Read "To a Young Girl Singing" by Henry van Dyke online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Oh, what do you know of the song, my dear, / And how have you made it your own?
You have caught the turn of the melody clear, / And you give it again with a golden tone, / Till the wonder-word and the wedded note / Are flowing out of your beautiful throat / With a liquid charm for every ear: / And they talk of your art -- but for you alone / The song is a thing, unheard, unknown; / You only have learned it by rote.
But when you have lived for awhile, my dear, / I think you will learn it anew!
For a joy will come, or a grief, or a fear, / That will alter the look of the world for you; / And the lyric you learned as a bit of art, / Will wake to life as a wonderful part / Of the love you feel so deep and true; / And the thrill of a laugh or the throb of a tear, / Will come with your song to all who hear; / For then you will know it by heart.
April, 1911.