Sweet briar nodded from the hill,
The blue bells from the shade.
A purple finch decided me,
So in the wood I stayed.
A brooding bird and restless young,
Began to chide and fret.
And wonder in bird fashion what
I ever came to get.
A green snake ran across my path
Its eyes were jewel small.
A flying squirrel left a tree,
That seemed ten paces tall.
I picked a fern that had uncurled
Itself from out the ground.
And O! the wood delighted me,
The way it stood around.
And there were holy moments when
My very soul went still.
And sad I was for folks who took
The road around the hill.
And when I left the sancted place,
My arms were loaded down.
It cost me not one pang to shun,
The road to Joppa town.
The Reason
WHEN I was but a little girl
Mere flotsam on life’s sea,
Because of youth a lovely rose
Meant, just a rose to me.
Before I knew that love was life,
And life were all of love.
The sky was only atmosphere
And God frowned up above.
But now I am a woman grown
And know love tenderly,
I can not tell you dear how much
God’s roses mean to me.