The Osceola times., 1880-07-17
THE BAREFOOT BOY.
ny JOHN O. WHITTIER.

Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek of tani
With thy tuned-up pantaloons,
And thy merry whistled tunes;
With thy red lips redder SILL
Kissed by strawberries on the hill;
With the sunshine on thy lace,
Through thy torn brims Jaunty grace
From my heart give The JOY
ives once a barefoot boyl
Prince thou art-the grown-up man
only is republican;
Let the million -dollard 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 the, barefoot boyl
o for boyhood'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 the robbin leeds 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 woodgrapes clusters shine;
Mason of his walls of clay,
And the architectural plans
OF gray hornet artisans
For eschewing books and tasks,
Nature answers all he asks;
Hand in hand with her he walks,
Face 10 face with her he talks,
Part and parcel Of her JOY
Blessings on the barefoot boyl
Oh for boyhoods time OF June,
Crowdlng years in one brief moon,
When all things heard OF 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 ridge and stone;
Laughed the brook for my deliRM,
Through the day and through the night,
Whispering at the garden hall,
Talked with me from Fall to Fall:
Mine The sand-rimmed pickeral pond,
Mime the walnut slopes beyond,
Mine, on bending orchard trees,
Apples of Hesperidesl
Still as my horizon grew,
Larger grew my riches, too.
All the world saw or knew
Seemed a 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 doorstone gray and rudel
Ger me, like regal tent,
Cloudy-ribbed the sunset bent,
Purple curtained. fringed with gold,
Luopcd 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.
was monarch; pomp and Joy
Waited on the barioot boy!
Cbeerily, then, my little man.
Live and laugh rs boyhood ca1,
Though the flinty slopes be hard,
Stubble-spcared the new mown sward,
Every morn shall lead the 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 in ceaseless MOL;
Happy If their tracks be fonnd
Never on forbidden ground;
Happy If they sink not lp
Qnick the treacherous sands OF sin,
Ali that thou couldst know thy Joy,
Ere 1t passes. barefoot boyl