The Dumb Soldier

5Spring and daisies came apace;

6Grasses hid my hiding-place;

7Grasses run like a green sea

8O'er the lawn up to my knee.

9Under grass alone he lies,

10Looking up with leaden eyes,

11Scarlet coat and pointed gun,

12To the stars and to the sun.

13When the grass is ripe like grain,

14When the scythe is stoned again,

15When the lawn is shaven clear,

16Then my hole shall reappear.

17I shall find him, never fear,

18I shall find my grenadier;

19But, for all that's gone and come,

20I shall find my soldier dumb.

21He has lived, a little thing,

22In the grassy woods of spring;

23Done, if he could tell me true,

24Just as I should like to do.

25He has seen the starry hours

26And the springing of the flowers;

27And the fairy things that pass

28In the forests of the grass.

29In the silence he has heard

30Talking bee and ladybird,

31And the butterfly has flown

32O'er him as he lay alone.

33Not a word will he disclose,

34Not a word of all he knows.

35I must lay him on the shelf,

36And make up the tale myself.