Far in the Past I peer, and see <br />A Child upon the Nursery floor, <br />A Child with books upon his knee, <br />Who asks, like Oliver, for more! <br />The number of his years is IV, <br />And yet in Letters hath he skill, <br />How deep he dives in Fairy-lore! <br />The Books I loved, I love them still! <br /> <br />One gift the Fairies gave me: (Three <br />They commonly bestowed of yore) <br />The Love of Books, the Golden Key <br />That opens the Enchanted Door; <br />Behind it BLUEBEARD lurks, and o'er <br />And o'er doth JACK his Giants kill, <br />And there is all ALADDIN'S store, - <br />The Books I loved, I love them still! <br /> <br />Take all, but leave my Books to me! <br />These heavy creels of old we bore <br />We fill not now, nor wander free, <br />Nor wear the heart that once we wore; <br />Not now each River seems to pour <br />His waters from the Muses' hill; <br />Though something's gone from stream and shore, <br />The Books I loved, I love them still! <br /> <br />ENVOY. <br /> <br />Fate, that art Queen by shore and sea, <br />We bow submissive to thy will, <br />Ah grant, by some benign decree, <br />The Books I loved--to love them still.<br /><br />Andrew Lang<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ballade-of-the-bookworm/
