Josephine Preston Peabody

Cow-Bells

I've followed till the Sun was down,
  As low as to the very brink;
And still the pathway kept along,
  Around the world, I think.

I've tried to find it, everywhere
  A bell would clink, and clink, and call;
But someway I can never find
  That Farthest One of all.

I've been in all the tallest weeds,--
  And thistles (with the loudest bees);
And once, across the stepping-stones
  And through the cedar-trees.

And now you hear it hushing up,
  And then you hear it clink and clink;
And if you found it, it would lead
  Around the world, I think!

It sounds so small, and gold, and far--
  Far-off, beyond the lily-pool;--
And so, as if there must be there
  --Oh, something Wonderful!