A Child’s Song

WHEN the Child played in Galilee, He had no wine-clear maple leaves, No west winds singing of the sea Over the frosted sheaves; But with pale myrrh His head was bound And crowned. When the Child lived in Nazareth, He watched the golden anise seed, With daisies white in the wind's breath, And hyssop flowering for His need, While the late crocus from the sod Flamed for her God. When the Child dwelt in Palestine, Over the brooks the willow grew, Olive and aspen, oak and pine, Sweet sycamore and yew, But one dark Tree of all the seven Stood high as heaven.