Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-06-25
THE BAREFOOT ROY.
By john c. WHITTIER.

Blessings on thee. little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek Of tan
With thy turned-up pantaloonS,
And thy merry whistled tunes:
With thy red lips, reiier still
Missed ny strawberries on the sill.
With the sunshine on thy face,
through thy torn brim's .jaunty grace
From my heart | give thee joy
was once barefoot boy
Prince thou art--the grOwn-up man
Only is republican.
Let the illion-d0llaed ride.
Barefoot, trudging at his side.
Thou hast more than he can buy
In the reach Of ear and eve
Outward sunshine, inward JOY;
Blessings on thee barefoot boy
o for hoyhnod's painless play.
Sleep that wakes in laughing day,
Health that mocks the doctors rules,
knowledge never learned of schools,
OF the wild bees morning chase,
Of the wild flowers time and place,
Flight of fowl and habitude
OF the tenants of the wood
How the tortoise bears his she'll
How the woodchuck digs his cell
And the ground mole sinks his well:
How tho robin feeds his young;
How the orioles nest is hung;
Where the whitest lilies blow.
Where the freshest berries grow
Where the groundnut trails its vine
Where the wondgrape's clusters shine,
of the black wasp's cunning way.
Mason of his walls of clay,
And the architectural plans
Of gray hornet artisans
For cschewing 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
o for boyhoodS time Of June,
Crowding years in one brief moon
When all things | 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
Purplcd over ridge and stone.
Laughed the brook for my delight
Through the day and through the night
Whispering at the garden wall,
Talked with me from Fail to Fall
Mine the sund- trimmed pickcrcl pond,
Mine the walnut slopes beyond,
Mine, ON bending orchard trees,
Apples of llesperideSl
Still rs my horizon grew,
Larger grew my riches, too;
All the world saw or knew
Seemed a complex Chinese toy
Fashioned for barefoot boy!
D for fcstal daintieS spread
Like my bowl of milk and bread,
Pewter spoon and bowl Of wood.
On the doorstone gray and rude
Der me, like Il regal tent,
Cloudy ribbed, the sunset bent,
Purple curtained fringed with gold
Looped in many windswung 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 boy!
Cheerily, then, my little man
Live and laugh as boyhood can
Though the fiinty slopes be hard,
Stubble-speared the ncw-mown sward,
Every morn shall lead thee through
Fresh baptism> Of the dew;
Every evening from thy feet
Shall the cool wind kiss the heat;
An too soon these feet must hide
In the prison cells Of pride,
Lose the freedom of the sod
Like colts for work be shoh
Made to tread the mills Of toll
Up and down in ceaScleSs MOL;
Happy it their tracks lie found
Never ON forbidden ground,
Happy if they sink not i'll
Quick and trcncherous sands OF sin,
An. that thou couldst know thy joy,
Ere it passes. barefoot boy,