Get back! Give me air! Give me freedom and room, The warm earth and bright water, the crowding sweet bloom
Of the flowers, and the measureless, marvellous sky,—
All of these all the time, and a shelter close by
Where silence and beauty and peace are my own
In a alone.
Then bring me the others! “A child” is a crime;
It is “children” who grow through the beautiful time
Of their childhood up into the age you are in.
“A child” must needs suffer and sicken and sin;
The life of a child needs the life of its kind,
O ye stupid and blind!
Then the best of your heart and the best of your brain!
The face of all beauty! The soul without stain!
Your noblest! Your wisest! With us is the place
To life to the good of the race!
That our childhood may pass with the best you can give,
And our manhood so live!
The wisdom of years, the experience deep
That shall laugh with our waking and watch with our sleep,
The patience of age, the keen honor of youth,
To guide us in doing ............