Ere my heart beats too coldly and faintly To remember sad things, yet be gay, I would sing a brief song of the world's little children Magic hath stolen away. The primroses scattered by April, The stars of the wide Milky Way, Cannot outnumber the hosts of the children Magic hath stolen away. The buttercup green of the meadows, The snow of the blossoming may, Lovelier are not than the legions of children Magic hath stolen away. The waves tossing surf in the moonbeam, The Albatross lone on the spray, Alone know the tears wept in vain for the children Magic hath stolen away. In vain: for at hush of the evening, When the stars twinkle into the grey, Seems to echo the far-away calling of children Magic hath stolen away. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE AN OLD WOMAN OF THE ROADS by PADRAIC COLUM LOVERS' INFINITENESS by JOHN DONNE SONNET: ON A FAMILY PICTURE by THOMAS EDWARDS A BALLAD OF THE FRENCH FLEET; OCTOBER, 1746 by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW MUIOPOTMOS, OR THE FATE OF THE BUTTERFLIE by EDMUND SPENSER ON THE BIRTH OF A FRIEND'S ELDEST SON by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |