A barefoot boy! I mark him at his play -- br For May is here once more, and so is he, -- br His dusty trousers, rolled half to the knee, br And his bare ankles grimy, too, as they: br Cross-hatchings of the nettle, in array br Of feverish stripes, hint vividly to me br Of woody pathways winding endlessly br Along the creek, where even yesterday br He plunged his shrinking body -- gasped and shook -- br Yet called the water 'warm,' with never lack br Of joy. And so, half enviously I look br Upon this graceless barefoot and his track, -- br His toe stubbed -- ay, his big toe-nail knocked back br Like unto the clasp of an old pocketbook.