And so it came to pass
That, having lately come to his fifth year,
One evening he was playing on the grass,
Bestriding his toy engine, not less dear
For being old and quaint,
Batter'd and wooden and devoid of paint;
And by it stood a Chinaman of tin,
His wagging head now still,
Perchance because the trumpet at his side
Awhile had ceas'd to fill
His ears with din;
And happy in his playthings was the child.
But suddenly his brown eyes open'd wide
And he no longer smil'd
But in a pensive posture held his head,
As tho' the fastness of his young content
Had been assail'd by doubt and wonderment
And threaten'd were his joys:
Until at last he slowly spake and said—
"Daddy, has God got any toys?"
On Zeppelin Picquet:
Christmas Eve, 1916
CHRISTMAS EVE and we stared at the sky
Where the clouds and the stars went galloping by,
And strict was the watch we kept for the flight
Of the death-dealing terror that flieth by night.
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