The Child and the Man

The Child and the Man written by William Henry Davies

From "The Bird of Paradise", 1914

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Dreaming I was a child,
And met a man,
My fears of him were wild —
Away I ran.

The man ran after me:
"Why run away,
My little boy," said he —
" From me this day?"

I looked with my eyes sad,
When I was caught;
His face seemed not so bad
As I first thought.

"I am yourself," said he:
"It gives me pain
To see you run from me —
Don't run again."

"Poor man," said I, "what made
You look so strange?
No wonder I'm afraid,
At such a change."

He sobbed too much to speak,
He could not tell;
And then my heart did break
With sobs as well.

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.

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