This page has been validated.
Mother and Child
Why fall those tears, those silent, crystal tears?
Why seek you solitude when eve is nigh,
And gazing on the eternal, distant stars,
For treasures which you vainly weep and sigh?
Why seek you solitude when eve is nigh,
And gazing on the eternal, distant stars,
For treasures which you vainly weep and sigh?
Why flow those tears, those grave, lamenting tears?
O child, my blessed child, do you not see,
When dusk of night prevailed and this frail bark
Dashed on the shore, I clung alone to thee?
O child, my blessed child, do you not see,
When dusk of night prevailed and this frail bark
Dashed on the shore, I clung alone to thee?
A mother's loving heart is rent in twain;
I mourn for mine while yet apart I stay;
You know not half my poignant anguish, child,
Nor can you wipe those falling tears away.
I mourn for mine while yet apart I stay;
You know not half my poignant anguish, child,
Nor can you wipe those falling tears away.
You have not felt a mother's passionate love;
No innocent babe's adoring care is thine;
Your heart mine own can darkly comprehend;
Your soul but vaguely sounds the depths of mine.
No innocent babe's adoring care is thine;
Your heart mine own can darkly comprehend;
Your soul but vaguely sounds the depths of mine.
Aye, mother dear, I now can understand,
As never yet, the searching pangs you feel!
When those you loved have gone a little space,
Sometimes my earth-bound sight can ill reveal.
As never yet, the searching pangs you feel!
When those you loved have gone a little space,
Sometimes my earth-bound sight can ill reveal.
And yet those sacred tears I seem to see
And yearn—ah, how I yearn to be with thee!
And yearn—ah, how I yearn to be with thee!
1916
In Memoriam
To Mamie Hoag, May 5, 1914—May 5, 1919
Five years ago this lovely day,
Five saddened years have passed away;
And we, who spread thy casket o'er,
Yet think of thee as oft before.
Five saddened years have passed away;
And we, who spread thy casket o'er,
Yet think of thee as oft before.
Each day we to thy memory yearn,
When winter fades and birds return,
And Nature grants us golden hours,
Yet mourns thee in her springtime showers.
When winter fades and birds return,
And Nature grants us golden hours,
Yet mourns thee in her springtime showers.
1919
To Mother
O Death, we feel thy cruel sting,
As years pass by on fleeting wing;
These flowers bedewed with tears of love,
Darkness below and light above!
As years pass by on fleeting wing;
These flowers bedewed with tears of love,
Darkness below and light above!
As bloom the buds of dreaming Spring,
Each lonelier year can memories bring,
But lingering by thy bed of clay,
Tokens of love to thee we lay.
Each lonelier year can memories bring,
But lingering by thy bed of clay,
Tokens of love to thee we lay.
1920
25
