POEMS OF JAMES RYDER RANDALL
THE ONLY BOY
Though heaven has gained one angel more,
My heart, dear God, is wondrous sore;
For that bright angel Thou hast won
Was my sweet lamb, my only son.
How shall an earthly mother bear
Such awful anguish and despair?
How shall she live, and living, know
Such depths of overwhelming woe?
Without Thy aid, dear God, my soul
Is shipwrecked in a sea of dole.
Without Thy rescuing hand, I sink
Beyond the world’s absymal brink.
He was my pride, my hope, my joy—
Ah, bitterest thought, my only boy!
And now, while night-winds madly rave
My heart is buried in his grave.
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