Balloons by Abbie Farwell Brown
The poem wonders where little balloons go when they float over the trees and high into the sky. It imagines them reaching Heaven’s gate, where chubby cherubs eagerly catch them and play with them as they bob about like they did below. Since no balloon returns to tell its fate, the speaker cannot know for certain, but believes they may remain forever in a bright land of sunshine and blue sky. For that reason, the speaker says there is no need to cry when a balloon flies away.
By Abbie Farwell Brown · First published 1906 · Genre: Children's Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Fantasy Poetry · 221 words
First lines
Where do they go, / I want to know, / The little balloons which fly, and fly, / Over the trees and up so high / Into the sky?
Do they sail as far as Heaven's gate, / Where chubby cherubs watch and wait, / Who stretch out their hands with an eager cry / As the little balloons come floating by?
Do the cherubs play with the pretty things, / Flitting about on their baby wings, / While the little balloons bob to and fro, / Just as they did in the world below?
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Genres
- Children's Poetry — A short, simple verse poem uses childlike curiosity, playful imagery, and accessible rhymes to imagine the fate of drifting balloons.
- Lyric Poetry — The poem centers on a speaker's personal wonder and feeling rather than narrative action, using musical rhythm, rhyme, and repeated phrasing.
- Fantasy Poetry — It imagines balloons reaching Heaven, encountering cherubs, and remaining in an idealized supernatural land.
- Religious Poetry — References to Heaven's gate, cherubs, and an eternally sunny spiritual realm give the poem a gentle Christian imaginative framework.
Tags
children's poetry · lyric poem · balloons · child speaker · wonder · imagination · sky · flight · trees · Heaven · cherubs · afterlife
What this Textopian page supports
Balloons is listed on Textopian as a poem by Abbie Farwell Brown, dated 1906 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Abbie Farwell Brown
- Date: 1906 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Children's Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Fantasy Poetry, Religious Poetry, Nature and Sky Poetry
- Length: 221 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Balloons by Abbie Farwell Brown
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