Page:Poems Piatt.djvu/164

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150
HIDING THE BABY
There I can prove your Family's ties
Bind you to all the great, I trust:
Its Founder lived in Paradise;
And his ancestor was—the Dust.

Can Rose say more? . . . Your ancient Tree
Must hold a sword of fire (its root
Down in the very grave must be)
With serpent and—Forbidden Fruit.




HIDING THE BABY.
Hold him close, and closer hold him.
(Ah, but this is time to cry!)
Bring his pretty cloak and fold him
From the Old Man going by.
What Old Man?—you cannot guess?
Not the Old Man of the Sea,
Nor the Mountains, I confess,
Can be half so old as he.