I am tired of planning and toiling
- In the crowded hives of men;
Heart-weary of building and spoiling,
- And spoiling and building again.
And I long for the dear old river,
- Where I dreamed my youth away;
For a dreamer lives for ever,
- And a toiler dies in a day.
I am sick of the showy seeming
- Of a life that is half a lie;
Of the faces lined with scheming
- In the throng that hurries by.
From the sleepless thoughts endeavour
- I would go where the children play;
For a dreamer lives forever
- And a thinker dies in a day.
I can feel no pride but pity
- For the burdens the rich endure;
There is nothing sweet in the city
- But the patient lives of the poor.
Oh, the little hands too skilful
- And the child-mind chocked with weeds!
The daughter's heart grown wilful,
- And the father's heart that bleeds!
No, no! from the streat's rude bustle,
- From trophies of mart and stage,
I would fly to the woods' low rustle
- And the meadows' kindly page.
Let me dream as of old by the river,
- And be loved by the dream away;
For the dreamer lives for ever,
- And a toiler dies in a day.
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This work was published before January 1, 1927, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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