Poems (Brown)/Little Freddie

by Carrie L. Brown

LITLLE FREDDIE. 

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Softly wave the drooping trees.
 O'er the silent sleeping dead;
And the willows and the daises
 Gently murmur o'er their head.

High above the dim old forest,
 Rise the tombstones white and fair;
'Graved with simple heartfelt tributes
 To the loved ones lying there.

'Neath the green and pleasant grass spot,
 'Neath the daises bright and blue,
Lies our "cherished little blossom;"
 "Freddie" was the name he knew.

Only a short time was he spared,
 To nestle in a parent's love;
Just when the heartstrings had grown strong
 God called our little boy above.

And we gave him up with bitter pangs,
 To the fell destroyer Death,
At whose decree e'en Nature shrinks,
 And withers at his chilling breath.

With bitter hearts we robed his bed,
 And laid him down to rest,
With bright flowers strew'd about him,
 For God said, "It is best."

We bore him to the "village-yard,"
 With slow and measured tread;
Then turned away with tearful eyes,
 And left him with the dead.

We entered our silent chamber,
 We gazed on the empty chair;
We looked in the little cradle,—
 But our "Freddie" was not there:

For far beyond all earth's alarms,-
 Where flowers eternal bloom,
The eye of faith beholds him now
 Arisen from the tomb.