| Child of the pure unclouded brow
|
| And dreaming eyes of wonder!
|
| Though time be fleet, and I and thou
|
| Are half a life asunder
|
| Thy loving smile will surely hail
|
| The love-gift of a fairy-tale. |
| (x2)
|
| I have not seen thy sunny face
|
| Nor heard thy silver laughter:
|
| No thought of me shall find a place
|
| In thy young life’s hereafter
|
| Enough that now thou wilt not fail
|
| To listen to my fairy-tale. |
| (x2)
|
| A tale begun in other days
|
| When summer suns were glowing-
|
| A simple chime, that served to time
|
| The rhythm of our rowing-
|
| Whose echoes live in memory yet
|
| Though envious years would say 'forget.' |
| (x2)
|
| Come, hearken then, ere voice of dread
|
| With bitter tidings laden
|
| Shall summon to unwelcome bed
|
| A melancholy maiden!
|
| We are but older children, dear
|
| Who fret to find our bedtime near. |
| (x2)
|
| Without, the frost, the blinding snow
|
| The storm-wind's moody madness-
|
| Within, the firelight’s ruddy glow
|
| And childhood’s nest of gladness
|
| The magic words shall hold thee fast:
|
| Thou shalt not heed the raving blast. |
| (x2)
|
| And, though the shadow of a sigh
|
| May tremble through the story
|
| For 'happy summer days' gone by
|
| And vanish’d summer glory-
|
| It shall not touch, with breath of bale
|
| The pleasance, of our fairy-tale. |
| (x2)
|
| Though time be fleet, and I and thou
|
| Are half a life asunder
|
| Thy loving smile will surely hail
|
| The love-gift of a fairy-tale |