Hound cannot overtake the Hare

That fluttered panting, here,

Nor any schoolboy rob the nest

Tenderness builded there.

On such a night, or such a night,
Would anybody care
If such a little figure
Slipped quiet from it′s chair,

So quiet – Oh how quiet,
That nobody might know
But that the little figure
Rocked softer – to and fro –

On such a dawn, or such a dawn –
Would anybody sigh
That such a little figure
Too sound asleep did lie

 ¦

For Chanticleer to wake it –
Or stirring house below –
Or giddy bird in Orchard –
Or early task to do?

There was a little figure plump
For every little knoll,
Busy needles, and spools of thread –
And trudging feet from school –

Playmates, and holidays, and nuts –
And visions vast and small.
Strange that the feet so precious
charged
Should reach so small a goal!