Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan!

These opening lines come from John Greenleaf Whittier’s nostalgic poem “The Barefoot Boy,” written in the mid-19th century when Whittier—an abolitionist and prominent New England poet—often paired moral reflection with rural reminiscence. The poem evokes an idealized boyhood in the countryside, celebrating the freedom of outdoor life and the innocence of youth. Whittier contrasts this unshod, sun-browned child with the constraints and artificiality of adult society, using the figure of the “barefoot boy” as a symbol of unspoiled vitality and a simpler, earlier America.

The speaker’s blessing is both affectionate and elegiac: it praises the child’s naturalness (“barefoot,” “cheek of tan”) while implying that such freedom is fragile and temporary. Whittier treats the boy as an emblem of authenticity—close to the earth, unselfconscious, and unburdened by social pretension. The lines also set up a broader meditation on memory and loss: adulthood brings shoes, duties, and anxieties, so the poem’s admiration carries an undertone of longing for what time and “civilization” take away. The blessing thus functions as a tribute to youth and a critique of constraining modern life.