She gazed around on earth and sky--
Now paused, and now proceeded;
Hill, valley, wood,--she passed them by,
Unmarked, perchance unheeded.

And now gay groups of roses bright,
In circling thickets bound her--
Yet on she went with footsteps light,
Still gazing all around her.

And now she paused, and now she stooped,
And plucked a little flower--
A simple daisy 'twas, that drooped
Within a rosy bower.

The child did kiss the little gem,
And to her bosom pressed it;
And there she placed the fragile stem,
And with soft words caressed it.

I love to read a lesson true,
From nature's open book--
And oft I learn a lesson new,
From childhood's careless look.

Children are simple--loving--true;
'Tis Heaven that made them so;
And would you teach them--be so too--
And stoop to what they know.