School Artwork (detail)

And my hands are laboring with play.
Lo, I am cunningly masking labor with the
Veil of gaming, letting youth be follied
In the intricacies of complicated play.
Laboring they are, in make-believe.
I with the wisdom which is mine,
A simple thing, would make their days
Open with laughter. Yea, I would turn
The aged hinges of Time which sift rust
O'er their brightness, upon laughter-
That magic oil which swings all gateways ope.
Oh, oh, oh! Not wisdom would I deal
As a pocket-piece for youth, but laughter!
Give youth a purse of laughter
And he. may, so long as he keeps it-
Buy the universe!

The Kindergartner, by Patience Worth