Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LITTLE CHILD, by ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LITTLE CHILD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A simple-hearted child was he
Last Line: For the thorns that it must wear.
Subject(s): Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ - Childhood & Youth


A SIMPLE-HEARTED child was He,
And He was nothing more;
In summer days, like you and me,
He played about the door,
Or gathered, where the father toiled,
The shavings from the floor.

Sometimes He lay upon the grass,
The same as you and I,
And saw the hawks above Him pass
Like specks against the sky;
Or, clinging to the gate, He watched
The stranger passing by.

A simple child, and yet, I think,
The bird-folk must have known,
The sparrow and the bobolink,
And claimed Him for their own,
And gathered round Him fearlessly
When He was all alone.

The lark, the linnet, and the dove,
The chaffinch and the wren,
They must have known His watchful love
And given their worship then;
They must have known and glorified
The child who died for men.

And when the sun at break of day
Crept in upon His hair,
I think it must have left a ray
Of unseen glory there,
A kiss of love on that little brow
For the thorns that it must wear.





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