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THE BABES IN THE WOOD.
A lover's dream.



So dreaming sad and true,
He deemed he saw two outcast children rove;
Oft had he nursed them fondly, so he knew
Their faces—Hope and Love!

And ever farther North—
Such heavy doom lay on them through some sin
And sorrow not their own—they wandered forth,
And none did take them in.

The wild wind round them strewed
Brown whirling leaves, and sighed amid its play,
While ever deeper in the wintry wood
Their small feet went astray.

Yet smiling as they sung
Their little songs, they held each other's hand,
And cheered each other onwards in a tongue
None else might understand.