Nature

Listen to:

Nature (:56)

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

      As a fond mother when the day is o'er

      Leads by the hand her little child to bed,

      Half willing, half reluctant to be led,

      And leave his broken playthings on the floor,

      Still gazing at them through the open door,

      Nor wholly reassured and comforted

      By promises of others in their stead

      Which, though more splendid, may not please him more.

      So Nature deals with us and takes away

      Our playthings one by one, and by the hand

      Leads us to rest so gently, that we go,

      Scarce knowing if we wished to go or stay,

      Being too full of sleep to understand

      How far the unknown transcends the what we know.