To a Child

The leaves talked in the twilight, dear Hearken the tale they told How in some far-off place and year Before the world grew old I was a dreaming forest tree You were a wild, sweet bird Who sheltered at the heart of me Because the north wind stirred How, when the chiding gale was still When peace fell soft on fear You stayed one golden hour to fill My dream with singing, dear To-night the self-same songs are sung The first green forest heard My heart and the gray world grow young To shelter you, my bird My heart and the gray world grow young To shelter you, my bird