The Leak in the Dike

Phoebe Cary [1824 - 1871]

Then the good wife turned to her labor,
   Humming a simple song,
And thought of her husband working hard
   At the sluices all day long;
And set the turf a-blazing,
   And brought the coarse black bread:
That he might find a fire at night,
   And find the table spread.

And Peter left the brother,
   With whom all day he had played,
And the sister who had watched their sports
   In the willow's tender shade;
And told them they'd see him back before
   They saw a star in sight,
Though he wouldn't be afraid to go
   In the very darkest night!
For he was a brave, bright fellow,
   With eye and conscience clear;
He could do whatever a boy might do,
   And he had not learned to fear.
Why, he wouldn't have robbed a bird's nest,
   Nor brought a stork to harm,
Though never a law in Holland
   Had stood to stay his arm!

And now with his face all glowing,
   And eyes as bright as the day
With the thoughts of his pleasant errand,
   He trudged along the way;
And soon his joyous prattle
   Made glad a lonesome place--
Alas! if only the blind old man
   Could have seen that happy face!
Yet he somehow caught the brightness
   Which his voice and presence lent
And he felt the sunshine come and go
   As Peter came and went.

And now, as the day was sinking,
   And the winds began to rise,
The mother looked from her door again,
   Shading her anxious eyes,
And saw the shadows deepen
   And birds to their home come back,
But never a sign of Peter
   Along the level track.
But she said: "He will come at morning.
   So I need not fret or grieve--
Though it isn't like my boy at all
   To stay without my leave.''

But where was the child delaying?
   On the homeward way was he,
And across the dike while the sun was up
   An hour above the sea.
He was stopping now to gather flowers,
   Now listening to the sound,
As the angry waters dashed themselves
   Against their narrow bound.
"Ah! well for us,'' said Peter,
   "That the gates are good and strong.
And my father tends them carefully,
   Or they would not hold you long!
You're a wicked sea,'' said Peter,
   "I know why you fret and chafe;
You would like to spoil our lands and homes;
   But our sluices keep you safe.''

But hark! through the noise of waters
   Comes a low, clear, trickling sound;
And the child's face pales with terror,
   And his blossoms drop to the ground.
He is up the bank in a moment,
   And, stealing through the sand,
He sees a stream not yet so large
   As his slender, childish hand.

'Tis a leak in the dike!--He is but a boy,
   Unused to fearful scenes;
But, young as he is, he has learned to know
   The dreadful thing that means.
A leak in the dike! The stoutest heart
   Grows faint that cry to hear,
And the bravest man in all the land
   Turns white with mortal fear.
For he knows the smallest leak may grow
   To flood in a single night;
And he knows the strength of the cruel sea
   When loosed in its angry might.

And the Boy! he has seen the danger
   And, shouting a wild alarm,
He forces back the weight of the sea
   With the strength of his single arm!
He listens for the joyful sound
   Of a footstep passing nigh;
And he lays his ear to the ground, to catch
   The answers to his cry.
And he hears the rough winds blowing,
   And the waters rise and fall,
But never an answer comes to him
   Save the echo of his call.
He sees no hope, no succor,
   His feeble voice is lost;
Yet what shall he do but watch and wait
   Though he perish at his post!

So faintly calling and crying
   Till the sun in under the sea;
Crying and moaning till the stars
   Come out for company;
He thinks of his brother and sister,
   Asleep in their safe warm bed;
He thinks of his father and mother,
   Of himself as dying--and dead;
And of how, when the night is over,
   They must come and find him at last;
But he never thinks he can leave the place
   Where duty hold him fast.

The good dame in the cottage
   Is up and astir with the light,
For the thought of her little Peter
   Has been with her all night.
And now she watches the pathway,
   As yester-eve she had done;
But what does she see so strange and black
   Against the rising sun?
Her neighbors are bearing between them
   Something straight to her door;
Her child is coming home, but not
   As he ever came before!

 "He is dead!'' she cries, "my darling!''
   And the startled father hears,
And comes and looks the way she looks,
   And fears the thing she fears;
Till a glad shout from the bearers
   Thrills the stricken man and wife--
"Give thanks, for your son has saved our land,
   And God has saved his life!''
So, there in the morning sunshine
   They knelt about the boy;
And every head was bared and bent
   In tearful, reverent joy.

'Tis many a year since then; but still,
   When the sea roars like a flood,
The boys are taught what a boy can do
   Who is brave and true and good;
For every man in that country
   Takes his son by the hand
And tells him of little Peter,
   Whose courage saved the land.

They have many a valiant hero,
   Remembered through the years;
But never one whose name so oft
   Is named with loving tears.
And his deed shall be sung by the cradle,
   And told to the child on the knee,
So long as the dikes of Holland
   Divide the land from the sea!

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This collection assembled by Jone Johnson Lewis.
Collection © 1999-2002 Jone Johnson Lewis.

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