THE TRUANTS

Ere my heart beats too coldly and faintly
  To remember sad things, yet be gay,
I would sing a brief song of the world’s little children
  Magic hath stolen away.

The primroses scattered by April,
  The stars of the wide Milky Way,
Cannot outnumber the hosts of the children
  Magic hath stolen away.

The buttercup green of the meadows,
  The snow of the blossoming may,
Lovelier are not than the legions of children
  Magic hath stolen away.

The waves tossing surf in the moonbeam,
  The albatross lone on the spray,
Alone know the tears wept in vain for the children
  Magic hath stolen away.

In vain:  for at hush of the evening,
  When the stars twinkle into the grey,
Seems to echo the far-away calling of children
  Magic hath stolen away.
                         Walter de la Mare.

WILL EVER?

Will he ever be weary of wandering,
  The flaming sun? 
Ever weary of waning in lovelight,
  The white still moon? 
Will ever a shepherd come
  With a crook of simple gold,
And lead all the little stars
  Like lambs to the fold?

Will ever the Wanderer sail
  From over the sea,
Up the river of water,
  To the stones to me? 
Will he take us all into his ship,
  Dreaming, and waft us far,
To where in the clouds of the West,
  The Islands are?
                       Walter de la Mare.

WANDERERS

Wide are the meadows of night,
And daisies are shining there,
Tossing their lovely dews,
Lustrous and fair;
And through these sweet fields go,
Wanderers amid the stars—­
Venus, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune,
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars.

’Tired in their silver, they move,
And circling, whisper and say,
Fair are the blossoming meads of delight
Through which we stray.
                       Walter de la Mare.

CHRISTMAS

While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
  All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
  And glory shone around.

“Fear not,” said he,—­for mighty dread
  Had seized their troubled mind—­
“Glad tidings of great joy I bring
  To you and all mankind.

“To you, in David’s town, this day
  Is born, of David’s line,
The Saviour, who is Christ the Lord;
  And this shall be the sign: 

“The heavenly babe you there shall find
  To human view displayed,
All meanly wrapped in swathing bands,
  And in a manger laid.”

Thus spake the seraph; and forthwith
  Appeared a shining throng
Of angels, praising God, and thus
  Addressed their joyful song: