Mid-Day Gleanings :: :: University of Virginia Library

My mother died when I was young,
Only nine months old, they say;
And though I to my mother clung,
They took her away from me,
And placed her in a lonely spot,
The hill I have often seen,
And oft I've sought, but found her not,

Though the grasses still were green.

'Twas in the lovely month of May,
The closing month of the spring;
And little birds in plumage gay
Sad funeral songs did sing.
They watched the men with pick and spade,
So mournful did they wail;
But where that young mother was laid
Little birds may tell the tale.

Though twenty years have passed since then
And the birds are growing gray;
I've often asked of older men
To tell me where she lay.

They answer thus—“I have forgot,
But the grave I oft have seen,
'Tis on the hill, a lonely spot
Where the grasses still are green.”

But on the hill I searched in vain,
And among the rustling leaves;
But ah! my heart is still in pain
And my spirit often grieves.

Yet oft' I searched mid shine or rain,
Though useless to me it seemed;
I often in her arms have lain
And kissed her in my dreams.

And in my wake I ne'er forgot
That dreaming alone I'd been,
But searched in vain that lonely spot
Where the grasses still were green.

At last I saw a nice old jay
Who could all but scarcely see;
His eyes were dim, his hair was gray,
But he rose and bowed to me.
Oh birdie, will you tell me where
My dear mother is, I pray?
And he asked me—“Was your mother fair,
Or was she infirmed and gray?”

O, she was fair, yes, very fair,
So young, and so pretty, too;
They buried her, I know not where,
And I come to ask of you.
“Why, of course, I remember, lad,
'Twas a lovely day in May,
They put your mother away, lad;
'Twas just twenty years today.

My family all have died since then,
And I all alone am left;
They suffered all by wicked men,
Who left me sad and bereft.
But beneath yonder great tree, lad,

'Neath that mossy covered mound,
Your mother there you will see, lad,
If there she can now be found,

For, lad, it is a lonely spot,
As lone as ever I've seen;
But search and you will miss it not,
For the grass is tall and green.”
I hurried beneath the giant oak,
Where its shady branches wave,
And there I saw a mound unbroke,
Which was my dear mother's grave.

I kneeled upon the lonely spot,
And thought the hill serene,
And wept because I found her not,
Though the grasses still were green.
But oft' I think she lies in state
While the stars are tapers tall;
That by her side the angels wait
To see that no ills befall.

And whene'er ill becomes my lot
And death comes upon the scene,
I want to lie in just such spot,
Where the grass is tall and green.