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THE FOUR CHILDREN
A Ballad of Good Intentions
Four children played by an old oak tree,
Big John and James and little Benjie,
And, threading a chain of daisies fine,
On the leaf-brown sward knelt Geraldine.
Quoth John, "I'll ride on the gipsies' roac,
For narrow space and a small abode
Would break this vagrant heart in me,
And the world is wide and good to see."
"I'll stay," said James, "for my father's sake
From his ageing hand his toil to take,
So he have at last his heart's desire
To sit at ease by the glowing fire."
"I shall not work," said little Benjie,
"Nor roam the world that is fair to see;
But here I'll stay in the green beech wood,
By my mother’s side and I'll just be good."
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