I leave to children exclusively,
But only for the life of their childhood
All and every the dandelions of the fields
And the daisies thereof,
With the right to play among them freely,
According to the custom of children.
And I devise to children
The yellow shores of creeks
And the golden sands beneath the waters,
With the dragon-flies
That skim the surface of said waters,
And the odors of the willows
That dip into said waters,
And the white clouds
That float high over the giant trees.
And I leave to children
The long, long days to be merry in,
In a thousand ways,
And the Night and the Moon
And the train of the Milky Way to wonder at,
And I give to each child
The right to choose a star that shall be his,
And I direct that the child's father
Shall tell him the name of it,
In order that the child
Shall always remember the name of that star
That shall be his
I devise to Children jointly
All the useful idle fields and commons
Where ball may be played,
And all snow-clad hills
Where one may coast,
And all streams and ponds
Where one may skate,
And all meadows,
With the clover blooms and butterflies;
And all woods,
With their appurtenances of squirrels
And whirring birds
And echoes and strange noises;
And all distant places which may be visited,
Together with the adventures there found,
I do give to said Children to be theirs.
To lovers I devise
Their imaginary world,
With whatever they may need,
As the stars of the sky,
The red, red roses by the wall,
The snow of the hawthorn
The sweet strains of music,
Or aught else they may desire
To figure to each other the lastingness and beauty
Of their love.
And to those who are no longer children,
Or youths, or lovers, I leave - Memory,
And I leave to them the volumes of the poems
Of Burns and Shakespeare,
And of other poets, if there are others,
To the end that they may live the old days
Over again freely and fully,
Without tithe or diminution;
And to those who are no longer children,
Or youths, or lovers,
I leave, the knowledge of what a rare, rare world it is.