When I Was A Child Poem by Della Hodgson James

When I was a child
  My life always,
Was jut a whirl
  Of endless play.
I kept the children
  Out of the way,
We played in the sand
  Day after day.
And while we played
  I watched the squirrels,
I watched the water
  In deep blue whirls.
Watched the eagle
  On his daily quest,
I watched the redbirds
  Build their nest.

I watched the trees
  As they bowed in grace,
To the winds that passed
  On their course and race.
I watched the fishes
  As they swam about,
Watched the antics
  Of the leaping trout.
I watched the butterflies
  Sail the skies,
Listened to the wood-folks
  Weird cries.
Climbed o'er mountain sides
  I rowed the boat,
I followed the thrushes
  With their merry note.

I followed the turkeys
  To their stolen nest,
Gathered the flowers
  From the mountain crest.
Found the strawberries
  That were hidden by,
And gathered the sarvis's
  With never a sigh.

I picked the blueberries
  And grapes in season,
Plucked arm loads
  Of beautiful ferns,
The violets I found
  In the wooded shade,
And the beautiful lilies
  From the stony glade.

I watched the clouds
  As they floated over,
Watched the bumblebee
  Among the clover.
I watched the dawn
  Of early light,
Until the shadows
  Closed in at early night.

Tired out with play
  When the day was done,
We gathered around
  Our own hearth stone.
After the evening meal
When we were scrumptiously fed,
  With sleepy eyes
We would creep to bed.