I ALL the trees are sleeping, all the winds are still, All the fleecy flocks of cloud, gone beyond the hill; Through the noon-day silence, down the woods of June, Hark, a little hunter's voice, running with a tune. "Hide and seek! "When I speak, "You must answer me: "Call again, "Merry men, "Coo-ee, coo-ee, coo-ee!" Now I hear his footsteps rustling in the grass: Hidden in my leafy nook, shall I let him pass? Just a low, soft whistle, -- quick the hunter turns, Leaps upon me laughing loud, rolls me in the ferns. "Hold him fast, "Caught at last! "Now you're it, you see. "Hide your eye, "Till I cry, "Coo-ee, coo-ee, coo-ee!" II Long ago he left me, long and long ago; Now I wander thro' the world, seeking high and low. Hidden safe and happy, in some pleasant place, -- If I could but hear his voice, soon I'd see his face! Far away, Many a day, Where can Barney be? Answer, dear, Don't you hear? Coo-ee, coo-ee, coo-ee! Birds that every spring-time sung him full of joy, Flowers he loved to pick for me, mind me of my boy. Somewhere he is waiting till my steps come nigh; Love may hide itself awhile, but love can never die. Heart, be glad, The little lad Will call again to thee: "Father dear, "Heaven is here, "Coo-ee, coo-ee, coo-ee!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SORROWING LOVE by KATHERINE MANSFIELD TURTLE SOUP by CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON UPON THE NIPPLES OF JULIA'S BREAST by ROBERT HERRICK CATHOLIC HYMN by EDGAR ALLAN POE THE SANDPIPER by CELIA LEIGHTON THAXTER THE LAY OF ST. ALOYS; A LEGEND OF BLOIS by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM ON THE DISCOVERIES OF CAPTAIN LEWIS [JANUARY 14, 1807] by JOEL BARLOW |