Page:Poems for Children Sigourney 1836.pdf/7

 young perceptions, even before they are expected,—and Poetry, more successfully than the severer sciences, bends a spray to their embrace, or a prop for their aspirings.

Even first intercourse with the mind, may be higher than that of amusement. Coming into the nursery as it does, with the voice of song, it need not confine itself to unmeaning carols, or useless echoes. It may be as the sun-beam fitting the newly-broken soil for the future toil of the culturer. By quickening the intellect, and furnishing a pleasant aliment for memory,—it leads to that inquisitive research, which, next to application, secures proficiency in more laborious departments of knowledge.

But its principal affinity is with the heart, Its power of creating tender and indelible impressions has not always been fully