Part 1 — GOING DOWN HILL ON A BICYCLE
Reading edition
A Boy's Song
With lifted feet, hands still, I am poised, and down the hill Dart, with heedful mind; The air goes by in a wind.
Swifter and yet more swift, Till the heart with a mighty lift Makes the lungs laugh, the throat cry:— "O bird, see; see, bird, I fly.
"Is this, is this your joy? O bird, then I, though a boy, For a golden moment share Your feathery life in air!"
Say, heart, is there aught like this In a world that is full of bliss? 'Tis more than skating, bound Steel-shod to the level ground.
Speed slackens now, I float Awhile in my airy boat; Till, when the wheels scarce crawl, My feet to the treadles fall.
Alas, that the longest hill Must end in a vale; but still, Who climbs with toil, wheresoe'er, Shall find wings waiting there.
Henry Charles Beeching [1859-1919]