Take heed of this small child of earth;
He is great; he hath in him God most high.
Children before their fleshly birth Are lights alive in the blue sky. In our light bitter world of wrong They come;
God gives us them awhile.
His speech is in their stammering tongue,
And his forgiveness in their smile. Their sweet light rests upon our eyes.
Alas! their right to joy is plain.
If they are hungry Paradise Weeps, and, if cold,
Heaven thrills with pain. The want that saps their sinless flower Speaks judgment on sin's ministers.
Man holds an angel in his power.
Ah! deep in Heaven what thunder stirs, When God seeks out these tender things Whom in the shadow where we sleep He sends us clothed about with wings,
And finds them ragged babes that weep!
This English translation of "The Poor Children" was composed by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909).
