To A Baby.

I. Two hands that hold the world in fee, So tender, yet so bold: Whatever life has now for me, Two hands that hold. What magic lies in them enroll'd — What wondrous alchemy Transmuting thus life's lead to gold! Until that thought shall cease to be, Until my heart is cold, I'd only clasp (how tenderly!) Two hands that hold. II. Two soft blue eyes whose light has lit Two hearts, as stars that rise — Love's lights within the infinite, Two soft blue eyes. No fancy may their charm surmise, But those who have felt it Breathe as it were in Paradise. Life's meanings there like shadows flit, As in a dream's disguise Two spirits lurked in them — to wit, Two soft blue eyes.