Page:Songs of Rebellion (Hall 1915).djvu/48

 YOU WANT TO BE A POET, CHILD?

To take your pen and write Of fairies in the wonderlands And goblins in the night?

To comrade with the bee And steal the sweets of honied plants That grow by land and sea?

To wander with the light Along the paths of morning, Or adown the vales of night?

To understand the words, The strange, mysterious language Of the freeborn forest birds?

To hear the heart of things, The music of the waters And the rustle of the wings?

With wistful eyes to gaze Across the sea of sadness On the lands of other days?

To stand out in the dark Alone upon the mountains Where the wolves of failure bark?

To see the light of love Fade slowly from the world around And vanish from above?

To watch the ghostly wraith That springs up from the ashes Of your perished hope and faith?

Ah! let your heart be strong If you would be a poet, child— The singer of a song! 42