The Old Fool in the Wood

“If I could whisper you all I know,”

Said the Old Fool in the Wood,

“You’d never say that green leaves grow.

You’d say, ‘Ah, what a happy mood

The Master must be in today,

To think such thoughts,’

That’s what you’d say.”

“If I could whisper you all I’ve heard,”

Said the Old Fool in the fern,

“You’d never say the song of a bird.

You’d say, ‘I’ll listen, and p’raps I’ll learn

One word of His joy as He passed this way,

One syllable more,’

That’s what you’d say.”

“If I could tell you all the rest,”

Said the Old Fool under the skies,

“You’d hug your griefs against your breast

And whisper with love-lit eyes,

‘I am one with the sorrow that made the may,

And the pulse of His heart,’

That’s what you’d say.”