When Mother reads aloud, the past
   Seems real as every day;
I hear the tramp of armies vast,
I see the spears and lances cast,
   I join the thrilling fray;
Brave knights and ladies fair and proud
I meet when Mother reads aloud.

When Mother reads aloud, far lands
   Seem very near and true;
I cross the desert’s gleaming sands,
Or hunt the jungle’s prowling bands,
   Or sail the ocean blue.
Far heights, whose peaks the cold mists shroud,
I scale, when Mother reads aloud.

When Mother reads aloud, I long
   For noble deeds to do—
To help the right, redress the wrong;
It seems so easy to be strong,
   So simple to be true.
Oh, thick and fast the visions crowd
My eyes, when Mother reads aloud.

This poem is in the public domain.