Childhood is the bough where slumbered
Birds and blossoms many-numbered;
Age, that bough with snows encumbered.
Gather, then, each flower that grows
When the young heart overflows,
To embalm that tent of snows.
-Maidenhood.
This is taken from Through the Year with Longfellow. Years ago, my grandfather gave me a copy of the antique book. The inside inscription reads, in perfect cursive, “Miss Annie L Adams” and it was given to her from a man named Dexter.
Anna’s new swing, a birthday present from her grandparents.
