H. E. E - A poem by John Edward Everett

H. E. E.

Fine-faced and fair,
With sun-lit hair,
And stature slight and low:
Thus was he then;
0 memory! When?
Well, twenty years ago.

An upright head,
And freeman's tread,
By seeming right he had.
And, straight and lithe,
And bright and blithe,
He was a winsome lad;

In flesh. well-knit;
And quick of wit
As any to be found;
As full of squirm
As a wriggling worm
That curls upon the ground;

As full of noise
As other boys
Have bee since time began;
The very kind,
In frame and mind,
To make a forceful man.

The boy is grown,
And now is known
As able, strong, and graced
With manly heart,
To do his part
Wherever he is placed.

A man of skill,
And well-trained will,
And power to see and know,
Who verifies
The prophecies
Of twenty years ago.

Quillings In Verse
John Edward Everett
(Smith Center: ^___. 1912)
Pages 92-93