啊!孩提那無憂無慮的嬉戲，
一覺醒來已是歡笑的白天，
結實的身子戲謔醫生的規矩，
知識從來在課堂裏習得，
野蜂在清晨的追逐，
野花開放的時間與地點，
鳥的飛程與築巢處，
還有那林中的棲身客；
烏龜如何馱他的殼，
啄木鳥如何啄他的洞，
骸鼠如何掘他的穴，
歐鴝如何餵她的仔，
黃鵬的巢又是如何掛起來；
最白的百合花在哪兒開，
最鮮的草莓在哪兒長，
落花生的蔓在哪兒爬，
串串木葡萄在哪兒摘；
精明的黑螞蜂
用泥巴糊出他的巢，
還有藝術大師灰大黃蜂
他那了不起的建築藍圖！──
撇開書本和功課，
答案大自然全都能給你；
他與自然手挽手地走，
他與自然面對面地談，
分享她的全部歡樂──
祝福你，光腳丫的孩子！

啊，孩提的六月，
短短的一月裏擠進了一年又一年，
我，它們的主人，聽到、看到了
我所期盼的一切。
我富有，就為了那鮮花和樹木，
婉啼的小烏和嗡嗡的蜜蜂；
為了讓我消遣嬉戲──
松鼠用他的鏟子搗鼓鼴鼠的洞穴；
為了讓我品嚐佳果
籬笆頭、石縫中的黑草萄熟得發了紫；
為了我的歡樂，小溪不停地歡笑，
笑遍了白晝、笑遍了夜晚，
在花園的牆角囁嚅細語，
伴著一個又一個瀑布同我敘說談笑，
我擁有那餵養小狗魚的沙邊池，
我擁有那長著胡桃的山坡，
我擁有那彎身探出果園牆頭的
赫斯珀裏德的蘋果！
隨著我的地平線的延伸，
我的財富越來越豐盛，
我看到或知道的世界
似乎是件複雜的中國式玩具，
專為光腳丫的孩子設計！

啊!那豐盛的節日佳餚，
就像我那碗牛奶和麵包──
錫鑞的勺子和木製的碗盆，
就擱在門口的石階上，灰白而又無華！
頭頂落日輝映，
就像一頂雲霧支撐起的皇家帳篷，
紫紅的帳幕鑲著金邊，
捲成了許許多多稻子在風中搖曳；
樂聲初期，
那是雜色青蛙演奏的交響樂；
為了給嘈雜的合唱隊照明
螢火蟲點亮了他的螢火之燈。
我是君主：氣派而又愉快
伺候著那光腳丫的孩子！

小傢伙，那麼你就高高興興地
像孩子那樣盡情生活和歡笑！
儘管山頭石坡硬梆梆，
儘管新割的草茬針樣札，
每天清晨帶著你
接受露水新的洗禮；
每日夜晚，習習涼風
在你腳邊親吻著熱乎乎的大地
太短暫了，這雙腳
就要藏身在驕傲的牢獄裏，
失去親撫大地的自由，
就像馬駒釘掌為的是幹活，
逼它在磨坊裏跋涉，
一上一下沒完沒了地勞碌：
萬幸啊，如果足跡
永遠不留在那片禁土上；
萬幸啊，如果雙足未陷進
那捉摸不定的罪孽流沙中。
啊!但願你知道你的福氣，
當它還未逝去，光腳丫的孩子!

Oh for boyhood's painless play,
Sleep that wakes in laughing day,
Health that mocks the doctor's rules,
Knowledge .never learned of schools,
Of the wild bee's morning chase,
Of the wild flower's time and place,
Flight of fowl and habitude,
Of the tenants of the wood;
How the tortoise bears his shell,
How the woodchuck digs his cell,
And the ground mole sinks his well
How the robin feeds her young,
How the oriole's nest is hung;
Where the whitest lilies blow,
Where the freshest berries grow,
Where the groundnut trails its vine,
Where the wood grape's clusters shine;
Of the black wasp's cunning way,
Mason of his walls of clay,
And the architectural plans
Of gray hornet artisans!--
For, eschewing books and tasks,
Nature answers all he asks;
Hand in hand with her he walks,
Face to face with her he talks,
Part and parcel of her joy,--
Blessings on thee, barefoot boy!

Oh for boyhood's time of June,
Crowding years in one brief moon,
When all things I heard or saw
Me, their master, waited for.
I was rich in flowers and trees,
Humming birds and honeybees;
For my sport the squirrel played,
Plied the snouted mole his spade;
For my taste the blackberry cone
Purpled over hedge and stone;
Laughed the brook for my delight
Through the day and through the night,
Whispering at the garden wall,
Talked with me from fall to fall;
Mine the sand-rimmed pickerel pond,
Mine the walnut slopes beyond,
Mine, on bending orchard trees,
Apples of Hesperides!
Still, as my horizon grew,
Larger grew my riches too;
All the world I saw or knew
Seemed a complex Chinese toy,
Fashioned for a barefoot boy!

Oh for festal dainties spread,
Like my bowl of milk and bread,--
Pewter spoon and bowl of wood,
On the doorstone, gray and rude!
O'er me, like a regal tent,
Cloudy-ribbed, the sunset bent,
Purple-curtained, fringed with gold;
Looped in many a wind-swung fold;
While for music came the play
Of the pied frog's orchestra;
And to light the noisy choir,
Lit the fly his lamp of fire.
I was monarch: pomp and joy
Waited on the barefoot boy!
Cheerily, then, my little man,
Live and laugh, as boyhood can!
Though the flinty slopes be hard,
Stubble-speared the new-mown sward,
Every morn shall lead thee through
Fresh baptisms of the dew;
Every evening from thy feet
Shall the cool wind kiss the heat:
All too soon these feet must hide
In the prison cells of pride,
Lose the freedom of the sod,
Like a colt's for work be shod,
Made to tread the mills of toil,
Up and down in ceaseless moil:
Happy if their track be found
Never on forbidden ground;
Happy if they sink not in
Quick and treacherous sands of sin.
Ah! that thou shouldst know thy joy
Ere it passes, barefoot boy!