Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 2.djvu/53

45 "But what's the Thorn? and what's the Pond?

And what's the Hill of moss to her?

And what's the creeping breeze that comes

The little Pond to stir?"

"I cannot tell; but some will say

She hanged her baby on the tree;

Some say she drowned it in the pond,

Which is a little step beyond:

But all and each agree,

The little babe was buried there,

Beneath that Hill of moss so fair.

I've heard, the moss is spotted red

With drops of that poor infant's blood;

But kill a new-born infant thus,

I do not think she could!

Some say, if to the Pond you go,

And fix on it a steady view,

The shadow of a babe you trace,

A baby and a baby's face,

And that it looks at you;

Whene'er you look on it, 'tis plain

The baby looks at you again.