Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1898-04-21
AS ONE or THESE.
Written for Wisconsin Abor and Bird Day BY Fannie Knapp
LANCASTER, Wisconsin.

.HE poet wandered through the village street
Alone, among familiar Sights and Sounds;
OF humankihd none noticed him. or if
Tbeyy s a WIN Fbe coic sf9 oT gSaae
Rocked not OF foolish rhyming, or its cause.
Alone but well content. Within his soul
The spring was whispering in the Woods and lanes
Her promises of bloom and verdure sweet;
Like foam from summers hidden wave Of green.
His glowing thoughts, writ carelessly, had seemed
R9 nave some value t as he read them oer
c spring poetry was was cheap ana common too
A AM DO the many ANY careful hSm,drnm things
And read and write OF trees, and brooks and grass
Sadly he pondered on the narrow life
OF those whose hearts could feel no answering thrill
or from her harps the bidding 3a Trees
Was he alone the audience that heard,
he i44ged ne PRAYED for strong compelling words
III HOW ared PeS ee 3 DE- the NAP RrR
Had cast aside her burial shroud OF white,
Now lived respendent to make giad the earth.
Vas not hn meant for him this mission rare
Some word TO make them heed and understand:
Yet he was wrong for many heart grew light
ana TOOK fresh nope with the young growing year,
fonged for holiday and dreamed 81 hill and stream:
6Pe e toPE tie Rei M
And whispered, 1t is good to be alive"
Leaving the street, the poets random course
e rs Ps 2PPSs d6d 6im o bf
An. yes Ye slept awhile your quiet sleep
In frost and snow and now We are awake;
Your quiet useful life goeth on,
As an life doth eea though we sleep awhile
Lining her nest so warm in Thy strong arms,
The secret that has puzzled men for aye
And will, while yet the endures on earth
The secret of this life we guard and keep
WAT ahf he sne at 1lfS the ae Of all
RsP to rea
Their little ones. to keep the tide of life
Flowing and widening, on its 1ourney-wheref'
Thus. sunk in reverie. forgetting cen
The The slant oak that may Gan well who 5nows2
Aare Of Woc eG near him 90 clear and Sweet
The ehildrenI AS Of old: when Hamlin's babes,
S sens 10W hsss tiny 0E ga tTqqPgg
Charmed by the music of the little stream,
And Of the birds oerhead.
The poet smiled,
Ana wa5ehed them from his Pscs awhile
For yoiets some sailed their mimic boats
Some ran for f pure delight a, upon the grass
A dire destruction OF the tiny feet.
discovered by little maid whose eyes
@ man rana of e f@f 9
And one. whose hands were full of vfolets
Came 10 him. and with childhood's innocent grace
offered TO him share; then others came;
ns a2 py aRa an o
But showing yet the little builders skill,
The busy fitted to and fro,
One little lad had found a strange brown seed,
Hs Prop5ng io and 9n9Ehe a ten n6
Rained questions on the poet, thick and fast.
Earnest Ear and long he talked ana eager eyes
H HoTe " f5ha ths4 any tb yns tale
Was rounded by the icy glaciers tread:
And now the nest. thick and coarse without,
So smooth and fine within, showed mother-love
And care and how the little sprouting seed
Had tried its best to do its humble part
And, queer gician that it was, change
The dull soil into cleaning petals white!
While speaking of the fern the little lad
Who broughtit told them of poem
Which he had read at home; how, long
Alittle fern caught and hidden deep
And lost for ages in the hardening soil
Until at last a thoughtful man had found
The imprint on its rocky bed the fern
Had vanished.
But the level yellow light
Here warned them of the passing of the day,
So, not without lingering backward look,
The poet, with the children at his side,
Or pressing close behind, walked slowly home.
That night the poet. in his easy chair.
Reviewed the day, its pleasure and its pain
Pleasure. to find the sympathy he craved
In these little SOulS pain. because
That in each home where little children dwell.
where they have dwelt. have loved.
Nature is loved. though days of busy
May cause neglect, which She, sweet soul, forgves.
Where then mis- missione Crumbled into dust:
he needs must speak the more. assured
OF wider fellowship: for now he understood
The words Except as We become as one
of these shall in no wise enter in
My kingdom" Fen the kingdom here earth
Blind the that not with the childs:
Deaf the ears not unto his attuned;
on, sage and scholar, Envy these, who