 | Poems by Julia C. R. Dorr |  |
39
YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY
But yesterday among us here,
One with ourselves in hope and fear:
Joying like us in little things,
The sheen of gorgeous insect wings,
The song of bird, the hum of bee,
The white foam of the heaving sea.
One with ourselves in hope and fear:
Joying like us in little things,
The sheen of gorgeous insect wings,
The song of bird, the hum of bee,
The white foam of the heaving sea.
But yesterday your simplest speech,
Your lightest breath, our hearts could reach;
Your very thoughts were ours. Our eyes
Found in your own no mysteries.
Your griefs, your joys, your prayers, we knew,
The hopes that with your girlhood grew.
Your lightest breath, our hearts could reach;
Your very thoughts were ours. Our eyes
Found in your own no mysteries.
Your griefs, your joys, your prayers, we knew,
The hopes that with your girlhood grew.
But yesterday we dared to say,
“'Twere better you should walk this way
Or that, dear child! Do thus or so;
Older and wiser we, you know.”
We gave you flowers and curled your hair,
And brought new robes for you to wear.
“'Twere better you should walk this way
Or that, dear child! Do thus or so;
Older and wiser we, you know.”
We gave you flowers and curled your hair,
And brought new robes for you to wear.
To-day how far away thou art!
In all thy life we have no part.
Hast thou a want? We know it not;
Utterly parted from our lot,
The veriest stranger is to thee
All those who loved thee best can be.
In all thy life we have no part.
Hast thou a want? We know it not;
Utterly parted from our lot,
The veriest stranger is to thee
All those who loved thee best can be.
40
Deaf to our calls, our prayers, our cries,
Thou dost not lift thy heavy eyes;
Nor heed the tender words that flow
From lips whose kisses thrilled thee so
But yesterday! To-day in vain
We wait for kisses back again.
Thou dost not lift thy heavy eyes;
Nor heed the tender words that flow
From lips whose kisses thrilled thee so
But yesterday! To-day in vain
We wait for kisses back again.
To-day no awful mystery hid
The dark and mazy past amid
Is half so great as this that lies
Beneath the lids of thy shut eyes,
And in those frozen lips of stone,
Impassive lips, that smile nor moan.
The dark and mazy past amid
Is half so great as this that lies
Beneath the lids of thy shut eyes,
And in those frozen lips of stone,
Impassive lips, that smile nor moan.
But yesterday with loving care
We petted, praised thee, called thee fair;
To-day, oppressed with awe, we stand
Before that ring-unfettered hand,
And scarcely dare to lift one tress
In mute and reverent caress.
We petted, praised thee, called thee fair;
To-day, oppressed with awe, we stand
Before that ring-unfettered hand,
And scarcely dare to lift one tress
In mute and reverent caress.
But yesterday with us. To-day
Where thou art dwelling, who can say?
In heaven? But where? Oh for some spell
To make thy tongue this secret tell!
To break the silence strange and deep,
That thy sealed lips so closely keep!
Where thou art dwelling, who can say?
In heaven? But where? Oh for some spell
To make thy tongue this secret tell!
To break the silence strange and deep,
That thy sealed lips so closely keep!
| Poems by Julia C. R. Dorr | |