The briny deep
Doth its roaring keep
The frothy shore along.
3. When the full moon pale,
Through a cloudy veil,
O'er the ocean sheds her light,
And the glittering star
Shineth afar,
'Midst the starry hosts of night,
4. And many a sail,
That has weathered1 the gale,
Is bathed in the pale moon-rays, --
On such a night
'Tis a glorious sight
O'er the boundless sea to gaze.2
WEATH'ERED. Borne up against; 2 GĀZE. To look intently and earnest
XXIX. — THE BAREFOOT BOY.
1. BLESSINGS on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy with cheek of tan!
With thy turned-up pantaloons,
And thy merry whistled tunes;
With thy red lip, redder still
Kissed by strawberries on the hill;
With the sunshine on thy face,
Through thy torn brim's jaunty grace;
From my heart I give thee joy,-
I was once a barefoot boy!
Let the million-dollared ride!
Barefoot, trudging at his side,
Thou hast more than he can buy
In the reach of ear and eye,–
Outward sunshine, inward joy:
Blessings on thee, barefoot boy!
2. O for boyhood's painless play,
Sleep that wakes in laughing day,
Health that mocks the doctor's rules,
Knowledge, never learned of schools,
Of the wild bee's morning chase,
Of the wild flower's time and place,
Flight of fowl and habitude 1
Of the tenants of the wood;
How the tortoise bears his shell,
How the woodchuck digs his cell,
And the ground-mole sinks his well;
How the robin feeds her young,
How the oriole's nest is hung;
Where the whitest lilies blow,
Where the freshest berries grow,
Where the groundnut trails its vine,
Where the wood-grape's clusters shine;
Of the black wasp's cunning way,
Mason of his walls of clay,
And the architectural plans
Of gray hornet artisans ! 2
For, eschewing 3 books and tasks,
Nature answers all he asks;
Hand in hand with her he walks,
Face to face with her he talks,
3. O for boyhood's time of June,
Crowding years in one brief moon,
When all things I heard or saw,
Me, their master, waited for!
I was rich in flowers and trees,
Humming-birds and honey-bees;
For my sport the squirrel played,
Plied the snouted mole his spade;
For my taste the blackberry cone
Purpled over hedge and stone;
Laughed the brook for my delight
Through the day and through the night,
Whispering at the garden wall,
Talked with me from fall to fall;
Mine the sand-rimmed pickerel pond,
Mine the walnut slopes beyond,
Mine, on bending orchard trees,
Apples of Hesperides! 4
Still as my horizon grew,
Larger grew my riches too;
All the world I saw or knew
Seemed a complex 5 Chinese toy,
Fashioned for a barefoot boy!
4. O for festal dainties spread,
Like my bowl of milk and bread,
Pewter spoon and bowl of wood,
On the door-stone, gray and rude!
O'er me, like a regal tent,
Cloudy-ribbed, the sunset bent,
Purple-curtained, fringed with gold,
Looped in many a wind-swung fold;
While for music came the play
Of the pied frogs' orchestra;
And, to light the noisy choir,
Lit the fly his lamp of fire.
I was monarch: pomp and joy
Waited on the barefoot boy!
5. Cheerily, then, my little man,
Live and laugh, as boyhood can!
Though the flinty slopes be hard,
Stubble-speared the new-mown sward,
Every morn shall lead thee through
Fresh baptisms of the dew;
Every evening from thy feet
Shall the cool wind kiss the heat:
All too soon these feet must hide
In the prison cells of pride,
Lose the freedom of the sod,
Like a colt's for work be shod,
Made to tread the mills of toil,
Up and down in ceaseless moil; 9
Happy if their track be found
Never on forbidden ground;
Happy if they sink not in
Quick and treacherous sands of sin.
Ah, that thou couldst know thy joy,
barefoot boy!
1. BABBY1 JOHN was not a baby at all, but the Caffre corruption of the Dutch word similar to the English baboon. Babby John-" a fellow of infinite jest, of a most excellent fancy" was my tame baboon.
2. When I became possessed of this treasure, I was living in the colony of Port Natal, South Africa, and cultivating the acquaintance of the brute creation, of which I had a collection which made gardening out of the question. I laid out, or rather left alone, my little domain 2 to be a miniature menagerie, and of all living things to grace it I coveted a baboon. Now, Babby John was an established favorite at a hotel in the town; but the proprietor became bankrupt, and on the sale of his property I became the delighted purchaser of his pet.
3. Arrived at home, my first care was to lodge my new inmate for the night, till I could secure him properly in the morning. Among his native wilds, his genius might have found a thousand ways of diverting itself; but being in captivity, Babby John was wont to employ the whole powers of his mind in the devising, and the whole powers of his body in the perpetration,5 of mischief. For the first night, I tied him to a post in the veranda. He had a bit of bread and half a cup of coffee, then curled himself up and went to sleep, as I thought, for the night.
4. Early in the morning I was awaked by loud cries from my Caffre servant, and on proceeding to learn
|