Page:Collected poems vol 2 de la mare.djvu/146

 RE 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.