The Child in the Orchard + 

“He rolls in the orchard: he is stained with moss + 

And with earth, the solitary old white horse. + 

Where is his father and where is his mother + 

Among all the brown horses? Has he a brother? + 

I know the swallow, the hawk, and the hern; + 

But there are two million things for me to learn. + 

“Who was the lady that rode the white horse + 

With rings and bells to Banbury Cross? + 

Was there no other lady in England beside + 

That a nursery rhyme could take for a ride? + 

The swift, the swallow, the hawk, and the hern. + 

There are two million things for me to learn. + 

“Was there a man once who straddled across + 

The back of the Westbury White Horse + 

Over there on Salisbury Plain’s green wall? + 

Was he bound for Westbury, or had he a fall? + 

The swift, the swallow, the hawk, and the hern. + 

There are two million things for me to learn. + 

“Out of all the white horses I know three, + 

At the age of six; and it seems to me + 

There is so much to learn, for men, + 

That I dare not go to bed again. + 

The swift, the swallow, the hawk, and the hern. + 

There are millions of things for me to learn.” + 