And, too, they found why fairies die:
"But at each cruel word
Upon earth that is heard,
Each deed of unkindness or hate,
Some fairy must pass
From the games in the grass
And steal through the terrible Gate."
Collected Poems by Alfred Noyes.
And they learned what it took to make a rose:
"'What is there hid in the heart of a rose,
Mother-mine?'
'Ah, who knows, who knows, who knows?
A man that died on a lonely hill
May tell you perhaps, but none other will,
Little child.'
"'What does it take to make a rose,
Mother-mine?'
'The God that died to make it knows.
It takes the world's eternal wars,
It takes the moon and all the stars,
It takes the might of heaven and hell
And the everlasting Love as well,
Little child.'"
Collected Poems by Alfred Noyes.
And they heard the old tales over:
"And 'See-Saw; Margery Daw,' we heard a rollicking shout,
As the swing boats hurtled over our heads to the tune of the
roundabout;
And 'Little Boy Blue, come blow up your horn,' we heard the showmen
cry,
And 'Dickery Dock, I'm as good as a clock,' we heard the swings
reply."
Collected Poems by Alfred Noyes.
Then at last they found their little brother Peterkin in "The Babe of
Bethlehem."
And if this were not enough to make the reader see how completely and
wholly and sympathetically Noyes understood the child heart, hear this
word from his great soul:
"Kind little eyes that I love,
Eyes forgetful of mine,
In a dream I am bending above
Your sleep and you open and shine;
And I know as my own grow blind
With a lonely prayer for your sake,
He will hear--even me--little eyes that were kind,
God bless you, asleep or awake!"
Collected Poems by Alfred Noyes.
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