 | Early and late poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary |  |
MOTHER AND CHILD.
Within her rustic woodland bower,
Like some warm-hearted, tender flower,
With young buds all around her,
She kept, in her gracious and glad content,
And never a dream nor fancy went
From the tendrilled twigs that bound her.
Like some warm-hearted, tender flower,
With young buds all around her,
She kept, in her gracious and glad content,
And never a dream nor fancy went
From the tendrilled twigs that bound her.
The house was full of the pleasant noise
Of gay, glad girls and sturdy boys,
Each with a heart like a blossom;
They were seven—five ranged between
The head that was touching sweet sixteen
And the babe on the mother's bosom.
Of gay, glad girls and sturdy boys,
Each with a heart like a blossom;
167
The head that was touching sweet sixteen
And the babe on the mother's bosom.
In hopeful toil the day went by,
And when the tired sun built in the sky
His great, red, cloudy bower,
She gathered her buds about her knee—
The sturdy three and the gentle three—
This motherly woodland flower.
And when the tired sun built in the sky
His great, red, cloudy bower,
She gathered her buds about her knee—
The sturdy three and the gentle three—
This motherly woodland flower.
And when the glory died in the west,
And the birds were all in the sleepy nest,
She would sit in the twilight shadow,
And think how her baby should grow so fine,
And make her place in the world to shine
As the lily maketh the meadow.
And the birds were all in the sleepy nest,
She would sit in the twilight shadow,
And think how her baby should grow so fine,
And make her place in the world to shine
As the lily maketh the meadow.
Years came and went, and the pleasant noise
Was hushed in the house, and the girls and boys
Came now no more about her;
As the bird went home to the drowsy nest,
And the sun to his cloudy bower in the west,
They had learned to do without her!
Was hushed in the house, and the girls and boys
Came now no more about her;
As the bird went home to the drowsy nest,
And the sun to his cloudy bower in the west,
They had learned to do without her!
The little children that used to be—
The comely three and the sturdy three—
Young men and beautiful maidens,
And each had chosen out of the heart,
And gone to be in a bower apart,
And to dress them separate Edens.
The comely three and the sturdy three—
Young men and beautiful maidens,
And each had chosen out of the heart,
And gone to be in a bower apart,
And to dress them separate Edens.
And the mother's thoughts went wearily
Across the prairie, and over the sea,
And through the wintry weather,
About the streets, o'er the desert sand,
To take them once again by the hand,
And to gather them all together.
Across the prairie, and over the sea,
168
About the streets, o'er the desert sand,
To take them once again by the hand,
And to gather them all together.
But alway, as the sun went down,
And the gold and scarlet fell to brown,
And the brown to deeper shadow,
Her babe made all the house as bright
As the lily, with her leaves of light,
Maketh her place in the meadow.
And the gold and scarlet fell to brown,
And the brown to deeper shadow,
Her babe made all the house as bright
As the lily, with her leaves of light,
Maketh her place in the meadow.
She could not grow from the loving arms,
Nor go to meet the wide world's storms
Away from the lowly portals:
For Death, in the broidered slip and cap,
Had left her to lie in the mother's lap,
In her babyhood immortal.
Nor go to meet the wide world's storms
Away from the lowly portals:
For Death, in the broidered slip and cap,
Had left her to lie in the mother's lap,
In her babyhood immortal.
| Early and late poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary | |