A Reed by the River/The Insidious Beggar
THE INSIDIOUS BEGGAR
A little blind boy came knocking, when bitter and long the night,
And he said: "Let me in for every one 's mocking.
They say it is foolish and perfectly shocking—
My pitiful want of sight.
And he said: "Let me in for every one 's mocking.
They say it is foolish and perfectly shocking—
My pitiful want of sight.
"And yet I can shoot an arrow,"—he rapped, "I pray that you hark.
Its flight is swift as that of a sparrow,
Its dart can pierce to your very marrow,
And I never have missed my mark.
Its flight is swift as that of a sparrow,
Its dart can pierce to your very marrow,
And I never have missed my mark.
"If I am blind, how can I be knowing the 'way this night unto you?
There's never a beacon set for my showing,
And yet I can tell, past all foregoing,
That the shade of your eyes is blue.
There's never a beacon set for my showing,
And yet I can tell, past all foregoing,
That the shade of your eyes is blue.
"If I am blind, how may I be telling that nowhere else on the earth
Save in your heart can I make my dwelling,
Whither my feet have been impelling
Since the swift, sweet hour of my birth?"
Save in your heart can I make my dwelling,
Whither my feet have been impelling
Since the swift, sweet hour of my birth?"
The little blind boy ceased knocking, for the door it opened—'t is true;
And he laughed: "One thing,—lest the door you'd be locking,—
One thing I've to tell,—it is perfectly shocking,—
I am blind unto all save you!"
And he laughed: "One thing,—lest the door you'd be locking,—
One thing I've to tell,—it is perfectly shocking,—
I am blind unto all save you!"