Page:Poems of Sentiment and Imagination.djvu/59

Rh That suit their motion to the fitful breeze,

And whisper music to the dream-bound soul.

But most of all, I love to notice where

The feet of other wayfarers have fallen.

Such is the willingness with which we look

Into the hearts of others, to find out

The secret of their misery or bliss;

That as I gaze upon the brief impress

Of feet whose owners I have never known,

A shadow of their character will cross

The vision of my fancy like a truth.

Deep in the dust, and almost half erased,

I see the traces of a ponderous shoe;

The wearer hath trod heavily; perhaps

Burdened with care, as wearied with the toil

Of tedious miles; for when the heart beats low

The blood flows but reluctantly, and life

Performs its functions wearily, with care.

But here, and here, a little unshod foot

Hath pressed but lightly, as with smiling eyes

And bounding heart its infant owner tripped

Laughing along, perchance to school and books—

May be to gather flowers for good grandma—

Or yet to roam in search of winter stores

Of brown, delicious nuts.

And here's a print

Of a small slippered foot, and just beside

A larger and a heavier impress.

And now the mind with fancy's pencil draws

A picture of a pair, a beautiful pair,

Of young and love-eyed beings, who, with lips

Lovely and eloquent, breathe impassioned dreams,

Fashioned in hearts filled with the loveliest

And gentlest thoughts, and told in whispered words

Inspired by scenes as full of love as is

The countenance of Nature. They have talked,

Confiding in each other, till the chain

Of subtlest sympathy that binds our hearts