CHARLES LAMB

Parental Recollections

A child’s a plaything for an hour;
     Its pretty tricks we try
For that or for a longer space;
     Then tire, and lay it by.

But I knew one that to itself
     All seasons could control;
That would have mocked the sense of pain
     Out of a grievëd soul.

Thou straggler into loving arms,
     Young climber up of knees,
When I forget thy thousand ways,
     Then life and all shall cease.