Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-02-24
Prom the Little Pilgrim.
THE BAREFOOT BOY.
ny JouN @. WHITTIER.

Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek Of tan!
With thy turncd-up pantaloons,
And thy merry whistlcd 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 | give thee JOY.
l was once a barefoot boy !
Prince thou art-the grown up man
Only in republican.
Let the million dollared ride
Barefoot. trudging at his side,
Thou hast more than he can buy,
In the reach of ear aud eye
Outward sunshine, inward joy:
Blessings on thee, barefoot boy
Oh! for boyhood's painless play, -
Sleep that wakes in laughing day,
Health hat mocks the doctors rules,
knowledge, never learned of schools,
or the wild bees morning chase,
Of the wild flowers time and place,
Flight of fowl, aud habitude
Of the tenants of the wood,
How the tortoise bears his shell,
How the woodchuck digs his cell,
And the groundmolc sinks his woll:
How the robin feeds her young,
How the orioles nest is hung;
Where the whitest lilies blow,
Where the freshest berries grow,
Where the %ground-nut 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 grey hornet artisans -
For, eschewing books and tasks,
Nature answers all he asks
Hand in hand with her he walks,
Face to face with her he talks,
Part and parcel of her joy
Blessings on the barefoot boy
Oh! for boyhood's time of June,
Crowding years in one brief moon,
When all things l heard or saw,
Me, their master, waited for,
| was rich in flowers and trees,
Humming birds and honey bees;
For my sport the squirrel played,
Piled the shouted 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 trimmed pickerel pond,
Mine the walnut slopes beyond,
Mine on bending orchard trees
Apples of Hesperides!
Still as my horizon grew,
Larger grew my riches too
All the world | saw OF knew
Seemed q complex Chinese toy
Fashioned for a barefoot boy
Oh for festal dainties spread,
Like my bowl of milk and bread
Pewter spoon and bowl of wood,
On the door.stone grey and rude!
Der 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 quiro
Lit the fly his lamp of fire.
l was monarch: pomp and joy
Waited on the barefoot boy /!
Cheerily, then, my little man,
Live and laugh, as boyhood can.
Though the finty 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 colts for work be shod,
Made to tread the mills of toll
Up and down il ceaseless moil-
Happy if their track be found
Never on forbidden ground
Happy if they sink not in
Quick and treacherous sands Of sin.
All! that thou couldst know thy joy
Ere it passes, barefoot boy!