IF I WERE A SUNBEAM 53 



IF I WERE A SUNBEAM 



" IF I were a sunbeam 



I know what Yd do : 

 I would seek white lilies 



Rainy woodlands through. 

 I would steal among them, 



Softest light I'd shed, 

 Until every lily 



Raised its drooping head. 



" If I were a sunbeam, 



I know where I'd go : 

 Into lowliest hovels, 



Dark with want and woe : 

 Till sad hearts looked upward, 



I would shine and shine ; 

 Then they'd think of heaven, 



Their sweet home and mine." 



Art thou not a sunbeam, 



Child whose life is glad 

 With an inner radiance 



Sunshine never had ? 

 Oh, as God has blessed thee, 



Scatter rays divine ! 

 For there is no sunbeam 



But must die or shine. 



LUCY LARCOM. 



