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John Clare - To Anna Three Years Old
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My Anna, summer laughs in mirth,
  And we will of the party be,
And leave the crickets in the hearth
  For green fields` merry minstrelsy.

I see thee now with little hand
  Catch at each object passing bye,
The happiest thing in all the land
  Except the bee and butterfly.

       *       *       *       *       *

And limpid brook that leaps along,
  Gilt with the summer`s burnished gleam,
Will stop thy little tale or song
  To gaze upon its crimping stream.

Thou`lt leave my hand with eager speed
  The new discovered things to see--
The old pond with its water weed
  And danger-daring willow tree,
Who leans an ancient invalid
  Oer spots where deepest waters be.

In sudden shout and wild surprise
  I hear thy simple wonderment,
As new things meet thy childish eyes
  And wake some innocent intent;

As bird or bee or butterfly
  Bounds through the crowd of merry leaves
And starts the rapture of thine eye
  To run for what it neer achieves.

But thou art on the bed of pain,
  So tells each poor forsaken toy.
Ah, could I see that happy hour
  When these shall be thy heart`s employ,
And see thee toddle oer the plain,
  And stoop for flowers, and shout for joy.
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