 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
A MOTHER'S SONG.
I.
O Time, whose silent foot down treadsThe kingly towers and groves,
Who lay'st on loftiest, loveliest heads,
The hand that no man loves,
Take all things else beneath the skies,
But spare one infant's laughing eyes.
II.
O Time, who build'st the coral reef,Whom dried-up torrents fear,
And rocks far hurled, like storm-blown sheaf,
From peak to glacier drear,
Waste all things else; but spare the while
The lovelight of one infant's smile!
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III.
Where sunflowers late from Summer's mintBrought back the age of gold,
Through thee once more the sleet showers dint
The black and bloomless mould:
But harm not, Time, and guard, O Nature,
What is not yours—this living creature!
IV.
From God's great love a Soul forth sprangThat ne'er till then had being:
The courts of heaven with anthems rang:
He blessed it, He the All-seeing!
Nor suns nor moons, nor heaven nor earth,
Can shape a Soul or match in worth.
V.
No thought of thee when o'er the leasA child I raced delighted;
No thought when under garden trees
A girlish troth I plighted:
We knew not what the church bells said
That giddy morn the girl was wed:
Of thee they babbled, pretty maid!
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |