VERSES TO A LITTLE CHILD (From Hofmannsthal)
Reading edition
Your feet have been fashioned as roses To seek the lands of the rainbow— The rainbow-kingdoms are open. There, haunting the taciturn tree-tops Millennial prophecies linger, The inexhaustible waters Abide there forever and aye. Beside the immeasurable forest From wooden bowl brimming will you then Apportion your milk with a hop-toad? So festive a banqueting almost Entices the stars to their fall! By borders of measureless waters Soon you will discover a playmate, A dolphin engaging and kind. He’ll leap to dry-land at your bidding, And if he shall fail you sometimes The tender, innumerable zephyrs Will still your tempestuous sobbing. You’ll find in the rainbow-kingdom The ancient exalted traditions Forever and ever unchanged. The sun with mysterious power Has fashioned your feet as the roses To enter his measureless kingdom.