Page:Hand in hand; (IA handinhand00kipl).pdf/18

 I heard the plaintive cawing of the rook, The pleasant murmur of the rippling brook; I heard the cuckoo's oft-repeated call And bursts of childish laughter over all.

With eyes half closed, and empty idle hands
 * That plucked at grass and flowers aimlessly,

I watched the flickering shadow of the leaves
 * Waving like fans upon the chestnut-trees.

It mattered nothing to me, as I lay, That Love was gone, and Hope had flown away, That Life had lost its sweetness and its grace,— I only felt the sunshine in my face.

A little child came softly to my side,
 * With buttercups and daisies in its hand;

Half shy, half bold, it dropped them on my breast—
 * An infant's scheme most innocently planned.

This done, it turned, and shouting gleefully, With tiny hurrying feet fled hast; I never heeded it, but lay at rest, The sunshine and the flowers upon my breast.

I felt the sunshine in my very heart.
 * Was yesterday so clouded and so sad,

And would to-morrow be like this, or that?
 * What mattered it? And yet I was not glad.

I only knew the sun shone overhead; I only knew that underneath was spread