<h2><SPAN name="BOYS_AND_GIRLS" id="BOYS_AND_GIRLS">BOYS AND GIRLS</SPAN></h2>
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">We were "seven in all," as the dear rustic maid<br/></span>
<span class="i2">To the poet so sweetly protested;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And together we rambled and studied and played,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Each imbibing a share of the sunshine and shade<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Wherewith our young life was invested.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And black eyes and blue eyes and brown eyes and gray<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Looked up to the face of our mother,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">As she led us in study in labor or play,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Or told of "Our Father," and taught us to pray,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And to cherish and love one another.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">O, the rapture of being when life is a-tune<br/></span>
<span class="i2">With the song-life and beauty of morning;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">When the roseate dawn brightens into the noon,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And the year hastens on to the splendor of June,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">In her fragrance and matchless adorning.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">So our years flitted by and the youngest of all—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Our dark-eyed and fun-loving brother—<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Was grown to be manly and lithesome and tall,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And to couteous titles we answered the call,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">But were still "boys" and "girls" to each other.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">O, the joy of endeavor, endurance and toil<br/></span>
<span class="i2">On thro' summer-time vigor and sweetness,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Of triumph o'er that which would hinder or foil,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Of the patience of hope after tears and turmoil,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">In the glory of autumn's completeness.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">And the toil and the turmoil and tears have been ours—<br/></span><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</SPAN></span>
<span class="i2">From our ranks we have missed a loved brother<br/></span>
<span class="i0">We've encountered the thorns, but we've cherished the flowers;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">We've passed under the clouds on to sunnier hours,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And we're still "boys" and "girls" to each other.<br/></span></div>
</div>
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