He came unto the door of heaven,
Free as of old and gay;
“What hast thou done,” the porter cried,
“That thou should’st pass this way?”
“Hast fed the hungry, clothed the poor?”
The vagrant shook his head.
“I drank my wine and I was glad,
But I did not give them bread.”
“Hast prayed upon the altar steps?”
“Nay, but I loved the sun.”
“Hast wept?” “The blossoms of the spring
I gathered every one.”
“But what fair deed can’st thou present?
Like light, one radiant beam?”
“I robbed no child of his fairy-tale,
No dreamer of his dream.”
--ANNA MCCLURE SHOLL, _Appleton’s_.
(2615)