Shuffle-Shoon and Amber-Locks
Sit together, building blocks;
Shuffle-Shoon is old and grey,
Amber-Locks a little child,
But together at their play
Age and Youth are reconciled,
And with sympathetic glee
Build their castles fair to see.
“When I grow to be a man”
(So the wee one’s prattle ran),
“I shall build a castle so–
With a gateway broad and grand;
Here a pretty vine shall grow,
There a soldier guard shall stand;
And the tower shall be so high,
Folks will wonder, by-and-by!”
Shuffle-Shoon quoth: “Yes, I know;
Thus I builded long ago!
Here a gate and there a wall,
Here a window, there a door;
Here a steeple wondrous tall
Riseth ever more and more!
But the years have levelled low
What I builded long ago!”
So they gossip at their play,
Heedless of the fleeting day;
One speaks of the Long Ago
Where his dead hopes buried lie;
One with chubby cheeks aglow
Prattleth of the By-and-By;
Side by side, they build their blocks–
Shuffle-Shoon and Amber-Locks.
(Eugene Field)
More Poetry from Eugene Field:
Eugene Field Poems based on Topics: Man, Youth, Soldiers, Curiosity- Lollyby, Lolly, Lollyby (Eugene Field Poems)
- Booh! (Eugene Field Poems)
- The Peter-Bird (Eugene Field Poems)
- A Proper Trewe Idyll Of Camelot (Eugene Field Poems)
- The Ballad Of The Taylor Pup (Eugene Field Poems)
- John Smith (Eugene Field Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, Youth Poems, Curiosity Poems, Soldiers PoemsBased on Keywords: fleeting, building, vine, heedless, aglow, reconciled, steeple, blocks, castles, builded, sympathetic