L’Envoy

From the Omaha Daily Bee, October 8, 1913.

Go, little song,
    Your message bringing
To hearts that long
    Have known no singing;

To hearts that hold
    No glad tomorrows;
To hearts grown old
    With cares and sorrows.

Sing but a lay
    Of woodside rambles;
Of autumn day
    And berry brambles.

Of gain and pelf
    Make men forgetful;
Of thought of self
    And worries fretful.

Take back the heart
    To babbling fountains—
From street and mart
    To storied mountains.

Of rainbow’s end
    And golden treasure
A message send,
    Perchance of pleasure;

Of country sights
    And village steeples;
Of fairy sprites
    And elfin peoples;

Of woodland rill
    And dancing shadows;
Of daffodil
    And sun-shot meadows.

Make young again
    The heart that hardens;
Sing of the rain
    And old-time gardens.

Go, little song,
    For joy intended;
Return ere long,
    Your mission ended.