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CHILDHOOD

II

THE FARM is distant from the high-road half a mile;

The child of the farm
does not realise it for several years;
He wanders through the orchard,
finds mushrooms in the paddock,
or beetles in the pond.

But one day he goes to the high-road,
sees carts and carriages pass,
and men go marketing.

A traction-engine crashes into his vision
with flame and smoke,
and makes his eager soul retreat.

He turns away:
The huntsmen are galloping over the fields,
Their red coats and the swift whimpering hounds,



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