quote · Legacy record
A dreary place would be this earth, Were there no little people in it: The song of life would lose its mirth, Were there no children to begin it: No little forms, like buds to grow, And make the admiring heart surrender: No little hands on breast and brow, To keep the thrilling love-chords tender. The sterner souls would grow more stern, Unfeeling nature more inhuman, And man to stoic coldness turn, And woman would be less than woman. Life's song, indeed, would lose its charm, Were there no babies to begin it; A doleful place this world would be, Were there no little people in it.
A dreary place would be this earth, Were there no little people in it: The song of life would lose its mirth, Were there no children to begin it: No little forms, like buds to grow, And make the admiring heart surrender: No little hands on breast and brow, To keep the thrilling love-chords tender. The sterner souls would grow more stern, Unfeeling nature more inhuman, And man to stoic coldness turn, And woman would be less than woman. Life's song, indeed, would lose its charm, Were there no babies to begin it; A doleful place this world would be, Were there no little people in it.
Approximate author period: c. 1807 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- John G. Whittier
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1807 AD · industrial
documented author birth year (1807)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911) (1911 AD)
Complete signed selection 426; printed byline: John Greenleaf Whittier; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.