A father speaks directly to his little girl, Anna, promising they will leave the crickets indoors and join summer’s laughter in the green fields. He pictures her tiny hand reaching for everything that passes, calls her the happiest thing alive except the bee and butterfly. He imagines the sun-burnished brook making her pause her chatter to gaze into its ripples, then her eager dash to explore a leaning willow that hangs like an old invalid over the deepest water. Her sudden shouts of wonder at birds and butterflies fill the day. But the poem turns sharply: Anna is on her bed of pain, her toys lying forsaken. All that imagined brightness is only a wish, and the contrast between the lively fantasy and the still, aching present is devastating. The speaker’s voice holds pure love, longing, and tender sorrow, hoping for the hour she can toddle freely, stoop for flowers, and shout for joy.
To Anna Three Years Old — Summary
My Anna, summer laughs in mirth, And we will of the party be, And leave the crickets in the hearth For green fields' merry minstrelsy.
I see thee now with little hand Catch at each object passing bye, The happiest thing in all the land Except the bee and butterfly.
And limpid brook that leaps along, Gilt with the summer's burnished gleam, Will stop thy little tale or song To gaze upon its crimping stream.
Thou'lt leave my hand with eager speed The new discovered things to see-- The old pond with its water weed And danger-daring willow tree, Who leans an ancient invalid Oer spots where deepest waters be.
In sudden shout and wild surprise I hear thy simple wonderment, As new things meet thy childish eyes And wake some innocent intent;
As bird or bee or butterfly Bounds through the crowd of merry leaves And starts the rapture of thine eye To run for what it neer achieves.
But thou art on the bed of pain, So tells each poor forsaken toy. Ah, could I see that happy hour When these shall be thy heart's employ, And see thee toddle oer the plain, And stoop for flowers, and shout for joy.