Poems (Blake)/Lord Keep our Memory Green

by Mary Elizabeth Blake

"LORD, KEEP OUR MEMORY GREEN!"

When, in the first wild throes of grief,
The sick heart turns from all relief,
And backward counting, sad and slow,
An hour, a week, a month ago
To days ere yet the light had flown
From those dear eyes we called our own,—
We ask of God the seal to set:
"How long, O Lord, ere we forget?"

For still to live through unknown years,
Lost voices ringing in our ears,—
Lost faces held in memory's grasp,—
Lost hands that never more we clasp,—
And feet whose steps have died away
Walking beside us day by day,—
Seems all too hard for love's regret,
And so we pray, "Let us forget!"

But when above life's troubled springs
We feel the stir of angels' wings,
And His dear blessing, sweet and slow,
Drops on the wounded hearts below;
When Faith ascends the golden stair,
Of love and hope and trust and prayer,—
Though grief and pain may linger yet
We would not, if we could, forget!

No! Not one motion full of grace,
Nor change of the beloved face,
Nor pouting of the baby lips,
Nor touch of tiny finger tips,
Nor cooing pat of rosy palms,
Nor sudden griefs and sudden calms,
Nor roguish smile, nor dainty fret,
Would we, for all the world, forget.

"Lord, Keep our Memory green!"May each
Sweet babbling flow of baby speech,
Each trick of eye and hand and voice,
Still make our brooding thought rejoice:
The lips, the cheek, the forehead fair,
The dimpling smile, the floating hair,—
Still in our hearts let these be set,
Nor let us, evermore, forget!