LETTER FROM AN INFANT, TO HER COUSIN OF THE

SAME AGE

102

"BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART, FOR THEY

FRESH FLOWERS.

THE DROP OF WATER.

I AM a drop of water; pray look at me,
For I have been over the land and the sea.

I am small, but I'm clear as a gem, and as pure ;
I'm bright as a diamond, and worth more, I'm

sure.

Shall I tell you my life? It will teach you that all
Can aid and be useful, though ever so small.
I was born on a flower, a bright drop of dew,
I heightened its fragrance and brightened its hue ;
Then the sun caught me up in the high blue air,
To help make a cloud that was floating there;

10

THE DROP OF WATER.

I added myself to its feathery train,

Never once thinking of falling in rain.

We were swept along by the evening breeze,
That was cooling the earth and waving the trees,
Hiding the moon and the stars in our flight,
And gathering and blackening throughout the
night.

Then the wind, like a banner, our cloud unfurled, And we came down in rain-drops upon the world.

I sunk in the earth, to its deepest springs, And O, I could tell you of hidden things, That are ever at work, where no human eyes Can look down upon these busy mysteries. It was then that I met with a thousand rills, That are running and trickling within the hills, And I mingled myself with my kindred there, In the cold, dark earth; but I'd nothing to fear; I knew, though in shadow and darkness then, I should soon appear in the sunshine again; And in wandering through the treasures, that hide In the earth's dark bosom, I'm purified,