246 RURAL LIFE IN CANADA 



The second of these sovereign movements is exempli- 

 fied among us in the work of Dr. Grenfell, by which a 

 population not indeed agricultural, and yet distinctly 

 rural, has been uplifted economically and socially and 

 spiritually to a new plane of life ; the first opens before 

 rural Canada to-day. 



An old farm-house with meadows wide 

 And sweet with clover on each side; 

 A bright-eyed boy, who looks from out 

 The door with woodbine wreathed about, 

 And wishes this one thought all day: 

 " Oh, if I could but fly away 



From this dull spot, the world to see, 

 How happy, happy, happy, 

 How happy I should be!" 



Amid the city's constant din 

 A man who round the world has been, 

 Who, 'mid the tumult and the throng, 

 Is thinking, thinking, all day long: 

 " Oh, could I only tread once more 

 The field-path to the farm-house door. 



The old green meadow could I see, 

 How happy, happy, happy, 



How happy I should be!" 



Annie Douglas Robinson. 



