Rainbows (Custance)/The Heart of a Child
The Heart of a Child
Why was I given a child's wild heart?I am tired of acting a woman's part,And the world seems sordid and dull and coarse:It was different in the days of playWhen the soul was brave, and the heart was gay,And one rode away to fairy land on a painted rocking horse.
My friend, you will never understandHow I dream of those rides to fairy land,Of those long sweet rides in the firelit room;When one started off with a leap and boundOn one's steed so quaintly caparisoned,To the silvery sound of little bells that twinkled in the gloom.
My friend you are fair, and strong, and wiseWith your sun-gold hair, and your brave blue eyes.But why have you stolen my heart to-day?For it is such a strange and wayward thing,(And birds that are caged will not always sing)And a child's heart, what should it know of love . . . it only cares for play.