Its strings and bow are only trifling things —
A master-touch! — its sweet soul wakes and sings.

Though singing but the shy and sweet
Untrod by multitudes of feet,
Songs bounded by the brook and wheat,
— I have not failed in this,
The only lure my woodland note,
To win all England's whitest throat!
O bards in gold and fire who wrote,
— Be yours all other bliss!

Thou wert the morning star among the living
Ere thy fair light had fled;--
Now, having died, thou art as Hesperus, giving
New splendour to the dead.
Language has not the power to speak what love indites;
The Soul lies buried in the ink that writes.

This noiseless ball and top so round,
This rattle with its lively sound,
These bones with which he loved to play,
Companions of his childhood's day,
To Hermes, if the god they please,
An offering from Philocles.

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

This white sedge hat came from Kyoto yesterday.
Why shouldn't I lend my man this white sedge hat?
Lean on me, I'll let you wear this Kyoto-curved hat.
If you lean on me, I'll let you wear this lovely little sedge hat.
You're too young — I won't let you row in the swampy paddies without a hat!

Though good things answer many good intents,
Crosses do still bring forth the best events.