Poems (Ripley)/Two Children Asleep

by Lillie Rosalie Ripley

POEMS

TWO CHILDREN ASLEEP

Two human buds locked fast in sleep;
 Two little strangers in this world;
Upon a couch in a darkened room
 I find them softly curled.

Holding the light above my head
 That I may not awaken them;
I feast my eyes upon their charms,—
 Two buds upon one stem.

Four times have the red, red roses bloomed
 And graced the month of perfect days,
Since one came to us to delight
 Us with her pretty ways.

Her oval face of olive tints
 Is softly flushed, like a damask rose;
Dark, silken lashes sweep her cheeks
 In softly hushed repose.

Her dusky hair lies thick and soft
 Upon her pretty, baby head,—
Her dimpled arms and tiny hands
 Rest on the coverlet.

Her rosy mouth is dewy-fresh,
 And tempts me sorely to bend down,—
If it would not awaken her—
 And press a kiss thereon.

Six times have the snowdrops hung their bells
 Of snow, all flecked in emerald,
Since the other one from heaven came
 And this old world beheld.

Her face is like a lily fair,—
 And daintily-flushed like a sea shell;
And golden lashes sweep her cheeks,
 O'er eyes like sweet blue bells.

A silken strand of golden hair
 Trails o'er her cheek, like a sunbeam;
A smile plays round her sweet, red mouth
 At something in her dream.