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O let me be a child to you to-night!

Take from me lore of love and all its pain,

Then tell some fabled tale of olden Spain

And let me listen with a child’s delight!

O let me be a child to you to-night!

So tired am I of stress and strife and strain—

Of life—the puzzle naught can now make plain,

Of balance keeping between wrong and right!

You’ve asked me often if I ever pray.

Can any to that question answer—nay?

What are ambition, effort,—life—but prayer,

What are all great desires everywhere?

I’m praying now beneath your eyes’ love-light—

O let me be a child again to-night!