Birds and All Nature, Vol. VI, No 4, November 1899

<h2><SPAN name="WHAT_THE_WOOD_FIRE_SAID_TO_A_LITTLE_BOY" id="WHAT_THE_WOOD_FIRE_SAID_TO_A_LITTLE_BOY"></SPAN> WHAT THE WOOD FIRE SAID TO A LITTLE BOY.</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">What said the wood in the fire</div> <div class="verse">To the little boy that night,</div> <div class="verse">The little boy of the golden hair,</div> <div class="verse">As he rocked himself in his little arm-chair,</div> <div class="verse">When the blaze was burning bright?</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">The wood said: "See</div> <div class="verse">What they've done to me!</div> <div class="verse">I stood in the forest, a beautiful tree!</div> <div class="verse">And waved my branches from east to west;</div> <div class="verse">And many a sweet bird built its nest</div> <div class="verse">In my leaves of green,</div> <div class="verse">That loved to lean</div> <div class="verse">In springtime over the daisy's breast.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"From the blossomy dells,</div> <div class="verse">Where the violet dwells,</div> <div class="verse">The cattle came with their clanging bells,</div> <div class="verse">And rested under my shadows sweet;</div> <div class="verse">And the winds that went over the clover and wheat,</div> <div class="verse">Told me all that they knew</div> <div class="verse">Of the flowers that grew</div> <div class="verse">In the beautiful meadows that dreamed at my feet!</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"And the wild wind's caresses</div> <div class="verse">Oft rumpled my tresses;</div> <div class="verse">But, sometimes, as soft as a mother's lip presses</div> <div class="verse">On the brow of the child of her bosom, it laid</div> <div class="verse">Its lips on my leaves, and I was not afraid,</div> <div class="verse">And I listened and heard</div> <div class="verse">The small heart of each bird,</div> <div class="verse">As it beat in the nests that their mothers had made.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"And in springtime sweet faces,</div> <div class="verse">Of myriad graces,</div> <div class="verse">Came beaming and gleaming from flowery places.</div> <div class="verse">And under my grateful and joy-giving shade,</div> <div class="verse">With cheeks like primroses, the little ones played;</div> <div class="verse">And the sunshine in showers,</div> <div class="verse">Through all the bright hours,</div> <div class="verse">Bound their flowery ringlets with silvery braid.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"And the lightning</div> <div class="verse">Came brightening,</div> <div class="verse">From storm skies, and frightening</div> <div class="verse">The wandering birds that were tossed by the breeze,</div> <div class="verse">And tilted like ships on black, billowy seas;</div> <div class="verse">But they flew to my breast,</div> <div class="verse">And I rocked them to rest,</div> <div class="verse">While the trembling vines clustered and clung to my knees.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">"But how soon," said the wood,</div> <div class="verse">"Fades the memory of good!</div> <div class="verse">For the forester came, with his axe gleaming bright,</div> <div class="verse">And I fell like a giant all shorn of his might.</div> <div class="verse">Yet still there must be</div> <div class="verse">Some sweet mission for me,</div> <div class="verse">For have I not warmed you and cheered you to-night?"</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">So said the wood in the fire</div> <div class="verse">To the little boy that night,</div> <div class="verse">The little boy of the golden hair,</div> <div class="verse">As he rocked himself in his little arm-chair,</div> <div class="verse">When the blaze was burning bright.</div> <div class="verse ar">&mdash;<i>Atlanta Constitution.</i></div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />