Page:The eighth sin (IA eighthsin00morlrich).pdf/60



would have said, with radiant face, "Dear Lady, in some fairy place Some garden where (without a nurse) They played their shadowy games in verse, You must have met my bairns alone And smiled, and took them for your own.

"They were more ragged then, perhaps, They did not know the joy of laps, A very lonely life they led They never had been tucked in bed. In spite of all their merry laughter They badly needed looking after!

"These children of my wistful dreams The magic of your brush now seems To bring to life—I recognise The golden heads, the dark brown eyes, The dainty frocks, the slin bare legs And all that love-of-children begs.