Poems (Hoffman)/Baby Bessie
BABY BESSIE
With strong, free motion of life and limbBessie is climbing the hill,With rose-cheeks under her bonnet's brimTo the time of her own sweet will;May the world hold peace and happinessAnd all that is good and true for Bess.
"Bess," hear the parrot callFrom his cage in the old madrone,Hugged to her heart is Jane the dollNow faded and aged grown,The flowers of Springtime will bloom againBut beauty will never come back to Jane.
Up the long grass slopes where the sheep flocks browseShe comes without pause for restA ginger cooky from Grandpa's houseHeld tight in her chubby fist,I'll have sardines and doughnuts and apples and teaFor Bessie has come to take lunch with me.
Bessie, you brave little mountaineer,I've a picture that's hid from sightBut I could see it as plain and clearIf I shut my eyes up tight,—A vision of brown-eyed rosinessA little friend by the name of Bess.