Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CHILDHOOD, by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE


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CHILDHOOD, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: A pinch of spice, a crust of fairy bread
Last Line: How sweet a 'you', how wonderful an 'I'!
Alternate Author Name(s): Ramal, Walter; De La Mare, Walter


A pinch of spice, a crust of fairy bread,
With wild bees' honey and with comfits spread,
A stalk of cherries, a wild strawberry's stain,
And two small crumpled rose-leaves wet with rain; --
Such for her cheeks: but O, now for her hair,
What sunbeams cast such shadowiness, and where?
But for her eye, I think some woodland elf
Laughed in that looking-glass to see himself.
And when she sighed in dreams, a drowsy wren
Hopped her sweet mouth into from off her chin,
And in her throat entwined a tiny nest
Wherein to pipe the song a wren knows best. . .
Lo! then, the house where dwells, O, who can say --
A soul still winking at the break of day;
From those bright starry windows still to peep
And shut those shutters when 'tis time to sleep;
To op'n those scarlet doors, and learn to cry
How sweet a 'you', how wonderful an 'I'!





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