And through the broken hawthorn hedge,
And by the low stone wall:

And then an open field they crossed;
The marks were still the same;
They tracked them on, nor ever lost; 15
And to the bridge they came.

They follow from the snowy bank
Those footmarks, one by one,
Into the middle of the plank;
And further there were none! 20
--Yet some maintain that to this day
She is a living child;
That you may see sweet Lucy Gray
Upon the lonesome wild.

O'er rough and smooth she trips along. 5
And never looks behind;
And sings a solitary song
That whistles in the wind.

WILLIAM BRIGHTLY RANDS

ENGLAND, 1823-1880

The Wonderful World

Great, wide, wonderful, beautiful world,
With the beautiful water about you curled, 10
And the wonderful grass upon your breast--
World, you are beautifully dressed!

The wonderful air is over me,
And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree;
It walks on the water and whirls the mills, 15
And talks to itself on the tops of the hills.

You friendly earth, how far do you go,
With wheat fields that nod, and rivers that flow,
And cities and gardens, and oceans and isles,
And people upon you for thousands of miles?

Ah, you are so great and I am so small, 5
I hardly can think of you, world, at all;
And yet, when I said my prayers to-day,
A whisper within me seemed to say:
"You are more than the earth, though you're such a dot;
You can love and think, and the world cannot." 10

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

ENGLAND, 1770-1850

To a Child

WRITTEN IN HER ALBUM

Small service is true service while it lasts.
Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one:
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.

CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI

ENGLAND, 1830-1894

Consider

Consider
The lilies of the field whose bloom is brief:
We are as they;