If...

If a ladder to the sky I climbed

          And poked my head through the clouds

Would I see charmed fairylands

          Or would I hear beauteous thunder aloud?

If into a churning sea grey I dived

          And to its sandy bottom did shoot

Would I see a pearl, perfect and white

          Or would I find lost treasures’ loot?

If I along a rainbow to its end walked

          And to its fabled roots reached

Will the ground be of misty colours seven

          Or would I have a pot of gold breached?

A child – I oft for the answers searched

          So would I, am sure, as a lady old.

Beautiful riddles they would remain

          Tales so often and so incompletely told!