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<h3><SPAN name="chap256"></SPAN>THE CASTLE-BUILDER</h3>
<p>
A gentle boy, with soft and silken locks<br/>
A dreamy boy, with brown and tender eyes,<br/>
A castle-builder, with his wooden blocks,<br/>
And towers that touch imaginary skies.<br/></p>
<p>
A fearless rider on his father's knee,<br/>
An eager listener unto stories told<br/>
At the Round Table of the nursery,<br/>
Of heroes and adventures manifold.<br/></p>
<p>
There will be other towers for thee to build;<br/>
There will be other steeds for thee to ride;<br/>
There will be other legends, and all filled<br/>
With greater marvels and more glorified.<br/></p>
<p>
Build on, and make thy castles high and fair,<br/>
Rising and reaching upward to the skies;<br/>
Listen to voices in the upper air,<br/>
Nor lose thy simple faith in mysteries.<br/></p>
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