The Kanzas news., 1858-06-19
The Barefoot Boy.
BY sous 6. RHlrrIEE.

Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek OF tah-
With thy t1rned-uP Pa1taioons
And thy merry whistled times
with tiy red lip, redder sui
W;N-aj = ,ua II h stiaWberries. on the hill;
VIII the sunshine on thy faee,
Tbrouof thy torn brim's isunty grace:
Frorn :. NV heart give thee joy
7 was once barefoot boy.
, Prince thou art-the groWn-up man
Only is republican.
Let the million -dollared ridei
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 boyl
o, for boyhood's painless play,
Sleep that wakes In laughing day,
Health that moeks the doctors rules,
Knowledge never learned of schools,
OF the Wild bees morning chase,
Of the wild-fiower's time and place.
Flight Of fowl, and habitude
OF the tenants of the wood;
How the tortoise bears his shell,
How the voodchuck digs his cell,
And the ground mole sinks his well;
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 grapes clusters shine;
OF the black wasp,s cunning way,
Mason of his walls Of clay.
And the architectural plans
Of gray, hornet arsisansi--
For, esehewing books and tasks,
Nature answers all he asks;
Hand in hand with her he Ealks,
Face to face with her ne talks,
Part and parcel of her joy
Blessings on the barefoot boyi
o, for boyhood's time of June,
Crowding years in one brief moon,
When all things / 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,
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-rimmed pickerel pond,
Mine the walnut slopes beyond,
Mine, on bending orchard trees,
Apples OF HespeHdes!
Still, as my horizon grew,
Larger grew my riches too;
All the world saw or knew
Seemed complex Chinese toy,
Fashioned for barefoot boy!
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 regal tent,
ClOudy-ribbed, the sunset bent,
Purple-curtained, fringed with gold,
Looped in many 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.
/ was monarch: pomp and Joy
Waited on the barefoot boyI
Cheerily, then, my little man,
Liyeand laugh, as boyhood eani
Though the fiinty 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 colts for work be shod,
Made to tread the mills of toll,
Up and down in ceaseless noil:
Happy if their track be found
Never on forbidden ground;
Happy if they sink not in
Quick and treaeherous sands of sin.
Ali mat thou eouidst know thy joy,
Ere it passes, barefoot boy