THE DUMB SOLDIER

He has seen the starry hours
And the springing of the flowers ,
And the fairy things that pass

In the forests of the grass

In the silence he has heard
Talking bee and Jadybird,
And the butterfly has flown
O’er him as he lay alone.

Not a word will he disclose,
Not a word of all he knows.
I must lay him on the shelf,
And make up the tale myself.