Music and the Heart run hand in hand
Naked over the shining sand,
Laughing and leaping and scattering spray –
Two lovely children on holiday.
But Reason sits upon the beach
And reads or knits, beyond the reach
Of wind and spray, and eyes the sea,
And wonders, Should those children be
Allowed such shameless nudity?
And when they climb the inland hills,
With honest wrath her bosom fills.
‘I cannot understand,’ she flings,
‘The antics of those two young things.’
But they reck not at all, nor hear
Old Reason toiling in the rear,
But leaping and laughing upward still
Press on ecstatically, until
The clouds close round them, and the height
Receives them wholly from her sight.
Then Reason toils no more, but looks
About, and drops the bags and books,
And finds a seat that’s nice and dry
And settles down resignedly
To spend a useful hour until
The children come down from the hill,
Breathless and eager, full of talk
Of what they saw upon their walk;
Reflecting, ‘They’ll come back to me,
Since I have all the things for tea.’