Before And Now

As a little child, with the fall of dusk I used to sit with drooping eyelids on my desk The moment I slumped on to my cot Fell into sweet repose sans weary thought In my sleep I dreamt of angels and fairies Walked with them munching sweet berries Sailing with clouds and moon beams We roamed and strayed into Heaven's seams Any where I could sleep as rest came abrupt Deep was my slumber with nothing to interrupt Until sun's hot rays came pricking on my face, Thoroughly lost to the world I lay in dreamy ease I was ever happy and jocund as could be Neither life's miseries nor its trials did vex me Never been hungry, naked or deprived And in my parent's care, I did fully abide Those I count as the sweetest of our days When innocence played upon every little face And sleep came lulling in a winsome way To little children even while lying on hay Those days of fun and frolic have gone for ever Now I turn and toss on my comfy bed in fear How happy were those days when young and free Being safely sheltered from all deceit and worry With all those lovely years merged into our past Can we, into that bliss, once more be cast Free of all overriding passion in our breast And at night gliding into undisturbed, dreamy rest