The Open Door (Brazilian Verses)

by Rudyard Kipling

    England is a cosy little country,
    Excepting for the draughts along the floor.
    And that is why you’re told,
    When the passages are cold:
    “Darling, you’ve forgot to shut the Door!”

    The Awful East Wind blows it
    Pussy or, the Hearthrug shows it,
    Aunty at the Writing-table knows it
    “Darling, you’ve forgot to shut the Door!”

    Shut shut shut the Door, my darling!
    Always shut the Door behind you, but
    You can go when you are old
    Where there isn’t any cold
    So there isn’t any Door that need be shut!
    And
    The deep Verandah shows it
    The pale Magnolia knows it
    And the bold, white Trumpet-flower blows it:
    There isn’t any Door that need be shut!

    The piping Tree-toad knows it
    The midnight Firefly shows it
    And the Beams of the Moon disclose it:
    There isn’t any Door that need be shut!

    The milky Beaches know it
    The silky Breezes blow it
    And the Shafts of the Sunrise show it:
    There isn’t any Door that need be shut!