Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
Poems of Home: I. About ChildrenThe Child in the Garden
Henry van Dyke (18521933)From The Atlantic Magazine
W
I came of late, and saw the open door,
And wished again to enter, and explore
The sweet, wild ways with stainless bloom inwrought,
And bowers of innocence with beauty fraught,
It seemed some purer voice must speak before
I dared to tread that garden loved of yore,
That Eden lost unknown and found unsought.
A stranger-child, yet to my heart most dear,—
Who held his hands to me, and softly smiled
With eyes that knew no shade of sin or fear:
“Come in,” he said, “and play awhile with me;
I am the little child you used to be.”