THE FAIRY CLOCK
Reading edition
Silver clock! O silver clock! tell to me the time o' day! Is there yet a little hour left for us to work and play? Tell me when the sun will set—tiny globe of silver-grey?
It has been so glad a world since the coming of the morn;— Oft I wondered, when I met any souls who seemed forlorn; And I scarce gave heed to those who were old or travel worn.
Mayhap I have loved too well all the merry fleeting things; Run too lightly with the wind,—chased too many shining wings; Thought too seldom of the night, and the silence that it brings.
Well I fear me I have been but an idler in the sun; All unfinished are the tasks long and long ago begun;— In the dark perchance they weep, who have left their work undone.
And I know each black-frocked friar preacheth sermons that, alas! Fain would halt the dancing feet of those careless ones who pass, Down a sweet and primrose path, through the ribbons of the grass.
Silver-clock! O Silver-clock! It was only yesterday Dandelions flecked the field, starry-bright and gold and gay; You are but the ghost of one—little globe of silver-grey!
Tell me—tell me of the hour,—for there is so much to do! Is it early? Is it late? Fairy-clock! O tell me true, As I blow you down the wind, out upon a road of blue!