Page:Collingwood - Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll.djvu/381

Rh I have tried, so feebly and ineffectually, to say:—

Lover of children! Fellow-heir with those
 * Of whom the imperishable kingdom is!

Beyond all dreaming now your spirit knows
 * The unimagined mysteries.

Darkly as in a glass our faces look
 * To read ourselves, if so we may, aright;

You, like the maiden in your faërie book—
 * You step behind and see the light!

The heart you wore beneath your pedant's cloak
 * Only to children's hearts you gave away;

Yet unaware in half the world you woke
 * The slumbering charm of childhood's day.

We older children, too, our loss lament,
 * We of the "Table Round," remembering well

How he, our comrade, with his pencil lent
 * Your fancy's speech a firmer spell.

Master of rare woodcraft, by sympathy's
 * Sure touch he caught your visionary gleams,

And made your fame, the dreamer's, one with his,
 * The wise interpreter of dreams.

Farewell! But near our hearts we have you yet,
 * Holding our heritage with loving hand,

Who may not follow where your feet are set
 * Upon the ways of Wonderland.